Environment department rejects Great Artesian Basin carbon project

On Friday the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation announced the project would have potential impacts on groundwater resources in the Great Artesian Basin.

Queensland's environmental regulator undertook a three-year assessment, carefully considering the project's environmental impact statement against strict regulatory requirements in the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019.

The assessment found that the Precipice Sandstone aquifer in the GAB, where the project had proposed to inject captured CO2 for storage, was not a confined aquifer, which was a strict requirement of the regulation.

The assessment also found that CO2 injected into the aquifer could migrate, likely causing irreversible or long-term change to groundwater quality and environmental values if the project was to proceed.

This included potential increased concentrations of contaminants including chloride, sulphate, salinity, various metals, and metalloids (including lead and arsenic).

Several submissions on the EIS confirmed that groundwater in the Precipice Sandstone held environmental values, as it was used for agriculture, irrigation, and stock watering.

The department's final decision on the EIS acknowledged the importance of the GAB to multiple stakeholders and made it clear that other carbon capture and storage projects would not be viable in the GAB.

Queensland Farmers' Federation CEO Jo Sheppard said the decision was the first step in ensuring the GAB was protected for future generations.

"While the decision to reject this project is a step in the right direction," Ms Sheppard said

"It is not enough, and that regulations must now be put in place immediately to protect the GAB, we know that there are currently two companies with exploration permits for CCS in the GAB.

"And we know that other companies globally are looking at the GAB as a cheap way to conduct CCS at an industrial scale to manage their emissions.

"In the absence of federal policy, the Queensland government can and must now take a leadership role and put regulations in place to protect the Queensland component of the GAB from further CCS bids."

Ms Sheppard said QFF, alongside Local Government Association of Queensland and the Queensland Conservation Council would continue to call on the state government to enact provisions that would prevent further CCS project bids in water aquifers in the GAB from being put forward here in Queensland.

A delegation led by QFF to the Premier last month included representatives from the agriculture sector, rural communities, councils and conservationists to show a unified front in opposition to CCS in the GAB.

"We called on the Premier then, and we are calling on the Premier now, to put regulations in place as a matter of urgency to prioritise water security and protect this vital natural resource for generations to come," Ms Sheppard said.

"The EIS decision is now known and the Premier must not delay taking action to respond to the concerns of the people of Queensland."

AgForce CEO Michael Guerin applauded the state government's leadership and courage in knocking back Glencore/CTSCo's application to pump industrial waste into the Great Artesian Basin in Queensland.

"The decision has been praised by industry and communities across four states and territories of Australia, as it puts to rest the immediate risk from this specific proposal," he said.

"This particular project was clearly a trial for future upscaling in this aquifer in the GAB, which Glencore believed had a storage capacity of up to 730 billion litres of industrial waste.

"However, the GAB is one of the largest underground freshwater resources in the world, as well as Australia's largest groundwater basin. As such it's the only reliable water source available for much of the outback's arid inland areas."

Mr Guerin said while he celebrated the state government decision, "our thoughts now immediately go to how to best protect the GAB into the future from such environmental threats".

This included proceeding with its Federal Court appearance on August 1.

"Protecting it properly from a statutory perspective can only be achieved through more robust Federal Policy, with the current review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act a critical component of that," he said.

"Another key aspect for AgForce is for the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to now use her power to recall the Glencore application for re-assessment. The previous Federal Government deemed this proposal was not captured by the 'Matters of National Environmental Significance' or MNES provisions of the EPBC Act.

"But the Minister has the power to review that - otherwise, the precedent set under the current provisions of the Act will potentially allow other applications through, or give space for a re-application by Glencore ahead of the promised reform of the Act itself.

"Should the Federal Minister for the Environment call the application back in to be reassessed, we would gladly acknowledge her leadership in protecting one of the natural wonders of the world.

"Otherwise, we remain on track for the Federal Court on August 1 to seek a judicial review of that February 9 2022 decision.

"On May 9, Glencore issued a statement saying it was disappointed that Premier Miles is providing negative running commentary while the CTSCo Project is still under independent review."

Glencore has been contacted for comment.