The NSW Environmental Defenders Office has confirmed it will again represent the Bylong Valley community as it fights another attempt to mine the area's rich agricultural land.
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South Korean Government-backed Kepco announced this week that it would appeal a Land and Environment Court judgement that upheld a Independent Planning Assessment Commission decision to reject its mine proposal.
It is estimated the company has spent about $700 million on the project to date. That includes the cost of buying up hundreds of hectares of land in the Bylong Valley over the past 10 years.
READ MORE:
- Kepco launches fresh appeal to mine in the pristine Bylong Valley
- Bylong Valley residents hoping to get on with their lives following decision
- Land and Environment Court dismisses an appeal brought by KEPCO over Bylong mine
- KEPCO argues Independent Planning Commission did not follow correct procedures in rejecting Bylong mine
- Independent Planning Commission's refusal of KEPCO's Bylong Valley coal mine to be examined in judicial review
It is likely the appeal could cost the company about $500,000, a fraction of its investment in the project.
Environmental Defenders Office managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said the EDO was disappointed Kepco had chosen to appeal what was widely considered a sound legal judgement.
"We are a public interest environmental law centre and we represent individuals and groups fighting the impacts of fossil fuel developments," she said.
"This is a particularly troublesome proposal given that it is on such beautiful agricultural land."
A directions hearing will be held on April 14.
Given the Court of Appeal's workload, it is likely the matter will not be heard until July or August with a judgement delivered towards Christmas.
Kepco argues the mine, which would yield an estimated 6.5 million tonnes of coal a year, would inject around $290 million into the NSW economy.
However, the Independent Planning Commission ultimately found in September 2019 that the project was not in the public interest due to factors including its greenhouse gas emissions, impacts on groundwater and the loss of prime agricultural land.
It followed the Land and Environment Court's rejection of the proposed Rocky Hill coal mine in Gloucester in early 2019. The judgement also highlighted the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.
"I think the Rocky Hill decision was very clear in stating that a consent authority in these types of projects has a discretion to consider the climate impacts of any fossil fuel development on the environment and that this can be the basis for refusing new projects," Ms Koroglu said.
"That's what the IPC did in Bylong as well and the court upheld it's right to make those types of determinations."
Bylong Valley Protection Alliance spokesperson Phillip Kennedy urged Kepco to sell its land holdings back to the farming community.
"Kepco is predominantly owned by the South Korean Government, so for it to pursue this coal mine while that government talks up its so-called green new deal is the height of hypocrisy," he said.
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"This seems like a stark contradiction of how the South Korean Government is portraying itself in the international media, and what KEPCO is proposing to do in Australia. The South Korean Government is clearly greenwashing.
"If the Korean government says it wants to be green then let KEPCO lead the way and sell the land back to Australian mum and dad farmers to build this community again."
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