A last-ditch effort to overturn the approval of Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine in the Leard State Forest near Narrabri has failed in the Federal Court.
Justice Cowdroy dismissed the challenge from Northern Inland Council for the Environment (NICE) to the validity of previous Environment Minister Tony Burke's approval which argued his decision was unduly influenced by the release of commercially sensitive correspondence to media outlets.
NICE also argued the Minister made a legal error in not stipulating independent verification of environmental offsets of both mines before the approval was granted.
The council is now reviewing the judgment and will seek advice on possible grounds for an appeal.
NICE spokesman Phil Spark said the decision confirms "our Federal environment laws are broken, and that they cannot protect farmers or the environment from reckless coal mining."
NICE is seeking advice on potential avenues for appeal.
Whitehaven chief executive Paul Flynn said the company "has worked incredibly hard with the local community, our investors and others to bring this project to fruition and we are absolutely determined to maintain momentum and achieve first coal sales in the first quarter of 2015".
Environmental Defenders Office principal solicitor Sue Higginson represented NICE in Court.
"This decision, among other things, confirms that the process for establishing biodiversity offsets under our Federal environmental laws fails to protect places of high environmental value such as the critically endangered Box Gum Woodland in the Leard State Forest," Ms Higginson said.
"Basically, the law as it stands allows for a proponent to say that it will offset impacts even if those offsets don't currently exist."
