Mod 2 - Extension of Time

It's lapsed - let it lapse some more.

We don't need no fracking.

We don't even need no non-fracking exploration of extraction at all.

Hey leave our water catchment alone!

I was in Texas recently.

What a mess this allowing licenses all over the place has proved.

The sun has set on this mob's licence to drill.

Make sure it never rises again.

Illawarra has just been given some contaminated soil from Barangaroo - how about you all go easy on us now and stop this CSG exploration anywhere within 200 kilometers of awater catchment area.

You've let BHP mine under our creeks in the past - and it hasn't gone real well.

This CSG stuff is just not a good look.

It's not even good at all.

So don't acquiesce to the potential contamination of our acquifers.

I am totally opposed to this proposal, as follows:
1. An indefinite start date for this project is totally irresponsible.
2. CSG mining is risky. There is plenty of evidence around proving this.
3. Our drinking water catchments MUST be protected from CSG and other mining activities.
4. The Illawarra Escarpment is a high bush fire risk area.
5. There needs to be a total moratorium on all CSG projects until the "science" has been completed. This "science" must be conducted by independent bodies.

I object to this application on the grounds that it allows for the continuation of an unpopular and potentially dangerous project. There is growing evidence that coal seam gas mining can have extremely negative impacts on the environment and human health. This project is especially concerning given the location of some of the wells in drinking-water catchment areas, potentially leading to the contamination of the drinking water of millions of people.

The risks are too great to allow this project to go ahead. There should be a full scientific investigation into coal seam gas mining, and no further projects should go ahead until it is scientifically proven to be safe.

There is also widespread public opposition to this project, as shown in several big community demonstrations against it in the Illawarra and a petition signed by more than 30,000 people. To grant approval on this application would be a complete affront to democracy and an insult to the community.

I object to this proposal as it is a health risk to my family and all other people in the Illawarra. My children and I are very concerned about the possibility of contamination of the water in this area. Do not grant this company an unrestricted licence to bore.

I and my children do not want this in our country! The Gov has no right to destroy our means of living ... Water!
the people do not want this.. CSG mining will kill us . Wake up to yourselves!

I oppose the Apex/Ormil submission.
Keep our water pure...do not frack or drill or mine our land!

I oppose the extension that Apex/Ormil is seeking.

I oppose granting the extension of activities to APEX Energy, and furthermore oppose any future CSG mining in the Illawarra, for the following reasons:

1. The area of the Illawarra upper escarpment is completely unsuited to CSG mining (both exploration and production) for a variety of dangerous reasons. The proposed mining areas consist almost entirely of SWA drinking water catchment "Special Areas" and dams, National Parks and other environmental preservation or conservation areas. It is also a high risk bush fire area which is exacerbated by its highly combustible peat base. The recent August 2012 bush fire ran through and burnt out APEX drill sites 9 and 10. If the wells had been in exploration or production phases, this would have been a catastrophic disaster. Even if you exclude the grave risks that CSG poses to our water catchment, it is obvious from this incident that the risk of fire renders this area entirely unsuitable for CSG mining (whether exploratory or production). CSG is usually methane, a highly explosive and flammable gas. This can leak from pipelines, wellheads, waste water and processing plants. It can even escape from underground systems due to CSG drilling disturbance. Researchers from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said air sampling of unconventional gas fields in Colorado showed leakage rates of 4% on average, and up to 7.7%.

Fire threatens water quality. The NSW Office of Water report said: "Bushfires can have devastating effects on catchment health, destroying native vegetation, farmland and infrastructure. Areas burnt by bushfires are prone to accelerated soil erosion, resulting in enhanced sediment and nutrient export to the surface water bodies downstream. Removal of vegetation by fire also reduces the ability of catchment areas to retain rainfall."

This area is an environmentally unique and highly sensitive upland swamp ecosystem, upon which the purity of our drinking water depends. Production CSG mining is an extensive and environmentally invasive industrial activity that will result in 150+ well pads and associated above ground infrastructure on the escarpment. This activity will undoubtedly permanently damage and or alter the ecology.

2. As a professional academic researcher currently undertaking a research fellowship at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, I have found an overwhelming volume of research that documents the grave risks of CSG mining (especially those relating to water contamination). Current NSW CSG control legislation is acknowledged by the premier himself as inadequate for managing this grave risk. The NSW Premier reconfirmed this in his recent interview with Alan Jones. The revised NSW Government regulatory framework has yet to be released and it would be unethical and improper to proceed prior to APEX being assessed against these requirements.

