MOUNT Pleasant coal mine owner MACH Energy has seen off one court challenge by the neighbouring Bengalla mine, but another action is still on foot in the Land and Environment Court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Brisbane-based MACH Energy bought the long-approved but unbuilt Muswellbrook mine from Rio Tinto last year for $220 million.
It is seeking permission from the Department of Planning to vary the terms of its approval to allow it to operate until 2026, six years beyond its current limit of 2020.
It is also seeking to extend the size of an overburden dumping area – known as the Eastern out of pit emplacement – by 67 hectares.
Although opposition from horse studs and those opposed to coal was always expected, a challenge from Bengalla – 40 per cent owned by Rio Tinto until last year – came as something of a surprise.
Part of the dispute involves a proposed Mount Pleasant rail loop proposed on land for which Bengalla has the mining rights from 40 metres below the surface.
MACH Energy says it always knew the rail loop would have to be moved. In a Response to Submissions document, recently posted on the Department of Planning website, it says “the construction, operation and ultimate relocation of this infrastructure” is addressed both in a condition of consent and in a Master Cooperation Agreement signed between Bengalla and Rio Tinto, which MACH says was part of its purchase.
In a Land and Environment Court case heard over two days in July and September, Bengalla alleged that MACH was in breach of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act because it had not “consulted” with Bengalla “prior to carrying out development on the site”.
MACH Energy denied Bengalla’s claim, and issued subpoenas to Bengalla seeking a range of documents that the court said were in relation to Bengalla’s claim to have not been consulted.
Despite Bengalla’s contention that the demand for documents was “a fishing expedition”, the court broadly dismissed Bengalla’s case, although MACH accepted a confidentiality agreement over the documents and some changes to what Bengalla needs to produce.
Further court action between the parties is under way with the matter listed for return of subpoenas on October 27.
In its response to submissions, MACH said that three-quarters of the 241 people objecting to the mine were employees of Bengalla.
In a recent newsletter to Muswellbrook residents, MACH managing director Scott Winter said that “despite ongoing attempts to stop our work, construction is processing as planned. He said coal extraction would start in the coming months.