Adani says bores at planned mine site were within its permits and were for monitoring

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Australian government will investigate allegations Adani has drilled illegal groundwater bores at its Carmichael mine site.

Environment group Coast and Country has said it obtained aerial footage showing dewatering bores that were sunk without approval.

The Queensland government said it was investigating the works to determine the location and purpose of the bores. On Wednesday afternoon, the federal environment minister, Melissa Price, confirmed Canberra would also investigate the matter, following calls from conservation groups and Labor.

“I can confirm the Department of Environment and Energy is working with the Queensland Environment Department to investigate allegations that Adani sunk groundwater dewatering bores before relevant plans were approved,” she said.

“While the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Coast and Country’s Derec Davies said the group had drone and satellite images of 10 drill sites, four of which were for groundwater monitoring bores and six for dewatering bores. It is the six dewatering bores the group alleges were sunk without approval.

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Davies said images were taken between March and June but Adani had not mentioned the work in an annual report it submitted to the state government in April.

“We are calling on the Queensland government to thoroughly investigate,” he said.

Adani said on Wednesday that the bores were within its permits and were for monitoring and geological assessment work only.

“Adani Mining is not dewatering for mining operations. Drilling has been undertaken at the Carmichael mine site to take geological samples and monitor underground water levels and we have sent the regulator reports on these bores, which are publicly available online,” a spokeswoman said.

She said the company had constructed five bores at the mine site “for the purpose of conducting groundwater investigations and taking geological samples as permitted under its environmental authority for the mine, which was issued in April 2016.”

The spokeswoman added Adani “welcomed any investigation from the regulator, which will demonstrate we have conducted stage 1 project activities permitted under Adani Mining’s environmental authority for the Carmichael mine project.”

The Australian Conservation Foundation said dewatering bores could potentially place the company in breach of its federal environmental approvals.

The conditions of Adani’s federal environmental approval require the company to submit a number of environmental management plans for sign-off from the federal government before any mining operations commence.

The management plans are for matters of national environmental significance and that includes a groundwater dependent ecosystems management plan.

ACF said that there had been no public indication that those plans had been approved and lawyers from the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland had written to Price on their behalf to request an investigation.

The organisation said drilling had the potential to put at risk Great Artesian Basin aquifers that feed sites including nearby Doongmabulla Springs.

“It would be prudent for the federal government to launch an immediate and independent investigation into these allegations against Adani,” said the ACF chief executive, Kelly O’Shanassy.

“The public has a right to know what harm may have already occurred to the environment and what enforcement action the government will take.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Labor’s environment spokesman, Tony Burke, called on the minister to launch an immediate investigation to determine if the alleged breaches had occurred.

“This is an important test for the new environment minister to see if Minister Price will adopt the same culture of neglect that was commenced under Minister Frydenberg,” he said.

“With so much of eastern Australia drought-declared, the government must reassure Australians that this project won’t have unacceptable negative impacts on our precious water resources.”

A representative for the Queensland Department of Environment and Science said the department “is currently investigating the location and purpose of these bores”.

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“Adani is required to carry out pre-construction assessment and monitoring of the site to determine environmental baselines and other technical information, such as geology and groundwater.”

Last week the Queensland government said it would prosecute one of Adani’s companies – Abbot Point Bulk Coal – over the alleged release of polluted water near the Great Barrier Reef during Cyclone Debbie last year.