In short: The Queensland government has refused to suspend Adani's coal mining operations despite experts finding evidence of potential contamination of the Doongmabulla Springs.

Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Cultural Custodians group have launched landmark legal action claiming the state government has breached their human rights by failing to stop potential contamination and other threats to their sacred wetlands.

Their case is supported by expert findings that the Indian coal miner may have already polluted the nationally important Doongmabulla Springs with hydrocarbons and caused a harmful decline in groundwater sources.

The Nagana Yarrbayn Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Cultural Custodians group has asked Queensland's Supreme Court to intervene after the government refused to suspend operations at the Carmichael mine, near Clermont.

W&J leader Adrian Burragubba told the ABC that the springs were "central to our spiritual and cultural rights [and] under Adani's environmental approval, it's not allowed to pollute the springs or the aquifers".

"We've got evidence that there are hydrocarbons, contaminants in the springs and aquifers," he said.

"We just assume that the mine is having an impact on this and that it's an emergency that the government should do something about, placing an environmental protection order on the open-cut mine to find out where these contaminants are coming from."

One expert found data from Adani subsidiary Bravus showed "hundreds of instances" where declines in water quality or groundwater levels exceeded approved thresholds after mining began in 2020.

The risk of irreversible harm from mining prompted a key condition of the project's approval, which is that spring water levels must not drop by more than 20 centimetres.

In November, W&J wrote to state Environment Minister Leanne Linard asking her to "urgently" halt mining until she was "satisfied with sufficient scientific certainty" that it posed no threat to the springs.

Her department responded by saying it accepted the springs had "spiritual significance" to the W&J but denied Adani's data showed unauthorised impacts.

It said the limitation of any rights was "reasonable and justified" given the "numerous court decisions" around the project, including a Land Court case which led to the "closely conditioned arrangement for the conduct of mining activities".

Ms Linard's office and the department declined to comment.

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