Lock the Gate says plans by Adani to avoid a full Federal environmental impact assessment of their plans to take 10 billion litres of river water in Central Queensland are dangerous, and undermine Federal environment laws.
Adani recently submitted a referral under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 for the North Galilee Water Scheme which will extract 10 billion litres of water from the Suttor River to run the Carmichael coal mine.
In its referral, Adani claims that the scheme is not captured by the Federal water trigger and says that it is not a controlled action, which means it would not require an Environmental Impact Statement.
Carmel Flint, spokesperson for Lock the Gate Alliance said “Adani is trying to sneak through a massive 10 billion litre water scheme, including a dam and pipeline, without a full environmental impact assessment under Federal environment laws.
“If the Federal Minister approves this, it will be yet another special deal for Adani that hangs Queensland farmers, local communities and the environment out to dry, at a time when most of the surrounding region of Central Queensland is in drought.
“Adani are saying this take of water is not part of a large scale coal mining project, which is absurd, and should be slapped down by the Federal Environment Minister who should demand a full environmental impact statement.
“This move by Adani will also undermine the Federal water trigger and allow other mining companies to follow suit and take and use river water without proper Federal environment assessment.
“This is yet another example of Adani making things up as they go along - they got approval for a huge coal mine without knowing where they were going to get their water from, and are now trying to push through their water plan without any transparency.
“Adani is also suggesting that it will make water available to other Galilee Basin coal mines from the scheme in the future, which suggests that they might triple the amount of water taken - all without any proper assessment or public consultation” she said.