Narrabri Gas

Coal Seam Gas and it's method of extraction will have serious consequences on water supplies and given that this proposal is able to effect the Great Artesian Bore I condemn this proposal and ask that the voice of the people of the Commonwealth of Australia be heard and not the voice of corporations, and their lobbyists.
This proposal will adversely affect many Australians, not only now but way into the future, and as such should not even be considered.

Why are you risking the environment for profit? The land and the water are more important than company profits surely.

WAR CRIMINALS /TERRORIST'S '/POLITICIANS/ SHAREHOLDERS AND CEO'S can no longer hide behind Limited Liability
YOU WILL be held Accountable for Environmental damage
ON A PERSONAL LEVEL
Currently Politicians are "Paid " to" look the other way"
and use FLOWERY Language to Justify RAPE of MOTHER EARTH
WE ARE IN A TIME WHERE THIS ACTIONS WILL BE SEEN
IN THE SAME LIGHT AS RAPING CHILDREN.
Contaminating water is NOT AN OPTION
IF THOSE MAKING THE 'PRODUCED WATER' ( TOXIC COCKTAIL ) THINK IT'S OK ,THEY SHOULD WILLINGLY PUT IT IN THEIR SWIMMING POOLS AND DRINKING WATER????

HISTORICALLY CSG HAS LEFT A TRAIL OF DEVASTATION FOR THE LOCALS TO ATTEMPT TO LIVE THROUGH.

WHILE THE LONDON ATTACK HITS THE NEWS
VICTIMS OF CSG WILL HAVE THEIR SUFFERING RECEIVE THE SAME PUBLICLY ,
SOCIAL MEDIA HAS LEVELLED THE PLAYING FIELD

THE POINTS BELOW SHOW AMPLE EVIDENCE THAT ANY CSG MINING IS FOOLISH
THOSE UNDERTAKING CSG FOOLISHNESS NEED OUR COMPASSION, AS THEY WILL UNDERTAKE X 100 LIFETIMES TO REPAY THE DAMAGE THEY INSTIGATED.




1. The Narrabri Gas Project risks precious water sources, including the Great Australian BasinÂ--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 areasÂ--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 RiverÂ--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 waterÂ--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 pipelinesÂ--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.



SoilFutures Consulting 2014, Great Artesian Basin Recharge Systems and Extent of Petroleum and Gas Leases. http://www.gabpg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/GAB-Report1.pdf
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/santos-coal-seam-gas-project-contaminates-aquifer-20140307-34csb.html
BirdLife International (2017) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Pilliga http://www.birdlife.org
Marion Carey Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), Air pollution from coal seam gas may put public health at risk The Conversation, November 20, 2012
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/21/siding-spring-observatory-threat-coal-seam-gas-light-pollution
http://darksky.org/first-dark-sky-park-in-australia-designated

CSG isn't a safe practice for our water. We (our children and their children) can and will not survive without clean water.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to oppose the Santos application to drill over 800 wells in the Piljara.
I am opposed to destroying ANY water source, much less the only water source for 22% of rural NSW. This application is about company greed, not about gas need.
I implore you to show care and concern for our country and our water sources over profiteering.
R. Danaher

Dear Madam/Sir,

I strongly object to the Narrabri Gas Project

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.

Yours sincerely,
Angelika Knoerzer

There are two major problems with this proposed project:
* Santos have a poor record for managing environmental risks and a spill from any of the proposed wells into the Great Artesian Basin would contaminate the main source of waster for a vast area.
* The burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change. I have just been reading a message from the Climate Council about a recent visit to the Great Barrier Reef, just off Port Douglas commenting: "For a second year in a row, water temperatures have been too high, putting corals under enormous stress, with no time to recover. At one reef I saw only one single healthy coral. As far as I could see, corals were bleached stark white and mottled with brown algae.

The harsh reality is that we are now losing the Great Barrier Reef.

It underlines how critical it is that we transition rapidly from fossil fuels to renewable energy." (Email message broadcast by Amanda McKenzie of the Climate Council 23 March 2017)

Dear Planners,
I am writing to object in the most strenuous terms to this proposal. I believe this project carries the risk of irreversible harm to key water resources including the Great Artesian Basin system which is critical to farming , human settlement and native vegetation and protected species.
The rise in Uranium levels above acceptable standards in work already done in the area is an example of unforeseen risks that cannot be excluded. The profit and in my opinion naked greed of one company should not be allowed to trump the public interest and vital food production industry in this area.
The project is also unnecessary as solar energy is already cost equivalent to gas fired power based on recent international auctions such as the 2016 Abu Dhabi solar auction winning bid of 2.4US cents per kWhr and is rapidly replacing it.(That is not a misprint and is readily confirmed). Australia already produces enormous quantities of gas and the unnecessary nature of this project when weighed against the risk to vital food production and water resources means it should not proceed. The jobs involved would be no offset to the loss of farming and food production jobs in the event of toxic leakage and the high production of salt and entry into the water supply and areas surrounding the gas workings. This project in my opinion is unsafe, unnecessary, risks irreversible harm to key food and water resources , is actively opposed by the local community and not in the public interest.
Please stand up for the community, food production and vital water resources against what many including myself see as short term greed.

