Environmental Group Seeks to Stop Maules Creek Mine Project

The North Inland Council for the Environment, a prominent environmental group, has struck Whitehaven Coal with a lawsuit, where it claimed that the Maules Creek mine, which the company is set to open and operate, is bound to destroy the forested areas around the vicinity.

Filed before the Sydney Federal Court, the environmental council is seeking that the government withdraws its approval of the mining project, citing laws under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

A spokesperson for the council said, “Vast areas of forest that provide habitat for native plants and animals, including the Koala, will be bulldozed and converted into an open-cut coal pit.”

As mining is the biggest commodity in Australia, several lawsuits from environmental groups are no longer uncommon. Previously, a complaint was filed against the GVK Group and one of Asia’s richest women, Gine Rinehart, whose companies have been working together to build a coal mine that has been pegged at $10 Million. In the previous year, environmentalists also attempted to stop Xstrata construction’s coal mine project in Queensland.

Experts say, however, that filing a lawsuit doesn’t really stop these companies from proceeding with their projects, especially when already approved. Whitehaven is considered the second largest coal producer for the country. It took them quite sometime to get an approval from the government for Maules Creek.

Farmers living around Whitehaven Coal, however, carry the sentiments of these environmentalists, saying, “If these mines proceed, they will rip the heart out of our local farming community.” They believe that this was hastily approved.