Campaigners fighting undersea gas caverns that will create a dead zone near a nature reserve and Game of Thrones filming site say the case is going straight to the High Court.
Friends of the Earth and No Gas Caverns Islandmagee told Belfast Live there was "no need for an initial hearing to set out why this legal case has merit" as the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs accepted it has a case to answer on all 10 points they raised.
Edwin Poots gave Harland and Wolff Group a marine licence for the controversial project just before visiting COP26 in Glasgow at the end of last year. The company formerly known as Infrastrata wants to solution mine seven large gas caverns under protected Larne Lough to store fossil fuel gas.
Read more: DAERA facing legal action over gas caverns near Game of Thrones site
Environmental impact assessments on the proposed plan outline how it will create a 100m dead zone on the sea bed at two discharge points as the hyper saline solution created during the process will be deadly to any creatures unable to escape its path.
This includes benthic fauna and sediment dwellers like sea anemones, sponges, corals, sea stars, sea urchins, worms, bivalves, crabs, and many more. There are also concerns about how the increased salinity, which may extend for several kilometres, will impact sensitive species, including otters, dolphins and porpoises.
And all this is planned near three ASSIs (protected Areas of Special Scientific Interest) including DAERA's own nature reserve, Portmuck.
No Gas Caverns and Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland lodged a judicial review against the Notice of Environmental Consent Decision to give the Islandmagee Gas Storage Project a Marine Licence in February.
They believe that as well as harming marine life the project will undermine efforts to counter the climate crisis.
In this latest development, the groups say the Department accepted the 10 grounds on which the legal challenge is based are worthy of a full hearing before the High Court. This is now set to take place in winter 2022.
James Orr, Director of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, said: "For the Department to concede on all grounds is a major first step in stopping this unwelcome and unnecessary project. It’s great news there is no need for an initial hearing to set out why this legal case has merit.
"We can now get straight to the High Court so the folly of this project can be aired. The science is clear: we want to protect our atmosphere from greenhouse gases and we need to stop new fossil fuel infrastructure."
Lisa Dobbie, from No Gas Caverns, said: "We are delighted that DAERA has conceded that we have a case worth bringing to court on all 10 of our grounds, challenging the Department’s decision to issue marine licences for this highly destructive gas storage project. The court has now given us permission to take our claim to a full Judicial Review, which is likely to be heard this winter."
A DAERA spokesperson said: "As this is an on-going legal matter we are not in a position to comment."
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