Five former Linc Energy executives have been charged by the Queensland government with breaching environmental law over the operation of its underground coal gasification site in Chinchilla.
In September the former chief executive Peter Bond was charged with three indictable offences and last week was summonsed on two additional charges of failing to ensure the company complied with the state’s Environmental Protection Act.
Four other senior staff members – Donald Schofield, Stephen Dumble, Jacobus Terblanche and Darryl Rattai – were also summonsed.
The former executives face sentences of up to five years in prison if convicted, while the company itself is also facing five environmental charges with a total maximum penalty of more than $8.8m.
The company went into voluntary administration in April and the next month it was revealed that creditors were owed $289m.
An investigation by the state’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has been examining its Hopeland operation between 2007 and 2013. It is the largest single investigation undertaken by the environmental regulator, and began after four workers at the site fell ill with suspected gas poisoning. A government-commissioned expert study has since found permanent acidification of nearby soil.
Queensland’s environment minister, Steven Miles, said: “As investigations remain active, and as this matter is now before the courts, the government won’t comment further on the details of the current charges.”
When the company was committed to stand trial in March, it hit out at “glaring inconsistencies” in the evidence before the Dalby magistrates court.