Narrabri Gas

Our governments, our elected policitians are NOT GOD; how dare they ruin the eco system and nature's water system.
Do we live in a Democracy or do we live in a plutocracy ?
I do not trust Santos. How can anyone trust a giant company who is mining to just to make money ?
I do not believe the recent news 'that we are facing a gas shortage'...it is part of the plan to convince us that we should mine for gas, so that Santos can make money.
Santos IS NOT GOD; how dare they ruin nature's water system--just to make money.


Energy giant Santos has plans to industrialise the Pilliga with 850 coal seam gas wells--threatening this natural refuge, our precious groundwater, and the communities who rely on it. We also know that if we're to maintain a safe climate and keep global warming below 2 degrees, projects like this cannot go ahead.

The only people to profit from drilling for gas in the Pilliga are the oil/gas companies. The local community are strongly opposed and there are no votes in it.
Do not let these profiteers convince you that this is the solution to the looming gas shortage in Eastern Australia. Show some leadership and sensitivity and look to following the Western Australian model with a set percentage of the gas reserved for domestic use. After all, it was a policy of supplying local industry first with cheaper gas that helped the recovery in USA and only when an excess of gas was produced was exporting allowed. And don't blame former Labour governments for that failure. Be constructive and assertive in the interest of all Australians.

I object to this proposal because as has been shown in the past corporations have failed to act responsibly both in the short term and in the long term. More often than not there is either a disaster or an un forseen event which is left for the taxpayer to rectify.
And rarely do any of these project offer a fair to good dividend for the citizens of Australia.
And what gives Santos the right to exploit a commodity that is owned by all Australians?

There is so little woodland left how could you consider digging wells around what there is.
Enough good water has been messed with please don't interfere with the largest of it.
More trees more rain. Soon we will have lots of gas (mainly for the Chinese) and not much country left that is worthwhile.
Please reconsider.
Colleen Robins

As a NSW voter I object to the Narrabri coal seam gas project and request the NSW Government to reject and halt the process.
My objection is based on protecting, 100%, the natural water courses and farms of the region.
Energy companies can not guarantee that the water tables and land will not be contaminated by this process or the waste produced.
The answer is simple and clear, it is about what condition we leave this land for future generations and not about short term revenue or political gains.
Please register my objection to this Project.

Regards
Graeme Williams

I object to the project as it will extract 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater, or more, which will generate tens of thousands of tonnes of salt, which will be disposed of... how? The rumour is the plan is to bury it. Which is ridiculous and damaging to the land around for miles and miles.

The Pilliga forest will be wrecked, the wildlife decimated.

The chances are it will damage the Great Artesian Basin's recharge aquifers, affecting the farmers in Western NSW.

Methane is now known to be escaping from such projects in enormous and damaging amounts. Methane is more damaging than Carbon to the earth's atmosphere by a huge amount, and as it is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell it is easy to ignore by mining interests and other vested interests, however infrared cameras detect it and it is outrageous that csg fracking is still occurring, and even being sought to be expanded. Of course it is also very damaging to life forms, including humans, who are unlucky enough to be near it.

Renewable energy is obviously the way to invest in a safe, clean and healthy future for this area.

Please stop selling out Australia's future to profit obsessed mining interests.

With most of the population totally against this CSG project I don't know why the Government is even considering mining the Pilliga area. What a slap in the face for your voters!
If it takes 7000 pages for Santos to try to persuade the Parliament to pass this and still not able to assure the necessary safeguards why is it even on the table?
I presume you are aware fracking in Oklahoma caused earthquakes?
I hope commonsense prevails and you consider New South Wales and this wonderful, precious region first.

I am utterly opposed to the Narrabri Gas Project as I believe it is a crime against planetary sustainability. The balance of nature is nearing tipping point because of Industrialization reducing the evolutionary life of Planet Earth to an economic resource. Since the Industrial revolution, humans began destroying thousands of millions of years of evolution in only two centuries of planetary exploitation. Homo sapiens has only existed for 200,000 odd years; it will not exist much longer if it keeps on destroying its basic life support system - the evolutionary Web of Life. Not to mention the beautiful aesthetic of nature, which gas fields turn into sickening, ugly, toxic wasteland. Patriarchal society cannot continue its entropic destruction in the name of 'progress' with impunity. It will pay the price - sooner rather than later - for its monstrous violations of Evolutionary Law (of which quantitative science has no clue, because causal law is qualitative, and beyond the reach of the quantitative grasp.
I also submit the following 10 objections as researched by the Wilderness Society, and with which I fully agree:
1. The Narrabri Gas Project risks precious water sources, including the Great Australian Basin--Australia's largest groundwater aquifer
The Narrabri gasfield poses a real risk to our two most precious water resources: the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin. The area of the Great Artesian Basin with the highest recharge rates is almost entirely contained within the Pilliga East forest. In a worst-case scenario, the water removed for CSG extraction could reduce water pressure in the recharge areas--potentially stopping the free flow of waters to the surface at springs and bores across the whole Great Artesian Basin.¹

