MACH Energy Australia’s expansion of its Mount Pleasant coal mine in New South Wales has been halted after a judge found the Independent Planning Commission’s 2022 approval of the project invalid, reported ABC News.
The proposed expansion would allow the company to mine an additional 247 million tonnes of coal by 2048.
The Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group (DAMSHEG) appealed the approval, arguing that the effects of scope 3 emissions were not properly considered by the IPC.
NSW Court of Appeal Justice Julie Ward ruled there was nothing in the commission’s reasoning that showed it had accepted the scope 3 emissions would contribute to global climate change. “Thus, I consider that it has been established that the commission failed to consider a mandatory consideration in this regard,” she said.
MACH Energy said it would carefully review the judgment and “explore all avenues to ensure continuity and certainty for the Muswellbrook community and the broader Hunter Valley Region.”
The case will now proceed to the Land and Environment Court for a decision on whether the expansion approval should be reversed.
Source: ABC News