Lock the Gate Alliance criticises the Crisafulli Government's recommendation that a massive new BHP-owned coal mine in Central Queensland be approved.
The government indicated it would greenlight BHP’s Saraji East coal mine today, with the Environment Department issuing a recommended approval in its EIS assessment report (see page 3).
Saraji East mega coal mine would (Source: project EIS):
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Clear 1,160 hectares of koala habitat and 748 hectares of greater glider habitat (See page 129);
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Be responsible for more than 320 million tonnes of climate pollution.
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Drain 8,857 megalitres of groundwater over the 20-year mine life
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Mine 110 million tonnes of coal and operate until 2045.
Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland Coordinator Maggie Mckeown said, “BHP is a climate and environmental vandal. Its new Saraji East coal mine will drain precious water Queenslanders rely on while fueling dangerous climate change that causes worsening droughts, extreme heat, fires, and storms.
“Saraji East will bulldoze more than a thousand hectares of habitat home to Australia’s much loved koala and greater glider, which are already facing extinction due to the combined impacts of land clearing and climate change.
“This new coal mine exposes BHP as crying poor over royalties. BHP can’t claim Queensland’s royalty rates are stymying investment while at the same time building new polluting coal mines.
“Regional Queenslanders need a plan for the future that puts them in the driver’s seat and embraces the opportunities of the energy transition. They don’t need more polluting coal mines that prioritise corporate profits over communities while fueling climate change that is destroying what we love most about our beautiful state.”
Saraji East is just one of three new coal projects BHP is progressing, the other two being the Saraji Mine Grevillea Pit Continuation Project, and the Peak Downs Extension Project, which would operate for nearly a century until 2116.
ENDS
Background:
The approval comes shortly after a Lock the Gate investigation found that BHP had been knowingly polluting creeks and waterways downstream of its Blackwater coal mine in Central Queensland for over a decade.
Earlier this month, BHP was found liable for the 2015 Brazil dam disaster where its dam collapsed, killing 19 people and causing one of the biggest environmental disasters in the world.