"Lawsuit against Whitehaven Coal's Narrabri Stage 3 extension consent dismissed", 4 July 2023

Australia's Whitehaven Coal (WHC.AX) on Wednesday said an environmental court in New South Wales (NSW) dismissed proceedings initiated by an activist group to invalidate the state's consent to extend the miner's Narrabri Stage 3 project.

In April last year, Australia's top independent coal miner received the "state significant development consent" from NSW's Independent Planning Commission for the project, which would extend the life of the Narrabri underground mine to 2044.

"Our consistent position has been that this legal claim was without merit," Whitehaven said in an exchange filing.

The proceedings were initiated by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) on behalf of the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Inc (BSCA).

"We believe it is unreasonable for planning authorities to approve projects with such a massive climate footprint at a time when greenhouse gas emissions must be rapidly reduced to limit the devastating impacts of global warming," BSCA spokesperson Fiona Lee said.

BSCA is carefully considering the court judgement, it added...

Whitehaven is still awaiting a Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act approval to begin the extension project.

The coal miner has also joined a separate lawsuit challenging Federal Environmental Minister Tanya Plibersek's decision that the Narrabri Stage 3 underground mine would not substantially damage the environment...