{"id":306966,"date":"2021-10-07T13:32:46","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T03:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=306966"},"modified":"2021-10-07T14:11:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T04:11:18","slug":"12m-spent-chasing-linc-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/10\/07\/12m-spent-chasing-linc-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"$12m Spent Chasing Linc Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 7, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

The State Government spent more than $12 million in legal costs pursuing Linc Energy over its failed underground coal gasification project near Chinchilla.<\/p>\n

The Department of Environment and Science incurred $11.1 million in legal\u00a0expenses in relation to its prosecution of\u00a0Linc.<\/p>\n

In April 2018, Linc was fined $4.5 million for causing serious environmental harm at its UCG site after being found guilty in the Brisbane District Court.<\/p>\n

Administrators were appointed to the company in April 2016,\u00a0two years after the charges were laid. Linc was placed into liquidation a month later.<\/p>\n

The prosecution of four former Linc Energy executives and related civil proceedings added another\u00a0$920,000 to the State Government’s legal bill.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Crown dropped charges against the former executives in August this year.<\/p>\n

The men had been committed to stand trial in March last year, and the\u00a0matter was due to be heard in the Brisbane District Court.<\/p>\n

However, Crown Prosecutor Ralph Devlin QC told the court on August 17 that the Crown would not be proceeding with the indictment.<\/p>\n

The legal costs were disclosed in answers to a recent Question on Notice from Member for Burleigh Michael Hart (LNP) to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, and from a question from the Health and Environment Committee in July to Science Minister Meaghan Scanlon.<\/p>\n

Premier Palaszczuk\u00a0said that as the prosecution of the former executives was now finalised, no additional external legal costs were expected to be incurred.<\/p>\n

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