Mary River group ups pressure over Colton coal mine
Mary River group ups pressure over Colton coal mine and says it will impact on Great Sandy Strait and Mary River ecosystems
Gympie
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THE Mary River Catchment Co-ordinating Committee has called on the Federal Government to reconsider a previous decision about the Colton open-cut coal mine near Maryborough, which it says will impact the Great Sandy Strait and Mary River.
The MRCCC wrote to Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg late last year, asking him to reconsider the 2010 decision that the Colton coal mine was "not a controlled action” under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, due to "substantial new information”.
A spokesman for Mr Frydenberg said on Tuesday:
"On October 6, 2010, the Colton Coal Mine Project was determined to be a "not a controlled action” under national environment law.
"The Department has received a request to reconsider the decision, on the basis of the availability of substantial new information about the impacts that the action will have, or is likely to have, on a protected matter.
"The proposal is open for public comment until March 2, 2017 and the Department encourages anyone interested to take this opportunity to have a say.”
Details of the proposed variation are at http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/4623b7d7-17f4-e611-a71a-005056ba00a8/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1488235178756
The MRCCC said that previous decision meant the mine was not subject to assessment or approval by the Federal Government, the group says. The public now has until Thursday to comment on the request for reconsideration.
That previous decision meant the mine was not subject to assessment or approval by the Federal Government, the group says. The public now has until Thursday to comment on the request for reconsideration.
MRCCC spokesman Dr Tanzi Smith said the group had "identified substantial new information that highlights the Colton coal mine is likely to have a significant impact on the exceptionally important Great Sandy Strait Ramsar site downstream of the mine”.
"The Great Sandy Strait is internationally recognised and is home to threatened dolphins and dugongs, as well as being a hot spot for migratory birds and stop-off for migrating humpback whales,” she said.
"The proposed Colton coal mine would discharge almost a billion litres of contaminated waste water a year directly into the Mary River, which flows into the Great Sandy Strait where visitors and locals catch the barge for the journey across to the World Heritage-listed Fraser Island.
"The Colton coal mine will also store large volumes of wastewater in risky storage dams and will leave an un-rehabilitated final void, both of which are prone to over-topping or leaching pollution.
"We are calling on the minister to reverse the previous decision and identify the Colton coal mine as a 'controlled action' that requires assessment and approval by the Federal Government.
"There is no doubt that the Colton coal mine is likely to have a significant impact on the Great Sandy Strait and associated matters of national environmental significance for which the minister is responsible,” Dr Smith said.
The minister's office has been contacted for a response.
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