Updated
Traditional owners who are fighting the Adani mine in
central Queensland say they welcome scientists' concerns about impacts
on the Doongmabulla Springs but do not trust any government to ensure
the miner protects their sacred wetlands.
Key points:
- Traditional owners fighting Adani's mine say government scientists' concerns about their sacred wetlands are "alarming"
- The ABC is the first media organisation to visit the remote Doongmabulla Springs, which is at the centre of a controversial Federal Government decision that Labor could review
- Adani says it is bound to protect the springs but the Queensland Government says the company must prove the springs sources before the mine can proceed
The ABC this week became the first media organisation to visit the remote springs complex — one of the world's last unspoiled desert oases — which are at the centre of a controversial Morrison Government decision that thrust Adani forward as a federal election issue.
The trip to the nationally important wetlands was at the invitation of a determined group of mine opponents within the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people, who have vowed to take their fight all the way to The Hague.
The Doongmabulla, which means "the place of many waters", represents the key hurdles to Adani's mining ambitions in a project already four years overdue.
The miner still has to prove to the Queensland Government it can safeguard the springs, which are also the key cultural concern for traditional mine site owners who could further put the brakes on Adani by taking them to the High Court.
Scientists dispute Adani's mine impact modelling
Commonwealth science agencies have raised doubts about Adani's modelling of the mine's impact on the springs, saying it could drain its underground water source by four times its legal limit.But Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price approved Adani's groundwater plans after it agreed to extra monitoring and safeguards and amid pressure from Queensland colleagues to sign off before the election was called.
However, concerns raised in a joint report by the CSIRO and Geosciences Australia are being assessed by the Queensland environment department, which said it could not let the mine proceed until Adani provided better evidence about the sources of the springs.
The ABC found Little Moses Springs and its surrounds lush after recent rains — untouched apart from a single monitoring bore placed by Adani.
It is about 7 kilometres from the site of what could still be Australia's largest coal mine — the Carmichael project exporting up to 27 million tonnes of coal a year.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is among the few previous visitors to Little Moses Springs but has not ruled out reviewing federal approval of Adani's groundwater plans if Labor wins power.
Mine's risk to springs 'alarming'
Adrian Burragubba, a spokesman for traditional owners who oppose the mine, said scientific concerns about the mine's risk to the springs were "alarming to us and anybody that comes to this beautiful place"."As you can see, our surroundings here, it's in its natural form — this is nature at its best," Mr Burragubba said.
"There's so much to gain from this place."
Some experts have warned the mine could cause the springs to dry up, which Mr Burragubba said would be "devastating" for the W&J.
"It's significant to our people because this is the only source of water in our country that is eternal and continues to be alive and give life," Mr Burragubba said."So it's essential to us to protect this place, because it is our dreaming, it's our past, it's our present … and it's our future.
"Without the emus, without the eels, without the trees — some specific trees are our totem trees — they would cease to exist and we would have no map to our past.
"There would be no bible, no doctrine, nothing to refer back to our law."
Groundwater management plan flawed, scientists say
The CSIRO and Geosciences Australia found Adani's modelling for its Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan (GDEMP) was flawed and underestimated the mine's groundwater drawdown on the springs, which could be up to 80 centimetres — four times its legal limit.
Adani has predicted drawing down 19 centimetres, one centimetre below what it is allowed under federal conservation laws.
An Adani spokeswoman repeated to the ABC the company's position that the sole source aquifer for the springs was the Clematis Sandstone and the springs were protected by an underground claystone layer.
But the agencies found it was "not plausible and reasonable to state unequivocally the Clematis Sandstone is the sole source" or the claystone layer would not leak.
They said Adani's plan would "not comprehensively address the uncertainty" around these and it needed to correct its modelling and methods.
Adani has committed to updating its modelling two years after mining commences.
The agencies found parts of it had "not been updated since 2013", despite the company having "clearly new information" including new bores.
Adani had also overestimated flows of the Carmichael River using "physically impossible" assumptions and its proposed monitoring and management was "not sufficiently robust to ensure" it met its approval conditions, the report found.
A Queensland environment department spokesman said it was reviewing Adani's latest groundwater plan and would "consider the issues and recommendations" in the federal agencies' report.
"Based on a preliminary review of [the] report, it is still to be determined if the GDEMP identifies the source aquifers of the Doongmabulla Springs Complex — this identification has always been a requirement for state approval," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said there was no "statutory timeframes" for approval.
W&J people split on mine
Mr Burragubba said elders of the Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, which opposed the mine, "don't trust any government basically"."There's no assurances to us they're not going to grant those licences and we're sitting basically on a hot tin roof waiting to hear if state Labor will grant those," he said.
The W&J are split on the mine and the Morrison Government has snubbed a United Nations call to consider suspending the project until it gains the support of all traditional owners.
Mine opponents are appealing Adani's Indigenous land use agreement in the Federal Court, having previously argued without success that it was obtained illegitimately.
"There are many more tools in our dillybag we can use to bring this country to account for what [has been] done to our people," Mr Burragubba said."So yes, we may have to go to the High Court, and if not, we would have to travel to The Hague, to the international courts.
"As far as I'm concerned, [the mine] is a pie in the sky, by and by — there's no question that we will win — we've come this far."
Adani waiting for advice from Queensland Government
An Adani spokeswoman said it was "yet to receive any advice from the Queensland Government regarding the timing and process or additional information required to finalise the outstanding management plans so that we can get on with delivering thousands of jobs for regional Queenslanders".She said Adani had engaged experts for four years to identify the source of the springs and had advised federal and state environment officials it was the Clematis Sandstone layer, "which is entirely separate to geological layers and aquifers in the region of the Carmichael mine".
"Part of our project conditions also safeguard the springs, saying that we must extensively monitor the water levels, and if the springs' water level were to drop more than 20cm, we must take immediate action," the Adani spokeswoman said.The ABC sought comment from W&J representatives who support the mine but received no response.
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