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Adani’s Queensland coalmine a threat to important wetland, Indigenous groups and scientists say

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Saturday, July 13, 2024

There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.Adani rejected the claims, saying the springs had not been damaged by the Carmichael coalmine, operated by Bravus – a subsidiary of the Indian-owned Adani Group – and the company was fully compliant with environmental conditions.The springs, located mostly on a nature refuge, are a nationally important wetland and a culturally important site for Wangan and Jagalingou people, and their protection was a condition of the project’s 2016 federal approval by the then environment minister, Greg Hunt.Adrian Burragubba, who has long campaigned against the mine, at the Qld supreme court in May. Photograph: Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural CustodiansIn a letter sent this week to the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and seen by Guardian Australia, the Wangan and Jagalingou man Adrian Burragubba wrote the minister should investigate concerns primarily around the health of the springs, the levels of groundwater and the models used to predict how mining might affect the site’s underground water.Burragubba, who has long campaigned against the mine, said the springs, lagoon and a nearby ochre deposit were a sacred place for Indigenous ceremonies.“We go to reconnect with our ancestors and to hand on the stories of how we began,” he said. “The [state] government’s job is to make sure our human rights are not limited.”Burragubba’s Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians group is in Queensland’s supreme court trying to force the state government to act on their warnings about risks to the springs. Part of the push for a judicial review argues the group’s human rights are being restricted.The group says it wrote to the state government in November last year outlining the findings of reports from two scientists it had commissioned, as well as a report from CSIRO.One of those scientists, Prof Matthew Currell, a hydrogeologist and groundwater expert at Griffith University who is involved in ongoing research into the health of the springs, wrote there had been “marked increases” in detections of hydrocarbons in bore water sampling since mining started.Currell told the Guardian the springs had been in existence for thousands, if not millions, of years but alleged that now “hundreds of instances” where the levels of groundwater and the water quality had exceeded trigger values.Doongmabulla Springs in Queensland – a culturally significant and nationally important wetland. Photograph: Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians“The concern is that the Carmichael mine is only 10 kilometres from the springs and they have been pumping significant volumes of groundwater.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon UpdateOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“I believe the springs are still in good health, but the levels occurring in bores between the mine and the springs have seen them going below the triggers. That’s a warning sign that we might not have too long. It’s a matter of time before we see impacts on the springs themselves.”He alleged hydrocarbons often associated with coal had been detected in bores and in the springs.“That points to a potential impact from mining and it needs to be urgently explained,” he said.A 2023 CSIRO review of the mine’s groundwater modelling and reporting said “confidence in the range of predicted impacts is low” and the company’s groundwater modelling report failed to comply with one of the conditions of its state environmental approval.Questions to Plibersek’s office were forwarded to the environment department, where a spokesperson said: “The department is aware of the matter and is making inquiries.”But a statement from Bravus said the company “wholly rejects the incorrect claims” of the scientists and said no damage had occurred to the springs. The mine was fully compliant with all state and federal obligations, it added.“Our groundwater program uses highly sensitive early warning triggers to detect small changes in groundwater levels that are then investigated. These triggers are not exceedances, and none have been related to mining activity.“Mischievous claims of hydrocarbons in the springs are false. Any trace elements detected are due to tiny amounts of drilling lubricants from when the monitoring borehole was dug. This is the same process used to drill any domestic water bore and it is not harmful to the environment.”In a stement the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said groundwater drawdown thresholds acted as an early warning system and that there was “no evidence that mining activities are impacting the Doongmabulla Springs Complex at this time.”The department had reviewed Adani’s reports from each groundwater trigger incident and those reports “confirm it has not been caused by mining, but rather by dry seasonal conditions, landholder pumping nearby, or natural variation.”The department had filed an application to stay or dismiss the judicial review application over the department’s decision not to exercise power under the Environmental Protection Act 1994.But the statement said the department had in March 2023 issued an order preventing Adani from starting underground mining until the company had filed a second groundwater report, after the first was “rejected because DESI has low confidence in the predictions made in the report.”Adani has appealed that order, the statement said, but the company had agreed to install more monitoring bores and do more groundwater modelling work “to identify any short-term drawdown impacts”.

Letter urges environment minister to investigate alleged breaches at Doongmabulla SpringsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThere is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves. Continue reading...

There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.

Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.

Adani rejected the claims, saying the springs had not been damaged by the Carmichael coalmine, operated by Bravus – a subsidiary of the Indian-owned Adani Group – and the company was fully compliant with environmental conditions.

