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'Global warming' challenge against Alpha coal mine dismissed

Tuesday, 27 Sep 2016 09:02:44 | Andrew Kos

The court rejected Coast and Country's global warming argument against the Alpha mine. (AAP)

The proposed 30-million-tonne Alpha coal mine in central Queensland co-owned by Gina Rinehart has cleared another legal hurdle, with Queensland's highest court dismissing an appeal from an environmental group.

Conservation group Coast and Country was challenging an environmental authority issued by the Queensland Environment Minister for the $6 billion Galilee Basin project, co-owned by Indian company GVK and Mrs Rinehart.

Coast and Country had argued emissions from the transport and burning of the project's coal would contribute to "dangerous global warming".

The case has been through the Land Court and Supreme Court, and reached the Court of Appeal in June this year.

Coast and Country argued a Land Court recommendation to approve the mine with rigorous water conditions did not take into account emissions from the transport and burning of coal once it was removed from the proposed mine.

But the Court of Appeal this morning dismissed the case and ordered the conservation group pay court costs.

The mine development is yet to be granted a mining lease.

'We will review our options'

Coast and Country spokesman Derec Davies said they would consider further legal action.

"Today's decision is highly disappointing," he said.

"We will review our options. We'll carefully go through the document and look at what we can do.

"Coal mines in the Galilee Basin spell trouble for the Great Barrier Reef."

Jo-Anne Bragg from the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland said the case had broad implications.

"This is a very important public interest case about the relevance of greenhouse gas emissions from what would be one of the biggest thermal coal mines in the world, if it goes ahead," she said.

The Alpha mine has been forecast to produce 30 million tonnes of coal per year and create 2,000 long-term jobs during its 30-plus years of operation.

GVK Hancock released a statement welcoming the court's ruling.

"This now brings an end to four years of legal challenges from anti-mining protestors and allows us to continue developing a project that will create thousands of jobs for our state," GVK Hancock spokesman Josh Euler said.

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