In a win for residents and the climate, the NSW Court of Appeal on September 14 rebuffed South Korean mining company KEPCO鈥檚 bid to get its coalmine project going in the聽fertile Bylong聽Valley, west of Sydney.
The court聽heard KEPCO鈥檚 second appeal on August 25, which challenged the 2019 Independent Planning Commission鈥檚 decision to . The IPC said it was concerned about聽the mine鈥檚 impact on groundwater and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
The Court of Appeal backed the IPC, saying the project would cause 鈥渓ong lasting environmental, agricultural and heritage impacts鈥.
Managing lawyer with the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) Rana Koroglu said it was the third time the coalmine proposal had been defeated in the courts. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for the proponent KEPCO to walk away鈥, Koroglu told the September聽14 Sydney Morning Herald.
鈥淭he most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report delivered a 鈥榗ode red鈥 for humanity on climate. It鈥檚 clear we cannot afford to develop more greenfield coal mines at a time when the world needs to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions鈥, she said.
Bylong聽Valley Protection Alliance (BVPA) president Phillip Kennedy said he hoped KEPCO will heed the court鈥檚 decision and walk away. 鈥淚'd really like to see this valley that鈥檚 been purchased by KEPCO under the pretense of a proposed coalmine 10 years ago when they started [to be given back to the community]鈥, he said.
Kennedy and the BVPA are calling on the NSW government to 鈥渆xtinguish this [mining] licence and to put this to bed once and for all鈥.
(LTGA) said on September 14 that the Berejiklian government must help buy back land KEPCO wanted to turn into a coalmine. It said that the Korea National Assembly Budget Office (NSBO) in South Korea was also pressuring KEPCO to 鈥渁bandon the ill-conceived proposal鈥.
LTGA said the NSBO had revealed that KEPCO had lost US$405 million so far in its pursuit of mining the fertile valley. In January 2020, KEPCO鈥檚 board聽聽of its Bylong mining rights from A$642 million to zero in a report to the South Korean stock exchange.
鈥淭he problem we have is that even with today鈥檚 win, we鈥檙e still not sure what will happen to our farmland, our heritage-listed valley and what鈥檚 left of our community鈥, Kennedy said.
LTGA said KEPCO has advised the South Korean government that it had an offer to purchase the land from agricultural interest.
[聽to KEPCO鈥檚 Chief Executive Officer.]