The springs, located mostly on a nature refuge, are a nationally important wetland and a culturally important site for Wangan and Jagalingou people, and their protection was a condition of the project’s 2016 federal approval by the then environment minister, Greg Hunt.

Adrian Burragubba, who has long campaigned against the mine, at the Qld supreme court in May. Photograph: Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians

In a letter sent this week to the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and seen by Guardian Australia, the Wangan and Jagalingou man Adrian Burragubba wrote the minister should investigate concerns primarily around the health of the springs, the levels of groundwater and the models used to predict how mining might affect the site’s underground water.

Burragubba, who has long campaigned against the mine, said the springs, lagoon and a nearby ochre deposit were a sacred place for Indigenous ceremonies.

“We go to reconnect with our ancestors and to hand on the stories of how we began,” he said. “The [state] government’s job is to make sure our human rights are not limited.”

Burragubba’s Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians group is in Queensland’s supreme court trying to force the state government to act on their warnings about risks to the springs. Part of the push for a judicial review argues the group’s human rights are being restricted.

The group says it wrote to the state government in November last year outlining the findings of reports from two scientists it had commissioned, as well as a report from CSIRO.

One of those scientists, Prof Matthew Currell, a hydrogeologist and groundwater expert at Griffith University who is involved in ongoing research into the health of the springs, wrote there had been “marked increases” in detections of hydrocarbons in bore water sampling since mining started.

Currell told the Guardian the springs had been in existence for thousands, if not millions, of years but alleged that now “hundreds of instances” where the levels of groundwater and the water quality had exceeded trigger values.

Doongmabulla Springs in Queensland – a culturally significant and nationally important wetland. Photograph: Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians

“The concern is that the Carmichael mine is only 10 kilometres from the springs and they have been pumping significant volumes of groundwater.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

“I believe the springs are still in good health, but the levels occurring in bores between the mine and the springs have seen them going below the triggers. That’s a warning sign that we might not have too long. It’s a matter of time before we see impacts on the springs themselves.”

He alleged hydrocarbons often associated with coal had been detected in bores and in the springs.

“That points to a potential impact from mining and it needs to be urgently explained,” he said.

A 2023 CSIRO review of the mine’s groundwater modelling and reporting said “confidence in the range of predicted impacts is low” and the company’s groundwater modelling report failed to comply with one of the conditions of its state environmental approval.

Questions to Plibersek’s office were forwarded to the environment department, where a spokesperson said: “The department is aware of the matter and is making inquiries.”

But a statement from Bravus said the company “wholly rejects the incorrect claims” of the scientists and said no damage had occurred to the springs. The mine was fully compliant with all state and federal obligations, it added.

“Our groundwater program uses highly sensitive early warning triggers to detect small changes in groundwater levels that are then investigated. These triggers are not exceedances, and none have been related to mining activity.

“Mischievous claims of hydrocarbons in the springs are false. Any trace elements detected are due to tiny amounts of drilling lubricants from when the monitoring borehole was dug. This is the same process used to drill any domestic water bore and it is not harmful to the environment.”

In a stement the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said groundwater drawdown thresholds acted as an early warning system and that there was “no evidence that mining activities are impacting the Doongmabulla Springs Complex at this time.”

The department had reviewed Adani’s reports from each groundwater trigger incident and those reports “confirm it has not been caused by mining, but rather by dry seasonal conditions, landholder pumping nearby, or natural variation.”

The department had filed an application to stay or dismiss the judicial review application over the department’s decision not to exercise power under the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

But the statement said the department had in March 2023 issued an order preventing Adani from starting underground mining until the company had filed a second groundwater report, after the first was “rejected because DESI has low confidence in the predictions made in the report.”

Adani has appealed that order, the statement said, but the company had agreed to install more monitoring bores and do more groundwater modelling work “to identify any short-term drawdown impacts”.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Remote Indigenous Tribe Kills Two Loggers in Peru as Rights Groups Call for More Government Action

Two loggers have been killed by the reclusive Mashco Piro Indigenous tribe deep in Peru's Amazon

