Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Members of the public have until September 18 to comment on a draft environmental-impact statement (EIS) for the proposed expansion of the Abbot Point coal port.
State Development and Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the draft EIS was a milestone for the sustainable development of the Galilee basin and the jobs and economic development it could deliver for Queenslanders.
“We’ve delivered on our election commitment to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the nationally significant Caley Valley wetlands. We are putting dredged material on port land next to the existing terminal and we are minimising impacts to the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area by ruling out at-sea disposal.
“The community can now have its say on the draft EIS with around 2 400 pages of detailed investigatory information and almost 150 commitments to protect the environment.”
Abbot Point currently had a capacity of 50-million tonnes a year and the proposed expansion would increase capacity by 70-million tonnes a year to cater for additional coal from the Galilee basin, including Adani Mining’s proposed Carmichael mine.
Construction for the proposed port expansion would create about 160 jobs for up to four months, as well as jobs associated with the proposed mines and flow-on supply chain jobs.
Lynham said the government was holding to its commitment that this infrastructure would not be funded by taxpayers.
“Importantly, any expansion at the port will be at the cost of Galilee basin developers, including Adani, not Queensland taxpayers,” he said.
The final EIS, which would include feedback from consultation, would be delivered to the commonwealth government in early October, the commonwealth government would then have 40 business days to assess the EIS and deliver a final decision on the project.