The Mackay Conservation Group has lodged an objection in the Queensland Land Court as it continues to fight the planned Hail Creek coal mine extension.

The Hail Creek Eastern Margin Extension Project would see the Central Queensland coal operation develop a new pit and extend the existing Kemmis, Carrinyah and Exevale pits to stretch out the mine life by three years to 2038.

The State Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation in March issued a draft environmental authority (EA) for the extension.

The mine, 35km north-west of Nebo, is run in joint venture by Glencore subsidiary Hail Creek Coal Holdings (84.7 per cent), Marubeni Resources Development (12 per cent) and Sumisho Coal Development Queensland (3.3 per cent).

It makes a significant socio-economic contribution to Queensland, employng more than 1000 workers and supporting more than 700 suppliers, according to Glencore. 

The Mackay Conservation Group said the proposed extension would result in the destruction of more than 600ha of high-quality koala habitat and the release of about 70Mt of greenhouse gas emissions.

“These dire climate impacts are based on the company’s own data, which scientists say could exclude substantial emissions of methane, an extremely powerful driver of global heating,” MCG Coordinator Emma Barrett said.  

“The Hail Creek expansion will stoke the climate-change furnace that is heating our planet and will needlessly destroy critical habitat for threatened koalas and squatter pigeons, driving them closer to extinction.  

“That is too high a price to pay to extend the life of the mine for only about three years. This project is dirty and dangerous and should not proceed.”

Glencore said the project proposal included a greenhouse gas emissions abatement plan and the continuation of existing environmental management plans, including detailed mitigation measures for koala habitat.

“Hail Creek coal mine is covered under the national Safeguard Mechanism and reports under Method 2 of the Australian Government’s National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) framework for open-cut fugitive emissions,” a company spokesman said.

“This represents global regulatory best practice for calculating fugitive emissions from open-cut coal mines.”

MCG is being represented in this matter by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), a community legal centre specialising in environmental law.