Adani has repeatedly claimed it did nothing wrong in relation its management of Abbot Point coal terminal during Cyclone Debbie. The reality is that Adani did cause pollution. Here are the facts:

Temporary Emissions Licence

On 28 April 2017, the Department of Environment & Science (formerly Dept of Environment & Heritage Protection - DEHP) issued Adani with a retrospectively amended Temporary Emissions Licence for the company’s coal terminal at Abbot Point.

The licence permitted Adani to increase the concentration of contaminants flowing into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and the Caley Valley wetlands from the 30 milligrams per litre (mg/L) to 100mg/L.

Exceedance of TEL

After the cyclone Adani reported to the Queensland Government that the concentration of contaminants measured in water samples collected at the location that flowed into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (known as W2) was 806mg/L. Those samples were collected using an automated process. The concentration of contaminants exceeded the temporarily permitted limit by more than 800%.

At the other authorised location (called W1), which flowed into the Caley Valley Wetlands, samples were collected after staff returned to the site following the cyclone. At the time of collection the concentration was 80mg/L which was below the temporary limit. However, there were no samples collected during the event so nobody knows whether the limit was exceeded at any time while the licence was in operation.

Government fine

On 3 May 2017 the head of Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Jim Reeves, said that Adani could face a penalty of $3.8 million for a wilful breach of its licence. However, on 20 July DEHP issued Adani with a $12,190 fine for the breach. On 24 August the ABC reported that Adani had informed DEHP that it would contest the fine. The government has until 7 September 2018 to decide whether to take the matter to court.

Wetlands

Public awareness of the coal spill followed aerial photographs taken after Cyclone Debbie indicating a significant flow of coal from stockpiles at the port into Caley Valley wetlands through release point W1. A July 2017 report by the Queensland government reports on a scientific assessment of the wetlands post Cyclone Debbie. Soil samples collected by the Queensland government were analysed by two companies, Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) and UQ Materials Performance (UQMP).

ALS analysed the samples using Australian Standards AS2856 Part 1 & 2 and found that coal made up 26.8% of the samples taken from Caley Valley shore and 15.4% of the samples from Caley Valley wetlands. The report says that these represent “quite a significant volume of coal”.

UQMP used an in-house analysis method and found that the samples contained 10% and 2% coal just near location W2 and trace contamination across the wetlands.

In Adani’s 27 August 2018 statement the company quotes a Queensland government report that says there is little visual evidence of coal fines across the entire wetland.

Mackay Conservation Group visited the Caley Valley wetlands on 27 & 28 April 2017 following an invitation from Queensland’s environment minister. We had been told that we would be able to collect soil samples at the site but on arrival people representing Adani told us we could not collect any samples or photographs. During our visit we observed significant coverage of coal fines in the parts of the wetland we were permitted to visit. The Queensland Government photo above shows significant coal contamination in the soil sample taken in the Caley Valley wetlands. More photos from the site inspection can be found here. 

Adani has been required by the Queensland Government to undertake an environmental evaluation into the causes and impacts of the coal spill into the Caley Valley wetlands. Adani has appealed this requirement and the case will be heard in October 2018.

For a more extensive background document on this issue see this article on our website.

Final documents released July 2018

Redacted documents released October 2017 (Part A)

Redacted documents released October 2017 (Part B)

A Right To Information request by Mackay Conservation Group (MCG) has resulted in the release of previously secret documents which reveal that both Adani and the Queensland Government were well aware that water, containing high concentrations of pollutants, could be released from Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area during Cyclone Debbie, in breach of even the special licence to pollute that the Department of Environment issued at the time.

After the cyclone Adani admitted to breaching its Temporary Emissions Licence (TEL) by more than 800% of the amount of coal polluted water allowed to be released into the Reef coast. Adani subsequently spent a year attempting to block the release of documents that would reveal what the company knew about the concentration of pollutants that could flow into the environment. In agreeing to release the information, the Right to Information Commissioner criticised Adani’s arguments for blocking the documents as “too speculative or conjectural to form a reasonably based expectation” that it could prejudice an ongoing investigation into a possible contravention of the TEL.

