Western Downs Alliance v Minister for the Environment and Energy & Santos Limited

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Federal Court of Australia

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

08/06/2016

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Mitigation

SUBJECT MATTER

Gas / Oil

REVIEW TYPE

Judicial Review

SUMMARY

Western Downs Alliance Inc sought judicial review of a Minister for the Environment and Energy’s decision to approve the further development of a coal seam gas field in the Gladstone Natural Gas Project, including up to 6100 additional coal seam gas wells and associated infrastructure, in central southern Queensland. The Alliance contended that the Minister failed to adequately consider the impact of the project upon water resources: the development was to have involved the extraction of 219 billion litres of water. The parties ultimately issued a settlement amending the approval by adding additional conditions: a) that the project is prohibited from discharging waste water to any watercourse; and b) that any proposed release in the future must be assessed by the Minister.

CASE DOCUMENTS

NSD929/2016 Western Downs Alliance v Minister for the Environment and Energy & Santos Limited