You know all the science, but have you ever walked through Pilliga Forest? We have done it for years encountering emus that chases us, kangaroos that watched us and beekeepers trying desperately to let their bees thrive so that agriculture would benefit from their pollination.

So, let Santos go,elsewhere where they can damage landscapes that do not matter.

Dear Department of Planning,

I am a resident of Mosman on the Lower North Shore, and scandalous news of the proposed Santos Gasfield in the Pilaga region of NSW has reached even my normally very conservative suburb.

The Pilaga sits on top of the Great Artisean Basin that is vital for providing water to to some of the most productive farmland in Australia, the fertile Liverpool Plains. It would be a scandal of unimaginable proportions if this vital aquifer is breached with the 'appalling' fracking process. Our water in the driest continent on earth is just too precious to be fracked. The risks of a catastrophic environmental and economic disaster are just too great to take!

Yet the so called 'credible' Santos EIS wholly fails to appreciate this obvious fact. The 'herd of elephants' in the room has been ignored. This is not surprising since having Santos prepare the EIS is like placing 'Dracula in charge of the bloodbank.'

If this abominable project goes ahead, in Franklin D Roosevelt's words after Pearl Harbour, 'it will be a 'day that will live in infamy'

Yours sincerely

Andrew Fraser

I am very concerned that Santos do not have a safe record of complying with NSW GOVERNMENT codes regarding the use of dangerous chemicals and there impact on the environment and any water resources. CSG is a very dangerous way of extracting gas and as an Australian I totally disagree with this method of obtaining gas!

Listen to the public. Listen to the experts. We need to be closing down all of these archaic sources of energy in favour or more sustainable ones. There are more important things in life than money. Get it together.

I can not believe that this is even a consideration given our current environmental position. In my mind, it is as obvious that there is a change is the world weather systems (as per instruction from any scientist not link to the coal/energy industries) as it is that our politicians our acting purely in the interests of those with the deepest pockets.
Can this government finally start doing what it is elected to do and represent the majority! Stop thinking of the betterment of your own financial position and start doing what you're bloody voted in for!

I am opposed to Santos coal seam gas mining in the Pilliga. Their past record of repeated spills that had detrimental effects on the local water should be enough to deny further mining.

But the major danger is to the Great Artesian BasIn and to our agriculture. Clearly the long term health of all our water, surface and below, is far more important than the short term gain from mining. And, of course, the most of the profits go overseas and much of the technology is imported.

We now have financially viable renewable energy alternatives that are environmentally far superior . The long term economic value is also much higher for Australia because we will be developing internationally competitive green industries and skills.

We need to embrace the future and rid ourselves of destructive industries.

Patsy asch

The Great Artesian Basin is the sole water source for towns and farms across 22% of rural Australia (Great Artesian Basin CSG risk, The Australian, 7/11/14) and you want to allow Santos to drill 850 wells! You want to allow dangerous fracking in the Pilliga by a company who has already poisoned an aquifer at Narrabri with uranium 20 times over safe levels and has had over 20 other reports of spills and leaks of toxic CSG water (Santos coal seam gas project contaminates 8/3/14, Sydney Morning Herald). I most strongly object!

I would like to submit my strong opposition to the Narrabri Gas Project. I will stand with and support the people who are fighting against this project.

There is obviously plenty of gas for Australia's domestic needs being produced at the moment. The problem is that the gas producers have somehow persuaded our governments to let them export most of it.

The solution to our gas shortage is to divert enough of the gas produced to domestic use, and only to export the excess.

Risking destruction of farmland and water resourcesby extending coal seam gas mining is not the solution.

I object to this and any other proposal for coal seam gas in this state due to known hazards to environmental, human, water and animal health. Additionally, Santos has a poor record.
Finally, the forest and ecosystem need protection.
Santos would be better served to invest in renewables instead of clutching onto the old economy.
Sabina Campbell, 2077

I object to the Narrabri Gas Project on the basis that it poses an unacceptable risk to water resources needed by farmers. Based on the past performance of Santos in the Pilliga the risks are extreme.
The potential damage to both the Murray-Darling Basin and the Great Artisian Basin far outweighs any potential benefits.
Even by some miracle there is no damage to water resources there does not appear to be any plan to manage the thousands of tons of salt the Project has forecast it will produce. That cannot be left as a legacy for the farmers and the environment.
We don't need that gas in Australia and it is too dangerous to use anyway as it will increase climate change.
The local farming communities are overwhelmingly against the project and they have the support of farmers everywhere.

I attach my submission in response to Santos EIS for the Narrabrai Gas Project
Geralyn McCarron