Creeks in the Pilliga run into the Namoi River--a part of the Murray Darling Basin. This system is vulnerable to contamination from drilling fluid spills and the salty treated water produced from the proposed 850 wells.

2. The Gamilaraay Traditional Custodians are opposed
There are hundreds of cultural sites as well as songlines and stories connecting the Gamilaraay to the forest and to the groundwater beneath. Gamilaraay people are deeply involved in the battle against CSG, and have told Santos they do not want their country sacrificed for a coal seam gas field.

3. Farmers and other local community reject the project
Extensive community surveys have shown an average of 96% opposition to CSG. This stretches across a massive 3.2 million hectares of country surrounding the Pilliga forest, including 99 communities. Hundreds of farmers have participated in protest actions unlike any previously seen in the region.

4. The Narrabri Gas Project has a long history of spills and leaks of toxic CSG water--Santos cannot be trusted to manage the project safely
Santos has already contaminated a freshwater aquifer in the Pilliga with uranium at levels 20 times higher than safe drinking water guidelines, as well as lead, aluminium, arsenic and barium². In addition, there have been over 20 reported spills and leaks of toxic CSG water from storage ponds, pipes and well heads. Santos cannot be trusted.

5. The Pilliga is a haven for threatened wildlife
The Pilliga is one of 15 nationally listed `biodiversity hotspots' and is vital to the survival of threatened species like the Koala, Spotted-tailed Quoll, Black-striped Wallaby, Eastern Pygmy-possum, Pilliga Mouse and South-eastern Long-eared Bat. The forest is home to over 200 bird species and is internationally recognised as an Important Bird Area². The Santos gasfield would fragment 95,000 hectares of the Pilliga with well pads, roads, and water and gas pipelines--damaging vital habitat and threatening the survival of endangered species.

6. Coal seam gas fuels dangerous climate change
Methane is by far the major component of natural gas, and is a greenhouse gas 72 times more powerful than CO². CSG fields contribute to climate change through the leakage of methane during the production, transport, processing and use of coal seam gas.

7. Human health is compromised by coal seam gas
A range of hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds can be released into the air from coal seam gas operations, including flaring of gas wells. The effects of volatile organic compounds vary, but can cause eye, nose and airway irritation, headache, nausea, dizziness and loss of coordination⁴. These impacts have been documented in human populations nearby to existing gasfields in Queensland, Sydney and in America.

8. The nation's premier optical astronomical observatory is at risk
The Siding Springs Observatory, situated in the Warrumbungles and adjacent to the Pilliga, is under threat from the Narrabri Gas Project due to light and dust pollution⁵. The area has been internationally recognised as a `dark sky park'⁶ and the 50m high gas flares proposed by Santos threaten the viability of the facility.

9. Thousands of tonnes of salt waste will result from the project
Santos has no solution for disposing of the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of salt that will be produced. Between 17,000 and 42,000 tonnes of salt waste would be produced each year. This industry would leave a toxic legacy in NSW.

10. Risk of fires would increase throughout the Pilliga's tinder-box conditions
Methane flare stacks up to 50m high would be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. The Pilliga is prone to severe bushfires. The project would increase ignition sources as well as extracting, transporting and storing a highly flammable gas right within this extremely fire-prone forest.
- See more at: https://www.wilderness.org.au/final-push-pilliga#sthash.qslxoKe9.dpuf

Sincerely,

Honour Leigh

I object to this project because:
It will extract over 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater, much of it in the first five years. This water will be treated and in the early years will generate tens of thousands of tonnes of salt, for which there is no safe disposal plan.
It will cause significant diversion of water from a recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin,
It will cause more trauma to the regional Aboriginal community because the area of impact is crucially important to the spiritual, cultural and social life of Gamilaraay people.
We need to invest in more reliable and ultimately cheaper renewable energy, not by letting Santos inflict more environmental, social and economic harm.
Light pollution will ruin the dark night sky needed by the Siding Spring Observatory.
Coal Seam Gas is harmful to health. See research fro USA

I totally object to CSG.
Its a short term investment that will reck the future for our children

Just stop this madness ! We are killing this world. Please listen to the people. We do not want these wells.

