Adani cleared to start Carmichael coalmine work as groundwater plans approved

Extract from The Guardian

Queensland government decision means company can begin work on mine site, but other federal approvals still required before coal extraction can begin

Lisa Cox

Thu 13 Jun 2019 13.43 AEST Last modified on Thu 13 Jun 2019 15.24 AEST

The Queensland government has approved Adani’s groundwater plans, meaning the Carmichael coal mine is cleared to go ahead. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Adani has been cleared to start work on its Carmichael coalmine after the Queensland government approved the company’s plans for groundwater management.
Queensland’s coordinator general posted the decision on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Science said the company submitted the most recent version of the plan, addressing department feedback, on Wednesday – 24 hours before the approval deadline set by Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The department said the review of the groundwater dependent ecosystem management plan (GDEMP) “has been rigorous and based on the best available science” and there had been regular meetings to “ensure the plan is robust and provides the maximum environmental protection”.
“In assessing the plan, both Adani and DES took on board advice from CSIRO and Geoscience Australia – the same advice considered by the commonwealth government in approving an earlier version of the GDEMP in April this year.”
The state’s environment minister, Leeanne Enoch, told the Queensland parliament the plan was approved “on the basis of significant commitments and amendments to continue to undertake important monitoring work over the next two years and throughout the life of the mine”.
Enoch also took a shot at critics in the state’s Liberal National party and the federal government over the pressure they had put on Queensland to grant Adani’s environmental approvals.
Enoch said the outcome of a legal challenge to another part of Adani’s project, which saw the federal government concede in the case, showed “how critically important it is for proper processes to be followed”.
She said it “will be interesting … to see how the federal government justifies its approval of a previous version of the GDEMP given the considerable enhancements that are required in order for it to reach the standard of approval by the Queensland regulator”.
Adani Mining’s chief executive, Lucas Dow, said the approval brought to a close “a two-year process of rigorous scientific inquiry, review and approvals.”

“Over the coming days preparatory activities such as finalising contracts, mobilising equipment, recruitment and completing inductions will continue,” Dow said.
“These preparatory actions will enable us to then start construction activities including fencing, bridge and road upgrades, water management and civil earthworks on the mine site.”
He said the level of construction activity at the site would steadily increase over the coming weeks.
The approval was swiftly condemned by environment groups and the Greens.
The Greens said the Queensland government’s decision was “deeply disappointing to anyone who understands the danger posed by climate change, but the fight to stop this mine being built is far from over”.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the decision would put millions of corals and ocean wildlife on the Great Barrier Reef at risk.
“Climate change is the greatest threat to our reef’s future and we cannot risk opening up the Galilee basin for other major coal projects which would heat our oceans and lead to more stress on our beautiful corals and reef,” campaigner Shani Tager said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the Queensland government had “put politics ahead of science”.
Approval of the groundwater plans follows intense pressure on the Queensland government after swings to the LNP in Queensland at the federal election.
After Labor’s loss, Palaszczuk set deadlines for the two final-state approvals the mining company needed to begin preliminary construction at the mine site in the Galilee Basin.
The first was Adani’s management plan for the black-throated finch, which was approved at the end of May.
The second was its groundwater management plans, which received a rushed federal approval immediately before the election was called.
Adani will now be able to begin preliminary work, such as land-clearing and road access development at its mine site.

But it still requires other federal environmental approvals before it can begin extracting coal. Other aspects of the project, such as a royalties agreement, are also yet to be finalised.
In its statement, the Department of Environment and Science said it gave its sign-off after receiving additional advice from the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia on 7 June.
Based on this advice, the department said it was satisfied Adani had “sufficiently established” the source aquifer of the Doongmabulla Springs as the Clematis Sandstone.
Adani’s failure to identify the source aquifer has been one of the problems identified in previous versions of its groundwater work.
“DES has required additional commitments from Adani to undertake further scientific work over the next two years,” the spokesperson said. “This is required to identify any potential contribution from other aquifers and strengthen the GDEMP.”
This includes further work to understand source aquifers for springs in the vicinity of the mine, including the Doongmabulla springs complex, conducting hydrogeochemical analysis of groundwater and spring samples from different springs, and examining core samples from new bores to better understand their hydraulic properties and provide detailed geological mapping.
Former environment minister Melissa Price signed off on the groundwater plans despite concerns raised by the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia.
The agencies’ review of the plans found that Adani’s groundwater models were “not suitable” to ensure the conditions of its environmental approvals were met and that it underestimated how much water the project would draw from the ancient Doongmabulla Springs complex and the Carmichael River.
Adani has been granted permission to re-run its groundwater models two years after mining commences.
It has also been asked to address some of the issues the CSIRO raised with its groundwater plans in two research plans associated with the Great Artesian Basin that the federal government still needs to assess.
A decision on those research plans will now fall to the new environment minister, Sussan Ley.
But, in a win for environmentalists this week, the federal government conceded in a legal challenge related to another aspect of Adani’s project, its north Galilee water scheme.
The government approved the infrastructure project last year that would see a 100km-long pipeline constructed to transport 12.5bn litres of water a year from the Suttor River and Burdekin basin. The project would also expand an existing 2.2bn-litre dam to 10bn litres.
The Australian Conservation Foundation challenged the approval and on Wednesday succeeded in the case, with the government admitting it failed to properly consider public responses to the proposal and even lost some submissions.

Public consultation will be re-opened and Ley will have to reconsider the project, but the outcome won’t affect Adani’s ability to begin construction.