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Two loggers have been killed by bow and arrow after allegedly encroaching the land of the uncontacted Mashco Piro Indigenous tribe deep in Peru's Amazon, according to a rights group. The group, known as FENAMAD, defends the rights of Peru's Indigenous peoples. It says tensions between loggers and Indigenous tribes are on the rise and more government protective action is needed.Two other loggers in the attack were missing and another was injured, FENAMAD said, and rescue efforts were underway. The rights group, which represents 39 Indigenous communities in the Cusco and Madre de Dios regions in southeastern Peru, said the incident took place on Aug. 29 in the Pariamanu river basin while loggers were expanding their passageways into the forest and came into contact with the reclusive and renowned territorial tribe. “The Peruvian state has not taken preventive and protective measures to ensure the lives and integrity of the workers who have been gravely affected,” the group said in a statement Tuesday, adding authorities have yet to arrive in the area since the incident.FENAMAD said the attack happened just 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from a July incident, when the Mashco Piro again attacked loggers. The group said in their statement that even though they advised the government of the risk of a rise in violence, nothing has been done. “It’s a heated and tense situation," said Cesar Ipenza, an Amazon-based lawyer who specializes in environmental law in Peru. “Undoubtedly, every day there are more tensions between Indigenous peoples in isolation and the different activities that are within the territory that they ancestrally pass through.” There have been several other previous reports of conflicts. In one incident in 2022, two loggers were shot with arrows while fishing, one fatally, in an encounter with tribal members.In January, Peru loosened restrictions on deforestation, which critics dubbed the “anti-forest law.” Researchers have since warned of the rise in deforestation for agriculture and how it is making it easier for illicit logging and mining.Ipenaza said some effort has been made by authorities in the area like mobilizing a helicopter, but overall there has been “little commitment” by Peru's Ministry of Culture, responsible for the protection of Indigenous peoples. The Ministry of Culture did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday seeking comment on the attack and their protection efforts.The attack took place a day before the Forest Stewardship Council suspended the sustainability certification of a logging company for eight months which rights groups and activists have accused of encroaching on the Indigenous group’s land.“It’s absurd that certifiers like the FSC keep the certification of companies that clearly and openly violate basic human rights and Indigenous rights,” said Julia Urrunaga, director of the Peru program at the Environmental Investigation Agency. “How terrible that people have to keep dying and that it has to be an international scandal for action to be taken.” Follow Steven Grattan on X, formerly Twitter: @sjgrattanThe Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

Indigenous
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An Indigenous Author Says the Past Holds Answers to Today’s Environmental Crises

Ailton Krenak was a child when his family was forced to leave their land in Brazil. Now, as a writer, he advocates for a path forward that looks to nature and inherited wisdom.

When Ailton Krenak walked, barefoot, onto the stage of a packed auditorium during a book festival in Rio de Janeiro, the crowd hushed. He lifted the microphone, sending earsplitting feedback across the room.He took the screech as his cue. People nowadays are too reliant on technology, he said; it is good to be reminded that “we are the ones who speak, not the little gadget.”Krenak, an Indigenous author from Brazil, used the microphone malfunction to launch into one of the main messages of “Ancestral Future,” his new book: Technology often gives people the illusion they’re tackling the crises humanity has unleashed on the planet, he said. Societies should, instead, try to chart the path ahead by looking at what was here before: nature, and ways of living that had all of nature, and not just human beings, at their center.At 70, Krenak, a member of the Krenak Indigenous group of Brazil, has been in public life for decades, as an activist for Indigenous rights, a conservationist and a philosopher. But as the ravages of climate change and the biodiversity crises become more visible in the lives of billions, Krenak has never been more popular.“I could say these things a hundred years from now, and it wouldn’t have any effect. Or a hundred years ago,” he said. It was the overlap of his message with a world in crisis, he added, “that gave it power.”Videos of his lectures and interviews often garner tens of thousands of views. After his talks, older adults and teenagers alike run after him for a picture or an autograph. Many say Krenak’s books have changed how they see nature.Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

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Indigenous Australians want a seat at the table when it comes to conservation. Here’s how we might get there

Many Indigenous people want to help protect their traditional lands. That requires deciding which species and habitat matter most to them.

