The state branch of the Environmental Defender’s Office is challenging the environmental approval granted by the NSW Planning Assessment Commission on the grounds that koalas, a threatened species, will be impacted.
“Shenhua used population estimates of 12,753 animals for the entire Gunnedah Local Government Area,” EDO NSW said.
“The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are only 800 to 1300 animals in the Gunnedah local government area.”
EDO also noted that the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage had made a submission on this issue during the earlier greentape process.
“The assessment of significance [impacts] for the Koala is totally inadequate,” OEH said.
“No details of the actual Koala population to be impacted upon, nor what impact the project will have on the population is provided.”
EDO was also not convinced that Shenhua’s contingency, translocation policy for koalas affected by the planned clearing of 847ha of Koala habitat would be effective.
“There was evidence before the PAC that translocation programs have resulted in significantly high mortality rates,” EDO said.
According to the ABC, the NSW Department of Planning said was aware of the legal challenge, but could not comment because the case was before the courts.
“The final approval is in the hands of federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, who is expected to be briefed by the Independent Expert Scientific Committee about water impacts by the middle of this week,” the news outlet reported.
“A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the IESC advice would be made public by the end of the week.”
While federal environmental approval was expected on March 13, Hunt told a media conference at Tamworth Airport in February that he had sent the application back to the Canberra-based IESC.
It’s known as the first time a coal project has been sent back to this agency for a second review, with IESC last looking it over in 2013.
“In short I have stopped the clock on the Shenhua project to seek additional advice on protecting water resources and aquifers from the best experts on groundwater in the country,” Hunt said while flanked by National Party figures Kevin Anderson and Barnaby Joyce at the time.
Joyce is on the record for calling the coal project an absurd idea.
Comment on the koala-focused legal challenge has been sought from Shenhua.
The Watermark open cut project is targeting up to 10 million tonnes per annum run of mine over 30 years with about 84% of the saleable coal to be of a metallurgical grade.
