Farmers take government to court over Great Artesian Basin carbon capture proposal

Farmers have taken the federal government to court over plans to dump carbon dioxide waste in the Great Artesian Basin.

Agforce CEO Michael Guerin is leading legal action against the federal government.

Farmers have taken the federal government to court in a bid to stop mining giant Glencore dumping carbon dioxide waste from a coal-fired power station into the Great Artesian Basin.

Queensland-based farmer lobby group AgForce on Friday followed through with its threat to launch legal action and filed a claim against the Environment Department in the Federal Court. The group has sought a judicial review of the department’s decision in February 2022 that deemed the Glencore project did not need to be assessed under federal environmental legislation.

AgForce chief executive ­Michael Guerin said legal action was a last resort.

“It’s not overstating it to say that confidence in our food supply is at genuine risk ­because of the current proposal from Glencore,” Mr Guerin said. “Lead and arsenic could enter the water of the Great Artesian Basin, where it would be then taken up by animals and plants in our food growing systems.”

Glencore subsidiary Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation plans to capture carbon ­dioxide by-product from the Millmerran power station, 100km west of Toowoomba, and move it by truck and pipeline ­before injecting it 2.3km below ground into the precipice sandstone aquifer near Moonie.

The Great Artesian Basin.

The “test injection demonstration” would store up to 330,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over three years. By sequestering the liquefied gas underground, CTSCo would be eligible for carbon credits and the power station could be deemed carbon neutral.