Narrabri Gas

The Narrabri Gas Project:
* risks precious water sources, including the Great Australian Basin and the applicant has a poor history of water pollution breaches
* will result in increased greenhouse gas emissions
* impacts on 15 nationally listed biodiversity hotspots
* undermines the Siding Springs Observatory
* increases fire risks
* will produce large amounts of salt waste
* has overwhelming local and farming community opposition
* threatens Aboriginal cultural sites and culture

I strongly object to the proposal by the mining company Santos to drill 850 gas wells in the Pilliga Forest. I object to this on the basis that is not supposed by the Aboriginal custodians of that land and also for enivronmental reasons.

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.


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.

We should be protecting our precious water resources, not destroying them,

.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.

We no longer have the right to risk Environmental
Damage to our land.
The value of long term food and water quality ,security
Must never be underrated.

The proposed project (NGP) will lay to waste and fragment a huge area of land in northern NSW. It is not possible to extract CSG without having a large environmental cost. The land would be permanently scarred with wells, wellheads, pipelines and roads and with an aftermath of gas leaks and water pollution. Specifically, the project
1. Risks precious subterranean water resources through consumption, contamination and damage to the rainfall recharge areas that are so important for the Artesian Basin.
2. The NGP inevitably will create spills and leaks of various chemicals that are inimical to plants and animals. Foremost is the retrieval of huge quantities of salt which cannot reasonably be disposed of. The area is a haven for wildlife that would be affected by this work.
3.The traditional First Nation custodians are opposed
4. Farmers and many local communities are opposed
5. Santos historically does not have a good environmental record in its many projects. There is no reason to think this would improve if permission is given to proceed.

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.



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.

The Narrabri Project has an unacceptably high risk to the entire region and should not proceed.
Drilling and potentially fracking 850 gas wells through the Great Artesian Basin will bring to the surface huge amounts of salt and chemically-laden water, threatening farmland and water resources.
The project has ahistory of spills and contamination so far. As such, Santos should be excluded from all projects of this nature generally.
Being sort of sorry after the event is just not good enough.
Traditional owners and local farmers are opposed to the project.
Pilliga is a haven for threatened wildlifewhich will be further damaged.
There will be massive salt waste issues that no one seems concerned about.
The list of reasons against the project is almost endless.
Simple answer - Just don't do it.

Please protect the protect the Pilliga forest for future generations.
Now is the time to invest in sustainable jobs and end our reliance on unsustainable and environmentally damaging industries.
Please end CSG in NSW once and for all.

Hello My objection to the proposal to remove the gas from under the Piliga Scrub is absolute.The first nation people of the area have many song lines and sacred sites that would be damaged forever more. The sensitive scrub has served the area with forest timbers for many years and the salt that will be brought to the surface will kill acres of soil for ever. No more timber industry.The contamination of the under ground aquifer by many chemicals will travel great distances and end up in our food chain or drinking water. We want be able to undo this damage to the environment after the gas has been extracted. Please take my concerns as valid and real for the sons,daughters,grand children and all generations to come.

I object to the proposed project for many reasons. In simple terms these reasons are:
1) CSG extraction has shown to be damaging to subterranean water and waterways, This is not a good thing for the environment or people who rely on the water.
2) The local communities are not in favour of the project because of its effect on the local environment.
3) The traditional land owners are against it.
4) G\The gas extracted is a contributor to green house gas pollution and its extraction does little to reduce our carbon emissions as well as the long term damage of global warming.

These four reasons should be sufficient for this proposal to be rejected.

I can see nothing to be gained from this proposal and many reasons for it to be stopped, namely:
The damage to the Great Artesian Basin and Murray-Darling river system.
The damage to human and environmental health from methane gas exposure, salt deposits and impact on Climate Change.
The threat posed to the Pilliga Forest especially from possible fire, and its ecosystems, plants, animals soils etc
To proceed would be to ignore and treat with disdain the objections of the local farming communities; and also the Gamilaraay people whose song-lines and stories would be
impacted.

And the scientific, ground-breaking work done at Siding Springs Observatory could also be threatened due to excessive light and poor air quality.

I would suggest that CSG focus its future investment on alternative energy sources which are sustainable and healthy for both human life and our eco-systems on which our human life depends.
Thank you

On behalf of Australian Beef Group:

As an Australian exporter and supplier of beef products on the domestic market, the Narrabri gas project and all other projects run by Santos in the NSW region present huge problems to not only Australian Beef Group; but all producers of food within the reach of the Great Artesian Basin. Given the price differential between Australian production and the costs of our international competitors; our greatest asset is the clean Australian image. This image has been formed over millions of years; and will be a mere memory if Santos are granted approval. With American experience showing the devastating effect of this technology upon the environment, it is utterly devastating that the Australian government - on multiple levels - has entertained this idea for such a lengthy time.

