Bravus responds to claim of alleged environmental breaches

A Bravus Mining and Resources spokeswoman has rejected the allegations.

Photos of the alleged breach - Gunn Ck - Little Gun. Picture: Mackay Conservation Group

Bravus Mining has responded to a conservation group’s claim that construction sites on the Carmichael mine rail corridor has resulted in “serious pollution and environmental damage”.

Mackay Conservation Group alleges conditions the Queensland Coordinator General imposed on Adani’s North Galilee Basin Rail Project to protect nearby waterways from contamination may have been breached.

The group said this was because Bravus had failed to properly prepare construction sites on the rail corridor for the wet season.

The conditions require the development and implementation of erosion and sediment control measures.

The group has provided photos – taken about two weeks after heavy rainfall in December – of what it claims are the alleged breaches.

A Bravus Mining and Resources spokeswoman has rejected allegations about the appropriateness of the sediment controls in place to manage dirty rainwater run-off and flood waters at its remote rail construction sites.

“We have not received any information or communications from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science regarding a complaint or investigation about sediment controls at any of the Carmichael Project construction sites in central Queensland,” the spokeswoman said.

“The Carmichael project takes our environmental obligations seriously and we have erosion and sediment control measures in place at all of our construction sites, to ensure we comply with our environmental approvals for daily operations and extreme weather events.”

The spokeswoman said some parts of the site were inundated with storm water after widespread and localised flooding in January.

“The photos released by Environmental Justice Australia, which were illegally taken, show the stormwater flooding,” she said.

“Flooding or significant movement of water across the site, does not mean we are not compliant with our conditions.

“We are required to design our sediment controls for specific rain event levels. When rain events exceed those levels, sediment controls can be affected.

“We monitor all our environmental controls frequently, including during periods of heavy rain such as those in January, and we believe all of them to be operating in accordance with our conditions.”

Photo of the alleged breach - Serpentine Creek. Picture: Frontline Action On Coal

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Mackay Conservation Group’s lawyers have written a letter to Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon urging an immediate investigation of Bravus’s flood mitigation strategies and any potential breaches of conditions.

Mackay Conservation Group representatives at their Mackay office. Picture: Heidi Petith

The group’s co-ordinator Peter McCallum said the government must urgently inspect all construction sites on the Carmichael railway line to ensure that they were following the rules.

“The government must prosecute any company or individual found to be in breach of the environmental rules that regulate this project,” Mr McCallum said.

A spokesman for the Office of the Coordinator-General said the allegations were being investigated by the Coordinator-General.

“Information has been sought from the proponent. If a breach is identified, the matter will be managed in accordance with the conditions of approval,” he said.

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