New documents reveal Idemitsu held talks with the NSW Government about expanding its controversial Boggabri thermal coal mine so it could keep digging until 2040 even before an earlier expansion of the same project was approved by the state’s Planning Department in January this year.
Locals say it’s a clear example of a coal mining company exploiting loopholes in the NSW planning system and expanding “via stealth”.
Idemitsu recently applied to state authorities for permission to build what it calls “modification 10”. If approved, Idemitsu would expand the Boggabri mine’s footprint by 85 hectares and extract an extra 30 million tonnes of thermal coal for an additional four years (on top of existing approvals) out to 2040.
Documents (see page three) submitted as part of the application reveal the company was in talks with the Planning Department about the modification 10 expansion in late 2023 and before the NSW Government approved Idemitsu’s Boggabri mine modification eight.
“Further to the discussions held between IA and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) in late 2023, this letter seeks to confirm that a modification application under Section 4.55 of the (NSW) Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) is the appropriate approvals path for the Modification.”
Modification eight was the first new coal expansion project approved by the Minns Government since it was elected, and the first since the government adopted the new emissions reduction targets. It is now before Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for consideration.
If modification eight received federal approval, Idemitsu would be permitted to mine an extra 28 million tonnes of coal beyond its current closure date of 2033 until 2036, which, once burnt, would release 63 million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere.
Libby Laird, who lives near the mine, said it was hypocritical of the NSW Government to announce new emissions reduction targets and new coal transition authorities on one hand, while encouraging new coal mine approvals on the other.
“Idemitsu is engaging in expansion creep and the Minns Government is asleep at the wheel and just letting it happen,” she said.
“The Minns Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and put a stop to expanding coal projects.”
“The Namoi Valley region is a farming region and has been that way for generations. We want to move forward and protect our water and our sustainable industries. We can’t do that if the government keeps approving new polluting coal projects.”
Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said this was another example of a coal mining company using the less publicly transparent modification pathway* for what was in fact a large expansion.
“Coal companies in NSW are making a mockery of this assessment pathway by splitting larger expansions into smaller, staged “modifications” in order to avoid greater public scrutiny, and Idemitsu’s latest modification application is evidence of this.
“Companies like Idemitsu know time is running out for them to extract and sell coal underneath their leases as the world moves to combat the climate crisis by limiting the burning of fossil fuels and replacing it with renewable energy.
“Rather than being part of that transition and responsibly rehabilitating a site once current mining approvals end, Idemitsu is instead rushing to ‘bank’ as many approvals as possible while there is still the opportunity to do so via a weak and exploitable planning system.
“The Minns Government needs to urgently close this easily exploitable and dangerous loophole.”
“NSW Labor has also consistently promised that new coal mine projects must be subject to an independent approval process. Assessing and determining endless modification applications in-house in the Dept Planning - with no referral to the state’s Independent Planning Commission - is not an independent process.”
ENDS
Background:
Last year, Idemitsu escaped prosecution for unlawfully taking more than one billion litres of water during the drought without a licence.
*The “modification” assessment pathway is only supposed to be used to make changes that don’t substantially alter the development in question, like upgrades to a water treatment plant, or minor road realignments, for example.
Coal mine expansions assessed via the modification pathway are not referred to the Independent Planning Commission for public hearings.