Submissions are currently open on the following coal, coal seam gas and major infrastructure projects in Queensland:
Opportunities to comment under the EPBC Act for Queensland projects
- Dudgeon Point Coal Terminals – EPBC No 2012/6240 – draft EIS guidelines are open for comment until 28 May 2012
The North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation wants to build two coal export terminals at the Port of Hay Point, near Mackay. Their planned export capacity is 180 million tonnes of coal per annum; this would increase the capacity of Hay Point to at least 290 million tonnes per annum. The Dudgeon Point terminals will have up to 10 ship berths, and require dredging of 13-15 million meters cubed. This is being assessed under a parallel process with the Queensland Government – see below for an opportunity to comment on the draft terms of reference.- Abbot Point Coal Terminal Capital Dredging – EPBC No 2011/6213 – comments on Draft Public Environment Report Guidelines due 28 May 2012
North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation are wanting to undertake dredging work at the Port of Abbot Point for ship berths at Terminal 0, 2 and 3. Approximately 3,00,000 metres cubed of previously undisturbed seabed is to be dredged. They plan on disposing the dredge material at an offshore site within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.Information on what to include in your submission to the Federal Environment Minister is available in our factsheet and on the Department of Environment’s website here .
Opportunities to comment or object to mine and petroleum projects assessed under Queensland laws (the Environmental Protection Act and Mineral Resources Act)
- QR National’s Central Queensland Integrated Rail – draft terms of reference are open for comment until 4 June 2012
QR want to build a rail line to link coal mines in the Galilee Basin, near Alpha in Central Queensland, to existing rail facilities near Goonyella in the Bowen Basin. This rail link will enable coal from the Galilee mines to be transported to the coast to be exported out of the Abbot Point, Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay coal ports. QR are proposing this option as an alternative to the major mines in the galilee basin all constructing rail lines to the ports. The area they are planning on putting the rail corridor through has 4 threatened ecological communities, 39 threatened species and 33 migratory species.- Aust-Pac Capital’s Wongai Project – submissions on the draft terms of reference are open until 12 June 2012
This is a proposal for a 1.5 million tonne per annum underground coking coal mine in Cape York. They plan to transport the coal 20km to the coast at Princess Charlotte Bay before being barged through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to ships waiting offshore. There are national parks on the eastern and western sides of the proposed mine site area, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to the north and national park islands that border the shipping route. The Kalpowar nature Refuge also makes up a portion of the proposed coal mine site.- TEC Coal’s Yarraman Coal Mine – objections to the application for additional surface area for a mining lease and environmental authority close 8 th June 2012
Tarong Energy Corporation (TEC) want to include additional land in their mining lease to undertake activities associated with the extraction and removal of coal. The land falls within the South Burnett Regional Council.- CAML Resources Coal Mine – objections to mining lease and environmental authority are due on the 13 th of June 2012
This is an application for a mining lease and environmental authority for an open cut coal mine near Middlemount in the Isaac Regional Council area.- Nathan Dam and Pipelines – submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement are due on the 5 June 2012
Sunwater want to build an 888 000 megalitre dam on the Dawson River, 35km outside of Taroom, and a pipeline through the Surat Basin to Dalby. The water will be primarily used to service coal mines and power stations in the Surat Basin and in the Southern Bowen Basin. The 260km pipeline to Dalby will have a permanent 15m easement.- Dudgeon Point Coal Terminals – draft terms of reference are open for comment until 21 May
The draft terms of reference on the Dudgeon Point Coal Terminals are open for comment. See above for the details of the project.- Cockatoo Coal’s North Surat Taroom Coal Project – draft terms of reference are open for comment until 28 May 2012
This proposal is for an 8million tonne per annum thermal coal mine located just 2.8km from the township of Taroom in south-central Queensland. The coal will be exported through Gladstone and the mining operations are anticipated to last for 25 years.- Cockatoo Coal’s North Surat Collingwood Coal – draft terms of reference are open for comment until 28 May 2012
Cockatoo also want to construct a 6 million tonne per annum thermal coal mine located east of the township of Wandoan. As with the Taroom project, the coal will be transported by rail to Gladstone for export.
- Arrow Energy’s Bowen Pipeline Project – submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement due 24 May 2012
This is the EIS for a 580km coal seam gas transmission pipeline to link gas fields in the Bowen Basin to Gladstone to enable export out of Curtis Island. The pipeline will have a 30m wide easement, will pass within 1km of 119 houses and through 53 watercourses. If approved, it will disturb 456.29 hectares of remnant vegetation and high value regrowth, including endangered brigalow and Natural grasslands.- Arrow Energy’s Surat Gas Project – submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement due 14 June 2012
Arrow Energy, jointly owned by Shell and Petro-China, are proposing a coal seam gas project on petroleum tenures that cover 8600 square kilometres and will last for 35 years. There will be approximately 7500 production wells, spaced at 800m apart, 18 production facilities linked by high pressure gas pipelines and will extract, on average, 22 gigalitres of water per year.- Arrow Energy’s LNG Plant – submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement due 28 May 2012
This EIS is for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Curtis Island, near Gladstone, inside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Arrow want to produce 18 million tonnes per annum of LNG from coal seam gas. The project will include an LNG plant, a jetty, logistical and support facilities on Curtis Island, a pipeline tunnel bored from the mainland to Curtis Island to supply gas and dredging in Port Curtis to allow vessel access. Dredge spoil, of up to 1 million mitres cubed of material, will be disposed of in the Western Basin Reclamation Area or the East Banks Sea Disposal Site. They plan on clearing 250 hectares of vegetation at the site, including 26 hectares of an endangered community of forest red gum woodland, 5 hectares of intertidal mudflats, 6 hectares of mangroves and half of an area of thicket that potentially contains a new species of the tuckeroo. On the mainland, 17 hectares of tall eucalyputs woodland will be cleared for the pipeline.
NOTE: This alert does not include public notices under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (Qld). For information on development public notified under SPA, refer to the website of the relevant local government, a local newspaper or notices on the land in question.If you have put in a submission on any of these projects, we’d like to know. Please email us at adminqld@edo.org.au.
