Mining magnate and political aspirant Clive Palmer is facing an unlikely adversary in his bid to mine coal in central Queensland — the military.
The billionaire's proposed Central Queensland Coal Project lease overlaps part of the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) sensitive new expanded training zone at Ogmore about 650 kilometres north of Brisbane.
The zone known as the Shoalwater Bay Expansion Area is being developed by the ADF to host exercises for thousands of Singaporean troops on 18-week rotations for the next 25 years.
Government documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal the ADF has raised numerous potential concerns, including groundwater contamination and security in relation to the mine site's proximity to the training area.
The open-cut mine project has been awaiting federal government approval after the Queensland government rejected the mine last year citing numerous concerns including groundwater contamination.
The Department of Defence has called on the federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to supply any groundwater or aquifer studies for the training area, according to the internal government documents obtained by anti-coal mining activists Lock the Gate Alliance.
The documents from October last year contain a map showing the mine lease is both adjacent to and overlapping part of the western area of the Defence training zone.
They show Defence only became engaged in the process last year after being approached by the environment department for comment about the mine's impact on the training zone.
'Deleterious impacts upon groundwater'
A copy of Defence's response reveals it had a number of areas of potential concern, highlighted the impact on groundwater and cited scientific studies that linked mining to contamination.
"Deleterious impacts upon groundwater resource may significantly impact the sustainability of large-scale activities such as major exercises and training," the Defence response said.
It stated that a scientific committee studying coal seam gas and large coal mining development had advised of "surface water and/or groundwater contamination issues".
The Defence response noted that publicised independent studies about the project from the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining raised concerns about the coal project's potential impact on local water resources.
Defence requested the environment department provide details about the studies in relation to the groundwater aquifers and water resources on the training grounds.
It also sought more information about impacts on the use of air space over the training ground, the control of roads and the potential dangers of mine and military aircraft as well as land vehicles from both sites being in close proximity.
Defence noted the potential requirement to block the monitoring of military activities that would be in direct line of sight.
It queried whether the mine could constrain and complicate training activities such as night and all-weather exercises.
"Vibrations and other activities inherent with large mining operations have the capability to change the geography of the immediate region and therefore may impact the suitability of the region, particularly the SWBEA [Shoalwater Bay Expanded Area] for certain exercises," it said.
'The mine should be refused'
Defence has asked to be "formally" consulted on the project to ensure its interests are "addressed, prior to the proposed project's potential Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act approval and proposed decision".
The Defence response was welcomed by the Capricorn Conservation Council, which has been lobbying against the mine for over five years.
Conservation council campaigner Coral Rowston said the response indicated the "evidence was piling up that the mine should be refused".
She said the expanded training area was purchased and used by the government for both military and environmental purposes.
"So I understand Defence's concerns about some of the environmental matters," she said.
She said independent experts had been scathing of the proposal due to the threat it posed to the Great Barrier Reef and for the Broadsound Wetland and Queensland's largest fish habitat area.
A spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the minister took her obligations seriously and would carefully consider all relevant information put to her on whether or not to approve the proposed action.
The statutory clock to assess the proposed action had been stopped, the spokesperson said.
The 2,661-hectare mining project had been touted as being able to annually produce 10 million tonnes of semi-soft coking coal and high-grade thermal coal from an open-cut mine over an 18-year period.
The actual coal project is approximately 40 kilometres from the Shoalwater Bay Expanded Area.
In April last year, the Queensland government deemed the mine "not suitable", saying it posed "a number of unacceptable risks" including to the Great Barrier Reef, wetlands and fish habitat and ecosystems that depended on underground water.
In 2020, the national Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) expressed extreme concerns about ecological damage from the mine, especially in relation to the release of "mine-affected water".
Mr Palmer and Defence have both been contacted for comment.
