Environmental Defenders Office Queensland (EDO Qld) has filed a lawsuit against the state’s approval for the Adani Group's A$21.7bn ($16bn) Carmichael coal mine project in Australia.
The appeal, which has been filed on behalf of its community group client, Coast and Country, follows the Queensland Government’s recent approval for three individual mining leases for the project.
The leases are estimated to contain 11 billion tons of thermal coal.
EDO Qld CEO and solicitor Jo Bragg said: "On behalf of our community client, Land Services of Coast and Country, we have filed an application for judicial review of the decision to grant Adani Mining an Environmental Authority under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) in the Queensland Supreme Court."
"Our client’s case is that the decision by the Queensland Environment Department to issue an Environmental Authority to Adani for the Carmichael mine was not in compliance with the law.
"An examination of the Department’s reasons for making the decision has revealed the Department failed to comply with Section 5 of the EP Act."
Press Trust of India quoted Derec Davies of Coast and Country as saying that the department failed in its obligations under the Environmental Protection Act and ignored climate change completely.
The latest move follows the recent appeal made by Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) representative group in the Federal Court of Australia regarding the leases issued to the company.
In February 2016, the coal mine in Galilee Basin secured environmental permit from Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
According to estimates, the mine holds ten billion tons of JORC-compliant thermal coal resources, including 3.4 billion tons of measured and indicated resources.