Teagan GoolmerGlobally, many Indigenous people want to help protect their traditional lands and waters, drawing on knowledge stretching back millenia. Indigenous people have an obligation to look after species and habitat which are culturally important to them. But how can Indigenous voices be supported to make land management decisions? And how do we ensure the process is Indigenous-led and culturally safe? New research by myself and colleagues can help. We engaged Indigenous people from Bundjalung Country on Australia’s east coast. In a process they led, the Bundjalung people identified which culturally significant species they considered priorities for “collaborative management” – that is, management built on mutual respect for both Western science and Indigenous knowledge systems. We hope this process might be used elsewhere, to give Indigenous people a genuine say in decisions about managing Country. ‘They hold the stories’ Bundjalung Country stretches from Grafton in northern New South Wales to the Logan River in Queensland and inland to Warwick. The term Country describes the lands, water and seas to which Indigenous people are connected. Country contains complex ideas about lore, custom, language, spiritual belief, culture, material sustenance, family and identity. For Indigenous Australians, some plants, animals and habitats hold special cultural significance. This may be, for example, because they are used in ceremonies, they feature in Creation stories or are used as a traditional food source. The importance of this concept was was summed up during our project by Bundjalung man Oliver Costello, who said: [Culturally significant entities] are the teachers of Country, they hold the stories and are the indicators for the health of Country. If you look after Country, it will look after you. Our study set out to establish a process by which Indigenous people can come together to identify culturally significant species. The list of priority species would then be used to inform collaborative land and sea management with governments, conservation groups and others. The process should be led by Indigenous people themselves, and aligned with their obligations and values. We partnered with the Bundjalung-owned Jagun Alliance. This was crucial to ensuring the project was conducted in a culturally safe manner and developed with an Indigenous lens. Our project adhered to cultural protocols and protected Indigenous cultural and intellectual property at all times. What we did First, we convened a meeting of five non-Bundjalung Indigenous experts with extensive experience in Indigenous-led work biodiversity work. They identified six objectives for decision-making around culturally significant species. The objectives involved not just environmental values, but also social, spiritual, economic and cultural values. We hosted several on-Country workshops with Bundjalung people and distributed an online survey, to determine which species might be prioritised for collaborative management. Of the responses we received, 32 yielded usable data. The culturally significant plant and animal species identified as the top priority by Bundjalung respondents were: koalas goannas platypuses echidnas wedge-tailed eagles coastal emus pipis long-necked turtles. Participants were also asked which habitats were most important for collaborative management. Some 70% identified wetlands, followed by grasslands and big scrub (a mosaic of lowland rainforest, swamp forest and wet eucalypt forest extensively cleared by colonists). 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The green transition will make things worse for the Indigenous world

A new study warns that the push for renewable energy could exacerbate socioeconomic disparities among Indigenous communities.

The green transition will deepen entrenched socioeconomic barriers for Indigenous peoples — unless Western forms of science and ongoing settler colonialism are addressed by researchers. That’s according to a new study out this month focused on the use, and abuse, of Indigenous knowledge to solve climate change. Despite disenfranchisement, researchers added, Indigenous nations remain the best stewards of the land. Focused on environmental oral histories of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, the study examined how the nation strengthened tribal sovereignty by revitalizing connections to land. This has included re-introducing freshwater mussels into the ecosystem as a way to clean local waterways, and growing ancestral plants for food, medicine, and textiles in urban areas.  “We as a people, and all the Native people on the East Coast, have been dealing with environmental changes for thousands of years,” said Dennis White Otter Coker, the principal chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, in the report. Researchers argue that it is impossible to separate the effects of climate change from the history of land dispossession and violence endured by Indigenous peoples, and contend that that legacy continues in Western science practices aimed at finding climate solutions. For example, previous studies have found that organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are biased towards Western sciences over Indigenous knowledge, and their reports “problematically unquestioned,” regardless of the international organization’s own reports finding colonialism to be a key factor in climate change. “Western Science is really what dominates the way we talk about climate adaptation,” said Lyndsey Naylor, an author on the paper from the University of Delaware. She added that Western science has a hard time meaningfully integrating tribal projects into research, sometimes dismissing their insights completely. Western researchers often have an extractive relationship with tribes where institutions will come into communities, take what they need, and leave.  “Indigenous knowledge is either subsumed [or] appropriated,” Naylor said. “Or like, ‘Hey that’s cute, but we know what we are doing.’” But despite biases by governments toward Western sciences, Indigenous nations are integrating traditional knowledge to fight climate change across the world. From the plains in North America, where tribes are reintroducing buffalo as a way to support healthy habitats and ecosystems, to the Brazilian Amazon, where Indigenous-protected territories show 83 percent lower deforestation rates than settler-controlled areas. Indigenous science, and control, hold keys to fighting climate change. However, those Indigenous innovations still face challenges, notably from the green transition. In Arizona, for example, the San Carlos Apache have been fighting for years to protect Oak Flat — an area of the highest religious importance to the tribe and a critical wildlife habitat — from copper mining. The proposed mine would be integral to the production of batteries for electric vehicles while entrenching long-term climate impacts and destroying an integral piece of the Apache’s culture and wiping out important ecology in the area.  Faisal Bin Islam, a co-author on the study who specializes in the effects of climate change in colonial contexts, said that Western science has a “savior complex,” and continuing to ignore historical and contemporary colonial violence in Indigenous communities only deepens those ways of thinking.  “In a settler colonial future, we might end up inventing a technology or process that reduces emissions significantly to avert the consequences of climate change,” he said. “However, it will not end colonial dispossession and violence.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The green transition will make things worse for the Indigenous world on Jul 26, 2024.

