Plans for a 22-year extension of a major coal mine in the New South Wales (NSW) Hunter Valley have been derailed by Australia’s High Court after finding the company did not properly consider the impact of emissions.
The owner of the Mount Pleasant project, MACH Energy, had appealed against a finding that its 2022 approval by the state’s Independent Planning Commission was invalid.
But in a 3-2 majority verdict, the High Court decided to send the matter back to the NSW Land and Environment Court, which will have to consider suspending the consent or setting terms that would validate it.
Instead, the majority found the approval invalid because conditions on scope 3 emissions—indirect emissions that occur when the coal is burned offshore—had not been considered.
Justice Edelman, who found against the company, wrote that these made up almost all of the project’s emissions, and that while the Commission had imposed numerous conditions on scope 1 and 2 emissions—which come directly from the mine’s operations—for the other “98 percent, or 860 million tonnes, of greenhouse gas emissions in scope 3, no conditions were imposed or even discussed.”
Related Stories
“The natural and irresistible interpretation of the Commission’s reasons is that [it] was distracted by the accounting concepts of the scopes into which greenhouse gas emissions are divided,” Edelman wrote.
Justice Gordon added that, “The commission did not consider whether to impose conditions to ensure that Scope 3 emissions were minimised to the greatest extent practicable,”
MACH had planned to keep the mine operating past its planned closure on Dec. 22 this year through to Dec. 22, 2048, and to extract an extra 406 million tonnes of coal, lifting annual production from 10.5 million tonnes to 21 million tonnes.
Chief Justice Gageler and Justice Jagot, in the minority, would have allowed MACH’s appeal, arguing that the Commission had complied with its duty “to consider imposing conditions to ensure that all greenhouse gas emissions of the development are minimised.”
“While we are disappointed with the outcome, we accept the Court’s decision and will carefully review the judgement to understand its implications for future project assessments and environmental approvals,” the company said.
It also pointed to a separate approval in August of “Modification 8” which provided a six-year extension of the mine’s operational life and increased permitted coal extraction over that period.
“Thousands of local residents in the Hunter Valley rely on Mount Pleasant for employment and income,” the company said. “These residents have lived with fear and uncertainty for too long.
“We will continue to actively pursue all available options to ensure the long-term continuity of the Mount Pleasant Operation,” MACH said.
The NSW Labor government said the decision does not impact a separate approval for Mount Pleasant to run until 2032.
Meanwhile, the response from the conservative-leaning One Nation was swift.
“The Coalition and Labor had once again sacrificed regional communities and blue-collar jobs at the altar of net zero,” Hanson said.
One Nation tracks well in the federal seat of Hunter, which Labor has fought hard to hold in recent years.
