Kingaroy win over Cougar

Independent candidate for Nanango and Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group secretary John Dalton said the ruling confirmed the project had been poorly executed and posed a threat to underground water supplies.

Eddie Hueppauff

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A PLANNING and Environment Court appeal against a decision to close down Cougar Energy's Kingaroy underground coal seam gasification project has failed.

On July 7 this year a Planning and Environment Court decision was made to insert two new conditions into Cougar's environmental authority that effectively ordered the closure of production and the rehabilitation of the site.

Judge Richard Jones upheld the conditions in a ruling handed down this week.

Local residents have been campaigning against the DERM-approved trial, and their campaign took on more urgency once Cougar Energy delayed reporting the presence of benzene and toluene in local underground water in July 2010.

Independent candidate for Nanango and Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group secretary John Dalton said the ruling confirmed the project had been poorly executed and posed a threat to underground water supplies.

"Benzene and toluene are serious carcinogens and are an unwelcome addition to any water supply," he said.

"We also believe that the cattle nearby that tested positive for those two chemicals acquired them from this dirty operation."