We oppose this project with full force, as it completely disregards our social license to operate. This is both on a legal and ethical stance point. Our suppliers will be affected; our partners will be affected; but ultimately it will be Australian consumers who are affected due to a potentially tarnished production system.

The case against most CSG projects swamps the case for them. This one is no different. Don't let it go ahead.

Please stop this project.

We need our planet to flourish and stay healthy. This project CAN NOT help it at all. Our wild life can not handle another coal related development. it will make it weaken and suffer.

Please do not create jobs that is going to destroy our eco system instead of creating helpful ones.

Why are there companies still digging up the land and destroy heritage and culture over greed. Methane can be made from garbage which we have an abundance of in cities. Methane can be made from sewerage so why destroy our precious ground water for a gas that is easily and literally man made over digging fossilised gas and destroying our earth for absolutely no reason other than greed and laziness other to invest in the human races future. Why do governments allow for farming land to be destroyed, our forests and endangered species over a gas that can easily be made in the cities - it is just senseless

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.



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.

The Narrabri gasfield uses techniques and processes that are highly questionable in a sensitive environment.
The effects on aquifers and the Murray-Darling Rivers is unknown and potentially disastrous.
There are serious concerns for safety and examples of past practices are sufficient to deny any further development of these gas fields.

This proposal is completely at odds with the environmental needs of the area. It threatens the robustness of both the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray Darling Basin at a tine when water resources are diminishing. The water table needs to be protected for agricultural use and there is an unacceptable risk of adversely affecting the a number of threatened species within the Pilliga Forest. This proposal is not supported by the Narrabri farming or wider community no by the traditional custodians of this area, the Gamilaraay people. Santos has already been proved to be an irresponsible operator who has contaminated one aquifer within the Pilliga forest with dangerous amounts of uranium. This gas field is not in the best interest of Narrabri, or the nation. It will frack for gas at great ecological costs which will be irreversible. This is a destructive proposal which should not be approved under any circumstances. We need to support agriculture in this area not environmentally dangerous fossil fuel extraction

I wish to object to the Proposed Gas Seam drilling in the Narrabri area.
This is a very rich and important agricultural area and sustains a significant population. There can be no certainty that underground waterways will not be affected.

I strongly object to the plan to drill for gas in the Pilliga area. In Northern NSW we have seen the gas industry crawl off with it's tail between it's legs. The same must happen in the Pilliga. There must be NO contamination of the water supplies in the area both for the surrounding farming areas and importantly NO contamination of the Grand Artesian Basin on whose edge it is located. The areas remaining in Australia where we can safely and healthily grow food for an increasing Australian population, and also a very rapidly increasing global population are steadily decreasing. If we continue to install gas and coal mines in rural areas to the detriment of air, soils and the whole environment (including all of the very important local flora and fauna then we do so with extreme risk to the continued existence of the human race. And I have not even mentioned the increasing carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere due to the release of all the fossil fuel use into the atmosphere, leading to higher global temperatures and detrimental effects on everything on land or in the oceans. I literally thank God (if there is one)that I am an old man a could fall of the edge of the earthly platter in the near future but I hold grave fears for the lives of my grandchildren.
NO GAS MINING IN THE PILLIGA.

Once a person purchases land, 'NOONE' that does not own that land should be able to step upon it, to benefit and/or capitalise, on what is present upon, above or beneath that block of land, i.e.; underground gas, petrolium, coal, uranium, water, timber etc. Furthermore, it is the Australian governments duty to provide healthy and sustainable options of power at reasonable cost, i.e.; solar, wind, small scale hydro subsidies, as opposed to coal and uranium subsidies etc (hydro that does not impact upon the natural typography etc (for eg; NO DAMS!!!). The government needs to protect the children of our future and find ways to minimise potential impacts to our natural environment, sustain our countries natural beauty etc. Furthermore, for anyone that has lived within a natural environment and observed the changes to the weather by modifying that environment, they would know that changes to vegetated and/or riparian areas etc, affects how frequently it rains and where it will rain, the quality of the water in our rivers, the number of natural wildlife that will reside within those set habitats etc. The government should be absolutely ashamed that they have not stamped out the pillaging of our natural resources, in attempt to profit big companies. I am further concerned that such does not benefit our general Australian citizens, as these businesses are not taxed appropriately and many of the resources end up going over seas. In my opinion the Liberal/National party alliance should both be put in prison as criminals and left there to rot, as that is what they truly deserve!!!! They are nothing but a pack of greedy criminals, devoid of reasoning, logic or empathy and at no point have they ever served the needs of our general society!!!!!!!!!! They are nothing but prostitutes to big business.