In an email alert asking for donations Brian Linforth said he is “spending what time he has left fighting to protect his wife, friends and community” from the open-cut coal mine which will LTG says would force the 1043 people of the village of Aldershot to “breathe dangerous coal dust” and potentially contaminate the water supply.
“Brian is dying of cancer. But others in his village should have a long life ahead of them. Brian's one last wish is to stop this mine so that they don't have their health and wellbeing destroyed by it,” LTG said in a funding drive last week.
Linforth, who says he has been fighting the mine for four years with his wife, has taken his fight to the Queensland Land Court, with his local community group lodging a “formal objection”, but the movement is struggling to fund their bid, hence the fundraising drive.
He says he needs $15,000 to engage experts for his Land Court case.
“My one last wish is to stop this mine so that they don't have their health and wellbeing destroyed by it,” Linforth said in the campaign.
“It's not just our community at risk. The mighty Mary River is also in the firing line. The coal mine is planning to discharge untreated wastewater straight into the Mary. Untreated...
“Just 5km downstream is the magnificent Fraser Coast – the internationally significant, unspoilt estuary of the Great Sandy Strait, which covers Tin Can Bay and then extends out to adjoin the World Heritage-listed wonderland of Fraser Island.
“The strait is an exceptionally important feeding ground for migratory shorebirds and important for a wide range of other shorebirds, waterfowl and seabirds, marine fish, crustaceans, oysters, dugong, sea turtles and dolphins.
“It's a conservation hotspot and an extraordinary, world-renowned tourist attraction - it shouldn't be a dumping ground for the mining industry.”
He also alleged political duplicity, saying that New Hope, which owns the mine, donated over $700,000 to the Liberal National Party over the last five years.
The Colton mine, which lies in the Burrum coal fields where small-scale underground mining was carried out from 1865 until the late 1990s, is expected to produce 500,000 tonnes per annum of coking coal, with what New Hope calls “significant expansion opportunity” to extend the project’s 10-year life.
The project lies on undeveloped state land north of Maryborough and southwest of Hervey Bay, within the Susan River catchment.
New Hope says it has undertaken community consultation “for many years”
An environmental management plan for the project was revised and submitted to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection in May. A draft environmental assessment was subsequently approved.
The EMP for Colton, prepared by AARC Australian Resource Consultants in May, noted that the nearest residence to the mine is a single house located roughly 2km southwest to the proposed mine site; while Aldershot is about 3km to the south and houses on the Churchill Mine Road are about 4km to the southeast of Colton.
The EMP said the project site was located within the Sun River catchment and admitted it “has the potential to impact” upon it.
However, it added that those catchments were not declared or nominated for declaration under the Wild Rivers Act 2005; so the mining activities on the project mining lease would have no impact on areas nominated or declared as wild rivers.
“The proponent has conducted extensive consultation with the Butchulla Land and Sea people (registered native title claimants) and will continue to do so as part of a proactive community consultation program,” the EMP said.
”Colton Coal has entered into a native title agreement, as defined in the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003, with the Butchulla People for the project area, which sets out an agreed process for addressing Colton Coal’s cultural heritage duty of care.”
It also said historic mining had been undertaken in the region and open shafts are evident nearby; while the land underlying the site was not utilised for grazing or cropping.