Aside from the risks CSG poses for both fire hazards and water contamination, the industry always uses massive quantities of water, and often depletes groundwater. Australia is a country that experiences frequent drought. Water is our most precious natural resource. We cannot afford to squander it on the CSG industry when we so desperately need it for drinking water and irrigation. Is Barry O'Farrell's government willing to throw away our clean drinking water and ability to produce and irrigate crops? The National Water Commission estimate that the Australian CSG industry will extract around 7,500 gigalitres (GL) of produced water from ground water systems over the next 25 years. To put this in perspective, that's more than 13 times the capacity of Sydney Harbour. They also note that the potential impacts of CSG development on water systems, particularly the cumulative effects of multiple projects, are not well understood.

4. The Illawarra is already under threat from massive coal mine expansion using long wall mining technologies. I understand that in the case of the Gujurat mine at Bulli the scale is 10x and at the Helensburgh Colliery 3x. The Warratah rivulet near Helensburgh that feeds the Woronora dam has already subsided and gone underground, as a result of Long Wall mining at the Metropolitan coal mine and 18 months of remedial work has failed to resolve the problem. Therefore the risks associated with CSG mining are being layered on top of the existing impact of extensive coal mining in the area - with no combined impact study yet undertaken!

4. The applicants (APEX Energy) have already shown their incompetence and unsuitability by allowing a PEL to lapse through default, as a result of an "administrative over-site" What if the result of the next "oversight" is contamination or fire in our catchment, or environmental conservation areas? APEX's `administrative oversight' offers this government a unique opportunity to cancel all CSG licences granted under the previous Labour government (which Barry O'Farrell himself acknowledged to be inappropriate) without financial compensation, since the error is on the part of APEX. In a December 1 interview, Premier O'Farrell told 2GB's Alan Jones:" I don't intend to allow -- particularly after the drought we went through over a decade -- mining or any other activity to threaten water resources." He also said: "[CSG] exploration licenses have been granted, in some cases permission to mine has been granted, in areas, frankly, that should never ever have been on the list."

5. There is widespread public opposition to CSG mining in the Illawarra and across the state. This includes a public petition of around 20,000 signatures delivered to the Premier, formal votes against CSG mining by 4 local councils (Wollongong, Wollondilly, Campbelltown and Sutherland), and at least 2 local state MP ( Lee Evans and Ryan Park). Major concerns exist around the original approvals forced through by the previous Labour government under part 3A of the NSW planning Act, which bypasses many of the usual and expected environmental and public consultation processes. I am very concerned by the absence of independent research into the environmental impact of CSG in such a vital area of water supply (let alone the combined impact of CSG and mining) and the lack of pubic consultation: Specifically APEX Energy did not enter into public consultation before its initial drilling at Darkes Forest, nor earlier this year before drilling within the Warragamba water catchment at Oakdale - this shows total a lack of respect for due process and public opinion.

6. Any decision to extend, renew, or other wise approve new activities in and around the water catchments flies in the face of commitments made by The Premier of NSW Barry O'Farrell: "The next Liberal/National Government will ensure that mining cannot occur ... in any water catchment area, and will ensure that mining leases and mining exploration permits reflect that common sense; no ifs, no buts, a guarantee."
The question remains, will Barry O'Farrell keep his promise? If he does not, the electorate will abandon him as swiftly as he abandons their right to clean drinking water.
Sincerely,

Dr Lindsay Tuggle
Kluge Research Fellow, Library of Congress,
Illawarra Resident and Australian Citizen:
6 Wigram Road, Austinmer NSW 2515

Please do not approve the modification. Please do not allow CSG drilling in the Illawara region.

The chemicals used in drilling are poison to humans (and nature) and will work their way into the ground water. I have a small brook in my backyard that will eventually be poisoned if this is allowed to proceed.

The risks of CSG mining are well evidenced and the Premier has acknowledged that the current legislation is not adequate to manage development of the industry. In this context, no new applications or modifications should be approved and existing projects should be frozen, to conduct an investigation into the full impacts of CSG development.

Any less is simply unacceptable to the community.

NSW State Gov't,

The consequences of this type of exploration and mining, I refer to the CSG is evident in the USA.

When will we wake up to this idiocy. Do the the people have to resort to drastic measures for this short term gain in energy supplies.

Why not develop the natural resources in these water catchment areas. I'm sure people would prefer to see Solar Panels of Wind generators than CSG mining activities, LETS WAKE UP to ourselves for the good of all before we stuff things up for future generations.

Please note our protests will not go away and will be far reaching.

Phil

I am opposed to the extension of any approvals to drill for Coal Seam Gas in the proposed areas of Helensburgh, Darkes Forest and Maddens Plains. These areas are contained within the Woronora Catchment and are within a high fire prone area as witnessed during the 2001 Christmas Day bushfires. Maddens Plains is also one of few areas where the threatened Eastern Bristle bird can be found and is close to the edge of the Illawarra Escarpment where there has already been a number of rock falls and land slippage.

