LANDHOLDER hopes of securing compensation for soil and water contaminated by failed underground gasification company Linc Energy have been bolstered with the Queensland Government saying the project should never have been allowed to proceed.
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130 landholders involving about 32,000-hectares of country in the Hopeland district near Chinchilla have the opportunity to join a class action being coordinated by lawyer Tom Marland, the principal of Marland Law.
“There remains confusion and uncertainty in the community in relation to both the criminal and class actions claims against Linc Energy,” Mr Marland said.
“This has not been helped by the company entering into voluntary administration on the weekend. Linc is really the small fish in this and we consider that the State Government is culpable for granting the license in the first place and allowing the contamination to occur.
“We already have 20 landholders who have joined the group and we have only just started the process. My job is to ensure every affected landholder is fully informed of what has occurred and what the class action process is about.”
The extent of the contamination is detailed in an expert report by Gilbert and Sutherland which was commissioned by the Queensland Government. That report lays blame with Linc Energy’s underground coal gasification (UCG) project at Kummerows Road, Chinchilla.
The Linc project and a trial by Cougar Energy at Kingaroy were two pilot programs approved by the former Beattie Government. The Cougar site was shut down in 2010 after benzene was found to have contaminated underground water at that site.
Mr Marland said although Linc Energy had been placed in administration last week, the group would be still be seeking to access compensation from Linc’s insurers and from the Queensland Government which had granted Linc with its licence to operate.
“The State Government is the ultimate owner of mineral resources in this state and they are responsible for the granting of licenses to exploit those resources,” Mr Marland said.
“They owe a duty of care to the community that those licenses are appropriately granted, regulated and monitored.”
“The State Government have spent $6.5 million in their own investigations into the Linc site and their own reports categorically conclude that the license should never have been granted as it was inappropriate for the landform in which the activities were undertaken.
“It is absolutely right and proper that landholders are appropriately compensated to damage of their land and water, for lost property values and damage to the reputation of agricultural products produced in this region.
“As hard as it is to imagine that this type of activity and contamination was allowed to happen in this day and age, the only way is forward and the only redress for the affected community of Hopeland and surrounds is via this class action.
“I hope like hell, for the sake of those that live and farm at Hopelands, that the report is wrong. But why should landholders bear the cost of waiting to find out what might or might not happen.”
The class action comes as the Palaszczuk Government this week moved to ban UCG because of its environmental impact.
Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham announced the immediate ban on Tuesday, saying a legislated ban would be introduced before the end of the year.
“We have looked at the evidence from the pilot-operation of UCG and we’ve considered the compatibility of the current technologies with Queensland’s environment and our economic needs,” Dr Lynham said.
“The potential risks to Queensland’s environment and our valuable agricultural industries far outweigh any potential economic benefits.”
Linc Energy is already committed for trial in the District Court on five counts of wilfully and unlawfully causing serious environmental harm.
Meanwhile, the Queensland Resources Council said it was disappointed by the Palaszczuk Government announcement that it intended to ban underground coal gasification, with no consultation.
QRC acting chief executive Greg Lane said a ban without the release of the triggering evidence would only raise concern for business confidence and investment in Queensland.
"Furthermore, Carbon Energy (which is currently decommissioning and rehabilitating its site at Bloodwood Creek near Dalby) has spent more than eight years and $150 million proving its innovative technology developed in conjunction with the CSIRO, in a process set by the Queensland Government, with oversight by an independent scientific panel,” Mr Lane said.
“That the government has made this decision to forego 1000 potential construction jobs, as well as maintaining hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the state due to low cost gas, suggests the serious concerns it had.
“That no signoff has been received on the completion of the Independent Scientific Panel process denies Carbon Energy the opportunity to commercialise its technology in other jurisdictions with different UCG policies, and is hopefully an administrative matter to be quickly rectified.
“It is just three years since the Office of Chief Scientist’s review confirmed the 2012 Independent Scientific Panel’s conclusion that “underground coal gasification could, in principle, be conducted in a manner that is acceptable socially and environmentally safe when compared to a wide range of other existing resource-using activities."
Mr Marland is working with barristers Grant Allan and Charles Wilson to progress the compensation claim which is expected to be in the order of $150 million.
UCG involves converting coal to a synthesised gas by burning coal underground. The ‘syngas’ is processed at the surface to create products such as aviation fuels and synthetic diesel.