Despite a clear breach of Adani’s licence to pollute, it is now sixteen months since the cyclone and it appears that the Queensland government has failed to yet launch proceedings to prosecute Adani for unlawfully releasing coal polluted water into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The latest advice from the Department is that it has until 7 September 2018 to launch a prosecution.

Meanwhile Adani is:

• challenging the Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) of $12,190 for the breach and, as part of proceedings, was alleged to have submitted an altered laboratory report about the concentration of contaminants released to the marine environment;
• appealing the Queensland Environment Department’s decision to require that they carry out an environmental investigation as a result of the discharge during the cyclone into the Caley Valley Wetlands at Abbot Point, to look at causes and impacts
• seeking approval from the Queensland government to increase the amount of coal that goes through its Abbot Point Port by 10 million tonnes per annum, yet failing to ensure its terminal is more storm proof and likely to pollute.

The previously secret documents, released under RTI are here. The judgment by the Queensland Information Commission is here.

An extensive blog  on the pollution incident at Abbot Point, and how events unfolded, has been prepared by the Queensland Environmental Defenders Office and can be found here.

Media Release

Adani should start engineering works on its Abbot Point port facility to ensure no repeat incidents of pollution of the Great Barrier Reef coast, not fight a $12,000 fine for a breach the company itself reported to the Queensland Environment Department, says the Mackay Conservation Group (“Adani denies stormwater breach”, Townsville Bulletin, today).

Mackay Conservation Group coordinator, Peter McCallum, who visited Abbot Point with department officials in April to inspect the pollution said, “It’s a bit rich of Adani to claim it has been singled out by the Queensland Government given all the special treatment they have received.

“The Queensland government has granted Adani free, unlimited water, it has amended water laws to stop objections by farmers and granted Adani a secret royalties deal. For Adani to cry ‘poor me’ really beggars belief.

“The reality is that Adani is being given privileged treatment by the Queensland government, a prime example being this puny $12,000 slap on the wrist.

“Adani admitted to the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection that it released more than eight times its licenced concentration of pollution in March.

“Rather than considering challenging the measly $12,000 fine for polluting the Great Barrier Reef coast Adani should begin work immediately to secure its coal terminal from storms and cyclones to avoid repeat pollution of the Reef coast and the Caley Valley Wetlands.

“The Department handed Adani a license to pollute before Cyclone Debbie hit which placed no limit on the volume of polluted water Adani could let flow into the wetlands.

“A day later this license was retrospectively amended to protect Adani from liability for releasing coal polluted water at several other locations including the sea.

“It took over a week for the Department of the Environment to begin even the most basic survey and five months later we still have no report on the pollution of the Caley Valley wetlands.

“I visited the site with Department officials, a good month after the Cyclone, and it was clear there was still coal present in the Caley Valley wetlands. We saw sediments which appear to be laden with coal within the wetlands adjacent to Adani’s storm water system outlet. 

“Adani’s environmental record overseas, and this incident, shows it can’t be trusted to construct a new coal terminal, build a massive coal mine or ship its coal out through the Great Barrier Reef,”  Mr McCallum said.

Mackay Conservation Group exposed aerial photography of Adani’s pollution of the Caley Valley wetlands in April which led to the company admitting to releasing 806mg/L of coal and other pollutants from its port at Abbot Point. 

-ENDS-

For further information or interviews, please contact: Peter McCallum 0402 966 560

Mackay Conservation Group is a volunteer based organisation that was established in 1983 and works to protect Central Queensland’s environment www.mackayconservationgroup.org.au

Media Release

Date:      11 August 2017
Contact:  Peter McCallum                           

$12K Abbot Point fine for Adani pollution of Reef coast risks the environment

A $12,000 fine imposed on Adani by the Queensland Government for polluting the Great Barrier Reef coast is inadequate and will encourage future environmental harm at Abbot Point rather than preventative action by the company, according to the Mackay Conservation Group.                                          

The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has imposed a fine of $12,190 on the company after it admitted to releasing more than eight times its licenced concentration of pollution in March this year. The Department is yet to report on pollution of the Caley Valley wetlands. 

Mackay Conservation Group coordinator, Peter McCallum, who visited Abbot Point with department officials in April to inspect the pollution said, “It is hard to see how this fine can act as a deterrent. Adani made over $250 million in revenue at Abbot Point in the last financial year, with this fine representing a miniscule 0.005 percent. 

