Minister Anthony Lyneham has released the draft environmental impact statement for the expansion of the Abbot Point port. Here are extracts from his Media Release of 20.8.15.
‘“The community can now have its say on the draft EIS with around 2400 pages of detailed investigatory information and almost 150 commitments to protect the environment.”
‘Dr Lynham said the draft EIS would be available for comment until close of business on 18 September, allowing more than 20 business days for public consultation. The proposed expansion of Abbot Point will boost its capacity to meet anticipated export demand from proposed Galilee Basin mining projects.
‘Dr Lynham said the government was holding to its commitment that this infrastructure would not be funded by taxpayers, as was planned under the previous LNP Government.
‘“Importantly, any expansion at the port will be at the cost of Galilee Basin developers, including Adani, not Queensland taxpayers,” he said.
‘“The Queensland Government will deliver a robust final EIS, which will include feedback from consultation, to the Commonwealth Government in early October.
‘“It’s then up to the Commonwealth Government, which has 40 business days to assess the EIS and deliver a final decision on the project.
‘“Work will only begin when environmental approvals have been received. We expect these works will create around 160 jobs for at peak construction.”
Submissions are open until 5.00 pm, 18 September 2015.
See the links to the Discussion Paper, the EIS, and the online survey.