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Ancient Roots, Modern Insights: New Study Reveals Age-Old Secrets of Camas Cultivation

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered that Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest were selectively harvesting edible camas bulbs at their optimal growth stages...

Camas flowers in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Credit: Jon Boeckenstedt, Oregon State University.Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered that Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest were selectively harvesting edible camas bulbs at their optimal growth stages as far back as 3,500 years ago. These findings, published in The Holocene, provide valuable insights into Traditional Ecological Knowledge and practices by demonstrating how these groups have been managing and nurturing natural resources for thousands of years.The Ecological and Cultural Significance of CamasCamas, a striking blue flower that grows throughout the Pacific Northwest, serves as an ecological and cultural keystone, supporting many different organisms playing a significant role in numerous cultural traditions.Molly Carney, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of anthropology at Oregon State University, highlights its significance: “If you think about salmon as being a charismatic species that people are very familiar with, camas is kind of the plant equivalent,” she explained. “It is one of those species that really holds up greater ecosystems, a fundamental species which everything is related to.” Camas flowers. 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The researchers discovered that after cooking, Indigenous peoples employed various methods to process and store camas, allowing them to be preserved for extended periods.Camas flowers. Credit: Oregon State UniversityArchaeological Insights into Camas HarvestingThe researchers analyzed camas bulbs from the Willamette Valley dating back 8,000 years. By counting the interior leaf scales, similar to reading tree rings, researchers can estimate the age of camas bulbs, which typically reach a harvestable size in three to five years depending on the soil conditions.Camas baking ovens from 4,400 years ago have been recorded at a Long Tom River archaeological site near Veneta, Oregon, but for several thousand years, the bulbs appeared to have been harvested somewhat indiscriminately. Carney found that around 3,500 years ago, the bulbs started being harvested more selectively at the point when the plants were four or five years old and had reached sexual maturity.Camas flowers. Credit: Oregon State UniversityEnvironmental Management Through Controlled BurnsThis timing in the Late Holocene period lines up with broader climatic shifts in the region, the researchers noted, coming around the same time as low-magnitude fires became more commonplace in the landscape. Carney also studied lake-core evidence from the floor of Beaver Lake, collected by Central Washington University researcher Megan Walsh, that gives credence to the theory that controlled burns were used intentionally to create optimal conditions for camas and other plants starting 3,000 to 4,000 years ago.Sustainable Practices and Cultural StewardshipBased on her research, Carney says it’s clear that Native communities at the time were not selectively harvesting for the biggest possible bulbs, but rather stewarding camas to be sustainable over time.“They were trying to maintain the age structure of these camas populations within a pretty narrow window,” she said. “When I had the opportunity to harvest alongside tribal communities, as they harvest, they replant the smaller bulbs as they go. They’re really sowing for future harvest, and that’s what I think was happening here.”The shift from haphazard harvesting to selective stewardship among tribal communities appears to have occurred at approximately the same time throughout the Pacific Northwest, Carney said. For the practice to be successful, it would have required community-wide agreement and cooperation to leave immature camas bulbs in the ground until the optimal harvest point, as well as to conduct the type of cultural burning necessary to maintain healthy growing spaces, the researchers note.“We have these records showing that people were taking active roles in creating landscapes that fit their needs, and that they’ve been doing so for 3,500 years at least, based on these two proxies of camas and fire,” Carney said. “That provides a powerful claim for restoring these practices.”Reference: “Scales of plant stewardship in the precontact Pacific Northwest, USA” by Molly Carney and Thomas Connolly, 5 May 2024, The Holocene.DOI: 10.1177/09596836241247307Co-author on the study was Thomas Connolly from the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon. The project was approved by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Historic Preservation Office.

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