Environmental Advocacy in Central Queensland (EnvA) has criticised the Queensland Government’s response to concerns about coal mine water releases into the Fitzroy Basin, saying the department failed to answer key questions about cumulative impacts, transparency and regulatory oversight.
In April, EnvA wrote to Environment Minister Andrew Powell outlining concerns that the current coal mine water release framework is based on a decade-old pilot project and has not kept pace with the expansion of coal mining across Central Queensland or the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events.
The organisation called for a review of the regulatory framework, improved public access to water release data, publication of monitoring reports, stronger enforcement measures and an assessment of the cumulative impacts of mine water releases across the Fitzroy Basin.
EnvA Director Dr Coral Rowston said the government’s response largely repeated existing policy and assurances while failing to address the specific issues raised.
“The government says the current framework is effective, but it has not answered whether anyone has assessed the cumulative impacts of dozens of mines releasing polluted water into the same catchment,” Dr Rowston said.
“The Fitzroy Basin is the largest catchment flowing to the Great Barrier Reef, yet the government has not provided any evidence that it has undertaken a contemporary assessment of cumulative impacts since the pilot project more than ten years ago.”
Dr Rowston said the response also failed to address concerns about public transparency.
“Coal mining companies collect extensive monitoring data during water releases, but much of this information is not readily available to the public. Communities should not have to submit formal requests and wait months to access reports about pollution entering local waterways.”
“The government points people to existing websites, but that was never the issue. Our concern is that critical information, including daily release volumes, changing salinity levels and many monitoring reports, remains difficult or impossible for the public to access.”
EnvA also questioned the government’s reliance on overall flow figures for the Fitzroy River rather than addressing local impacts in streams and rivers receiving mine water releases.
“The department stated that mine water releases represented only 0.6 per cent of flow passing Rockhampton. That figure does not tell us what is happening in waterways where the releases actually occur.”
“The question is not how much water reaches Rockhampton. The question is what impact these releases are having on local waterways, aquatic ecosystems and water quality throughout the catchment.”
EnvA has written back to the department seeking answers to several unanswered questions, including whether cumulative impact assessments have been undertaken, whether the current framework has been reviewed in light of changing climate conditions, and whether transparency measures will be improved.
“The government’s response raises more questions than it answers,” Dr Rowston said.
“If the current framework is working as well as claimed, there should be no reluctance to improve transparency and make the evidence publicly available.”
EnvA - CQ 