The Australian Conservation Foundation has written to Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, alerting him to new information about the impact Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine would have on water and wildlife in Queensland’s Galilee Basin and calling on the Minister to reconsider his approval of the mine.
ACF’s letter draws the Minister’s attention to evidence presented in a recent Queensland Land Court case regarding state approval for Adani’s proposal. ACF believes this information is also relevant to the Minister Hunt’s decision to approve the mine under federal law.
“Expert evidence given to the Queensland court shows Adani’s planned mega coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin would pollute the basin’s groundwater and destroy 10,000 hectares of the habitat of the largest known population of the endangered southern black-throated finch,” said ACF’s CEO Kelly O’Shanassy.
“In Adani’s environmental assessment the company grossly underestimated the damage to groundwater and the mine’s impact on the Black-throated finch.
“Now this new information has come to light, ACF believes Minister Hunt must withdraw his approval and reconsider the new evidence.
“This new evidence provides more compelling reasons why this mine should never be dug,” she said.
- Adani, the proponent of the Carmichael mine, has a history of environmental breaches.
- Coal from the Carmichael mine will be shipped through the Great Barrier Reef.
- The mine will take 297 billion litres from underground aquifers, causing a drop in water table levels on which local farmers rely.
- When burnt, coal from the Carmichael mine will produce 128.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year, at peak production, or four times New Zealand’s annual climate pollution.
For more information on the Galilee Basin, read ACF's, Our Great Dividing Range report