The Pilliga Scrub is a beautiful and rare eco system and environment and should not be disturbed.

David Proud
sussex Inlet NSW

This project provides unacceptable risks to precious water sources and threatened wildlife species.
The local community, including farmers, object to the project, as do the Traditional Custodians, the Gamilaraay. I support these people in their objections.
I believe this project would also damage our climate.

I am concerned by risks posed by CSG extraction to the water resources [quality and quantity] of the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling river system.

The Australian taxpayer has long ago learnt that extraction of mineral resources invariably pollutes and damages our natural environment. This is invariably done at a huge cost to the taxpayer who is left with the cost of cleaning up. Governments allow miners to rape and pillage the country and landscape; all profits in the pockets of the mining giants and then taxpayer's have to pay for the damage (although the land is never the same again and usually polluted beyond any real chance of repair; useless to man, beast or fowel). Why do we keep on repeating this - privatising profits and socialising losses! All for the rich friends of the politicians.

I object to the Narrabri Gas Project for many reasons including following : -

- The project would drill right through the recharge area of the Great Artesian Basin and inevitably contaminate it with drilling fluid spills and salty treated water. This is unacceptable since uncontaminated water is THE most essential and precious resource in our country, above and beyond dollar value.

- The gasfield would fragment over 90,000 hectares of the Pilliga forest thereby industrialising the largest temperate woodland in eastern Australia and damaging the habitat of many iconic animal species. Such a temperate woodland with the animals living in it is very precious to the ecology of this country and it is of huge consequence that our human intellect grasps this consequence of our predatoriness now rather than determining the value of our diverse natural environment merely in narrow, short term, extractable dollar terms.

- The project would generate tens of thousands of tonnes of salt waste for which Santos has still not offered any waste disposal plans. Such waste disposal plans should be required before approval of any such project and not allowed to proceed unless paid for in advance by the drilling company, carefully vetted by all relevant authorities, and policed throughout.

- The indigenous Gamilaraay people's express request not to sacrifice their country to coal seam gas extraction should be honoured as a matter of principle, if not law, since they are intricately connected to the forest and the groundwater through their stories, song-lines and many cultural sites in the area.

- It would make sense to heed the massive opposition to the project from nearly 100 communities all around the Pilliga Forest.

- The damaging impacts on human populations of volatile compounds produced by coal seam gas extraction has already been shown and documented worldwide and cannot be ignored.

- The Pilliga is prone to severe bushfires and this project - with methane flare stacks up to 50m high, running day and night - would increase ignition sources, as would extracting, transporting and storing a highly flammable gas within the fire-prone forest.

- 50m high gas flares would also threaten the viability of the Siding Springs Observatory, adjacent to the Pilliga, due to light and dust pollution. This 'dark sky park' is invaluable and internationally recognised.

I am appalled by the recent report assessing the Piliga proposal

The project would extract over 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater and drill right through the recharge area of the Great Artesian Basin. It would generate tens of thousands of tonnes of salt waste for which Santos has still not offered any waste disposal plans. This gasfield would fragment over 90,000 hectares of the the Pilliga forest, industrialising the largest temperate woodland in eastern Australia.

As a permaculturist, horticulturist and agricultural scientist there are absolutely no justifications that could allow this project.

I know the area. I am aware of not only the listed damage but the huge possibilities of future unknown consequences to the land and water - really the only resources we have when it comes to meeting human needs.

Put the the project away and proceed with revegetation before climate change really starts to impact.

This ''plan'' is hideous, and ANY persons/politicians supporting it should hide their heads in shame.

They will eventually be seen as 'DESTROYERS' of Australia.

The integrity of the Artesian Basin should be OFF LIMITS to those attempting to degrade it for future generations.

Greed is NOT good.!!!!

The project would extract over 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater and drill right through the recharge area of the Great Artesian Basin. It would generate tens of thousands of tonnes of salt waste for which Santos has still not offered any waste disposal plans. This gasfield would fragment over 90,000 hectares of the the Pilliga forest, industrialising the largest temperate woodland in eastern Australia.

CSG is far too big a risk for our water table, our farmlands, and our communities. We need to invest in clean, renewable energy instead of pushing an industry that poses such significant threats!