Linc Energy in court facing charges of unlawful and reckless environmental harm at coal gasification plant
UPDATE: A lawyer has questioned the validity of readings used to back claims an underground coal gasification site had polluted prime agricultural land.
QLD News
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CRITICAL gas monitoring equipment used to back claims an Underground Coal Gasification site had polluted prime agricultural land west of Brisbane was left near a car exhaust pipe, a lawyer has suggested.
Environmental consultant Dr Phillip Matthew has begun his second day of evidence in one of Australia’s biggest environmental prosecutions involving Linc Energy’s UCG site near Chinchilla in the state’s south east.
The Queensland Environment Department is prosecuting Linc for allegedly damaging prime land, with the company facing potential fines of more than $32 million if found guilty.
Dr Matthew has told a hearing in Dalby Magistrates Court he believed anomalies in gas readings in and around the UCG site were related to work on the site.
Robert Bain, QC, for Linc, suggested that during gas testing procedures to assess the environmental impact of the site, gas samples were left near a running car exhaust.
Dr Matthew said he had no knowledge of such an event but pointed out samples were contained in sealed containers which would not be impacted by car exhaust emissions.
Mr Bain also suggested some of the soils alleged to be contaminated in the area were poor soils.
Dr Matthew said farmers used the soils for broadacre farming which indicated they had some worth.
“In general they are quite good soils,’’ Dr Mathew said.
Dr Matthew said there were soils of lesser quality in the region.
“That does not mean they are poor soils.’’
The Queensland Environment Department is prosecuting Linc on five counts of causing unlawful and reckless environmental harm at the plants between 2007 and 2013.
The hearing continues.
YESTERDAY: AN energy company facing allegations of mass contamination of prime agricultural land west of Brisbane was responsible for anomalies in gas emission readings on and around its Underground Coal Gasification site, a court has heard.
Environmental consultant Dr Phillip Matthew has been giving evidence in a Dalby courtroom in one of Australia’s biggest environmental prosecutions centred on Linc Energy’s UCG site near Chinchilla.
The Queensland Environment Department is prosecuting Linc on five counts of causing unlawful and reckless environmental harm at the plants between 2007 and 2013.
Under cross examination from Ralph Devlin, QC, for the Environment Department, Dr Matthew said he had no doubt a series of readings showing gas emission anomalies in and around the site were caused by operations at the UCG site.
“My view is that I am without doubt,” Dr Matthew told the hearing in the Dalby Magistrates Court.
“The gases we measured on the site and adjacent to the site are related to the UCG process.’’
The case, still in the committal stage, is shaping up as one of Australia’s biggest, and potentially most expensive, environmental prosecutions.
The State Government is alleging groundwater and hundreds of square kilometres of prime agricultural land were put at risk by the UCG plant while several individuals have claimed the plant caused illness.
Linc Energy faces fines of up to $32.5 million if found guilty while senior company executives face a up to five years in jail for wilful environmental damage.
Linc is defending itself against the charges in the hearing, which continues.
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