I do not support this submission, on the following grounds:
there is insufficient objective research on the long term effects of CSG extreaction on our aquifiers, which are important for our supply of drinking water and the quality of our arable land, both for farming and for supporting our wildlife.

there is insufficient safeguards in place regarding the safety of the CSG extraction methods.

continuing to deplete a natural resource is not a sustainable solution for our energy requirements

I am registering my OPPOSITION.

Pure,fresh water is one of the most precious commodities we have in Australia. Over time it has also proved to be one of our most limited resources. Good planning has provided Sydney with a wonderful catchment and dams to supply an ever growing population with its needs. The opportunity to build new dams if something threatens this supply is simply not there. NOTHING should be allowed to jeopardise the supply or the quality of Sydney's water.

Gas can be found elsewhere in NSW and Australia. It can be piped long distances from a remote source. Despite provisions being made to ensure drilling and extraction is done with the best of intentions we all know that things can go wrong at times- we can't take this risk.

The Department of Planning must put the long term protection of our water supply above gas mining. Please reject this proposal.

Please do not allow any drilling or fracking in any drinking water catchment in NSW. The dangers of CSG are well known and thus it (CSG) and drnking water are mutually exclusive activities

Please register my strong objection to CSG drilling in the illawarra and Sydney Water supply catchment areas. The reasons for my objection are are as follows:
-Sydney has only limited supplies of drinking water,. These must be preserved for all future generation and not put at risk for short term private gain.
-This proposal represents a private financial gain and at the same time is a potentially catastrophic risk to an essential public asset. This is a clear transfer of risk to the public while an assett that currently belongs to the public (the gas) is transferred to private ownership.
- The environmental risk of CSG has been repeatedly demonstrated to be real and once the damage to waterways is done, there is no way to repair it.
- No comprehensive environmental risk assessment can be carried out while the exact chemical makeup of the 'MUD" remains secret.
- A Risk Matrix for this type of project in the proposed area would clearly show that the potential damage to Sydneys Water catchment far outweighs any potential commercial gain.
- The multiplier effect of toxic chemical water contamination will include many industries such as agriculture, tourism, real estate. Contamination will spread to include such diverse groups as residents, aquatic life, plant life, water consumers in the entire Sydney Basin, local and state governments (reacting to disaster is the role of these agencies/rate bases will be affected).
- Any rational assessment of the proposal will demnstrate that the economic downside far exceeds the limited economic gain.
- There are many viable gas fields located in less sensitive areas.
- This is an extremely sensitive proposal that requires true community leadership. C'mon Barry grow some Balls!

This is a terrible idea - we cannot risk Sydney's water supply by drilling coal seam gas wells right in the middle of the catchment area.

Furthermore, this development poses a threat to the remaining patches of native bush in the greater Sydney area.

This applications must be rejected, to protect the integrity of the native bushland in which these wells would be sited, and to protect Sydney's water supply.

Please register my strong objection to CSG drilling in the Illawarra and Sydney Water supply catchment areas. The reasons for my objection are as follows:
-Sydney has only limited supplies of drinking water. These must be preserved for all future generation and not put at risk for short term private gain.
-This proposal represents a private financial gain and at the same time is a potentially catastrophic risk to an essential public asset. This is a clear transfer of risk to the public while an assett that currently belongs to the public (the gas) is transferred to private ownership.
- The environmental risk of CSG has been repeatedly demonstrated to be real and once the damage to waterways is done, there is no way to repair it.
- No comprehensive environmental risk assessment can be carried out while the exact chemical makeup of the 'MUD" remains secret.
- A Risk Matrix for this type of project in the proposed area would clearly show that the potential damage to Sydneys Water catchment far outweighs any potential commercial gain.
- The multiplier effect of toxic chemical water contamination will include many industries such as agriculture, tourism, real estate. Contamination will spread to include such diverse groups as residents, aquatic life, plant life, water consumers in the entire Sydney Basin, local and state governments (reacting to disaster is the role of these agencies/rate bases will be affected).
- Any rational assessment of the proposal will demonstrate that the economic downside far exceeds the limited economic gain.
- There are many viable gas fields located in less sensitive areas.

The precautionary principle MUST be applied to this project. The irreversible critical risks to water must be taken into account. Until the science and regulation regarding Coal Seam Gas in NSW catches up with business all such projects must be put on hold.

This project is not in the long term best interests of NSW.

The scientific consensus regarding climate change must be taken into account. The long term macro-economic costs of inaction outweigh the cost of action on this issue. We must be evolving towards a economy based on renewable energy. Switching towards an economy based upon another fossil fuel is not a 'solution'.

This project will have negative impacts on fauna and flora.

It is economically, socially and environmentally irresponsible for this project to be approved.