“Adani is likely to make a business decision that it is cheaper to pollute the Caley Valley wetlands and the waters of the Great Barrier Reef than to put in place infrastructure that will ensure the sensitive environments at Abbot Point are never damaged again. 

“Without sufficient penalties for breaching environmental conditions there’s little point in having them. 

“Adani is operating a coal terminal in a cyclone-prone area that cannot withstand a cyclone without risk of polluting the Reef and the Caley Valley Wetlands.

“We need much more than a fine to prevent future pollution if the port is destined to carry Adani’s dirty coal.

“The port’s wastewater management systems are clearly inadequate and sediments which appear to be laden with coal were seen within the Caley Valley Wetlands adjacent to Adani’s storm water system outlet.

“Adani has been given free water, free coal and now almost free rein to pollute the environment and our precious Reef coast. The company can’t be trusted to operate anywhere in Queensland.” 

Mackay Conservation Group exposed aerial photography of Adani’s pollution of the Caley Valley wetlands in April which led to the company admitting to releasing 806mg/L of coal and other pollutants from its port at Abbot Point. 

-ENDS-

For further information or interviews, please contact: Peter McCallum 0402 966 560

Before and after vision of the port available on request.

Mackay Conservation Group is a volunteer based organisation that was established in 1983 that works to protect Central Queensland’s environment www.mackayconservationgroup.org.au

Mackay Conservation Group, which last week joined government scientists on a site visit to Adani’s Abbot Point facility where it was evident Adani had allowed coal to pollute the sensitive Caley Valley wetlands during Cyclone Debbie, say the wholesale breach of Adani’s pollution license shows the company cannot be trusted to operate in Australia

Coordinator of the Mackay Conservation Group, Mr Peter McCallum said, “Even with a license to pollute in its back pocket, Adani has still managed to exceed the permitted discharge of contaminants by 800 per cent. This is one more sign Adani’s mine should not proceed

“This breach isn't a minor one. It's equivalent to driver travelling at over 300km/h in a school zone

“Adani have been found to be operating a coal terminal in a cyclone-prone area that cannot withstand a cyclone without risk of contaminating the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and the Caley Valley Wetlands.

On 11 March the new government announced their new proposal for the Abbot Point expansion, which shifted dredge spoil from the Caley Valley wetlands to a site immediately adjacent on the former site of terminal 2.

The series of new proposals at Abbot Point are the result of community, scientific and international concern about the compatibility of expanding coal export infrastructure at a time when the health of the Great Barrier Reef is in serious decline.

No-one wants to see increased sediment in the wetlands and the Reef as a result of the new proposal. The new development at Abbot Point was discussed at our last volunteer meeting and the views of the MCG volunteers on the new proposal are summarised at our website. Comments welcome.

The following summarises a discussion at a Mackay Conservation Group volunteers meeting on Thursday 19 March. Please leave any comments below:

The Queensland government wants to dredge 1.7 million cubic metres from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and then dump this material into settling ponds in the Caley Valley wetlands, wiping out habitat for endangered and migratory birds and risking sediment running back into the Reef.

If you have two minutes, please make a submission to Greg Hunt: https://caleyvalley.good.do/stop-fast-tracking-abbot-point-dredging-and-dumping/send-in-a-submission-to-protect-the-reef-wetlands/

We’re organising an action and information evening about the Caley Valley wetlands to coincide with our next volunteer meeting. We’ve got great ideas about how you can make a creative submission so please come along!

What: Abbot Point action and information evening
When: 5:30pm, Thursday 27th November
Where: Environment Centre, 156 Wood Street

Hunt fast tracks Abbot Point coal terminal project after pressure from Queensland government

Greg Hunt has today decided that dredging and dumping for the controversial Abbot Point project does not need to go through a full environmental impact assessment.

The Queensland government has a proposal to dredge 1.7 million cubic metres from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, and dump the spoil into the adjacent Caley Valley wetlands.

‘The Queensland government wants to start dredging for the Abbot Point coal terminal next March and so has pressured Greg Hunt to fast track the process, stating that it can be assessed quickly on ‘preliminary documentation,’ said Co-ordinator of the Mackay Conservation Group, Ellen Roberts.