The chief of Western Australia's top environmental watchdog has defended its decision to knock back a coalmine proposal in Margaret River, after claims surfaced the ruling was rushed.
Media reports yesterday claimed the Environmental Protection Authority received advice from other government agencies that more information was needed to reject the application, but banned the proposed Vasse Coal development anyway.
Vasse Coal's proponent, LD Operations, expressed "grave concerns" that the EPA's report was contradictory to information provided to the authority by government agencies, ignored critical expert evidence and does not provide full and accurate information.
LD Operations had applied to develop a coal mine 15 kilometres from Margaret River.
The company said it would review the EPA's report in detail to determine its appeal rights.
EPA chairman Paul Vogel today said the authority stood by its summation that the Vasse Coal proposal was environmentally unacceptable.
"In some instances, it is possible for the EPA to make a judgement that the proposal is fundamentally and fatally flawed, based on the proponent's referral information, specialist advice sought by the EPA, the EPA's own knowledge and experience in dealing with similar environmental risks and impacts, and the application of the precautionary principle," Dr Vogel said.
"In the EPA's view, this is the case with the Vasse Coal proposal."
The EPA's assessment, released yesterday, said there was likely to be significant impacts or risks from the proposal on the Leederville and Sue aquifers.
"Even though some of the significant impacts, or risks, may be presented as being manageable because of their low probability of occurring, the environmental consequences of some low probability event may be so serious, widerspread or irreversible that the proposal, taken as a whole, on balance, presents unacceptable risks to important environmental values, and thus makes the proposal environmentally unacceptable," Dr Vogel said.
