Narrabri Gas

An EIS can never fully capture the full spectrum of environmental impacts a project like this will have. Having worked on many infrastructure projects, mitigation measures even if well implemented, cannot and do not offset environmental harm in any effective way. Documents including EISs, REFs, SEEs etc etc are not worth the paper they are written on.

This is just another project that further degrades the environment.

Invest money in renewables and be proactive Narrabri Council!

Atmospheric CO2 levels have just passed 410ppm - the highest in human history. Time to act sustainably and responsibly for current and future generations!

http://www.sciencealert.com/earth-just-passed-410-ppm-co2-levels-for-the-first-time-in-human-history

I strongly object to the Narrabri Gas project. CSG has shown itself to be toxic , and the extraction causes horrific environmental destruction. This should be enough to stop any further exploration/ damage, without the added risk of affecting the Great Artesian Basin! Continuing to drill for CSG is adding to the energy crisis, not helping to solve it.

As a citizen of Australia I object to the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga Forest for the following reasons:
- the deforestation involved will release more carbon into the atmosphere
- native flora and fauna will be adversely affected
- the mining and processing activities will threaten the purity of the surrounding waterways and subterranean aquifers
- surrounding land values will be adversely affected
I urge the State Government and appropriate licensing authorities to say "No" to the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga Forest.

The Pilliga is more important than the gas, for so many reasons - but threats to water, and wildlife would be the ones that stand out for me.
Stop trashing our remnant forests.

Having traveled in the area last year to see for myself & hear from the farmers about their concerns, I can NOT agree to Santos' drilling of 850 gas wells, using dangerous poisonous chemicals. CLEAN, UNPOLUTED water is our most important need for the survival of people, animals & vegetation. We cannot allow that our existential needs are put at risk, now & in the future. That's why I object to Santos' monstrous Pilliga CSG project.

1. The Great Artesian Basin will have almost 40 million litres of fresh drinking water for this critical source of water, the treatment of the water produces around 115 tonnes of salt per day which will be buried as landfill.

2. Santos are completely untrustworthy, a few years ago the NSW Environmental Protection Authority discovered Uranium levels were 20 times higher than safe drinking water levels- this is the water in your homes people- THEY ARE POISINING OUR WATER! Their current Environmental Impact Statement is out of date and highly inadequate for a project of this destructive calibre.

3. The Pilliga is a spiritual, cultural and social icon for the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people and this project cuts these custodians off from their heritage and deep connection to country.

4. There is not even any economic justification, previous coal seam gas projects by Santos drove UP the price of existing gas whilst plundering the limited resources.

The environment in this area is too precious and too valuable in the long term to be simply stripped bare for short term financial gain.

I am appalled that still more submissions are required to defend the Great Artesian Basin Aquifers from contamination!
This is corporate greed and clueless government complicity flying in the face of common sense and responsibility. How would a transgression like this be judged in fifty years time?

In regards to current climate changes and the environmental threats, we should aim to preserve such places as Piliga and the Artesian water wells. It is crucial for the future of Australia to refrain from mining projects and turn towards clean and renewable energy and it's incredible abundance in this country.

This mining project will have detrimental effects on local communities and Australian biodiversity and can be a real threat for future of Australia and its drinking water. No matter how much money some individuals can earn on this project, we need to protect this beautiful country and instead of mining aim for thriving environment and beautiful and unique biodiversity that bring so many people to the country every year.

Dear Planning department
I wish to make a submission on the Narrabri Gas Project and lodge my objection to it
I am extremely concerned that although this project is the largest development project ever undertaken under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act Santos has not provided maps indicating where the 850 wells will be placed or where the lines and infrastructure that run between the wells will go. This is not an appropriate way to assess such a large development project and the Government must insist that Santos release details to the public about the placement of its wells, pipelines and some other infrastructure.
The significant harm on the social, environmental and economic values of the Narrabri Shire and New South Wales caused by this project needs to be balanced against the economic justification for the project. However there is no such economic justification. Santos is one of several large gas companies that threw the east coast gas market and the industries that rely on it into turmoil by opening up CSG fields in Queensland and contracting to sell more gas than those fields can produce to overseas customers. They drove up the price of gas and are plundering supplies previously available to manufacturers and power stations.
The gas produced at Narrabri might be as little as 4.9% of the volume contracted for sale out of Gladstone. It's not going to bring down prices. In fact, it will force prices up, because unconventional gas like CSG is so expensive to produce and yields are so low. Research undertaken by gas company AGL shows that gas from the Pilliga would be the most expensive gas of anywhere in the current east coast gas market. The number of jobs the project will support once the construction is over is just 145. Weighed against damage to the land, and the Great Artesian Basin, this makes no sense. We need sustainable jobs, not plunder for profit.
Groundwater and the Great Artesian Basin: Santos' project is expected to remove 37.5GL of groundwater over the life of the gasfield, mostly in the early years. The coal seam needs to be dewatered to release the gas, but this aquifer lies beneath the Pilliga Sandstone, part of the Great Artesian Basin recharge. Santos' EIS admits that the project will result in a loss of water from the GAB recharge aquifer over time. CSG in Queensland has drawn down GAB aquifers already. We can't afford to risk this crucial resource.
The water removed from the ground by Santos will be treated, but this creates another problem: what to do with the salt? Peak salt production at Narrabri CSG will be 115 tonnes per day, or two and a half B-double truckloads per day. In the peak year, this would mean the creation of 41,900 tonnes of salt for disposal, which Santos says will take place in landfill.
The Pilliga is a spiritual, cultural and social icon for Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people. Fragmentation and industrialisation cuts people off from their heritage and connection to country. The Pilliga is also the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales. Santos propose clearing nearly 1,000ha of the Pilliga, including habitat for critically endangered Regent honeyeater and for koalas, which are already in decline in the Pilliga. Spread across the whole forest, this clearing will fragment much larger areas of habitat. The gasfield will clear breeding habitat for Pilliga Mouse, which lives nowhere else, and breeding habitat for other wildlife. It will fragment and degrade the forest. Without specific information about where the wells and lines will be located, a proper ecological impact assessment can't be completed. Regardless, the Pilliga is a cherished natural and cultural icon and must be protected from becoming an industrial gasfield.
Santos' social impact assessment is three years old and utterly inadequate. The Government must insist that Santos conduct a proper health impact assessment including modelling exposure pathways, reviewing literature and engagement with the Narrabri community. In Narrabri, this project will have negative impacts on cost-of-living, the labour and housing markets. The latter is cited in as a benefit of the project but it will not benefit low-income renters. The effect of the project on cost-of-living in the Shire needs to be modelled, assessed and considered, as do the labour dynamics of the project. The project entirely surrounds Yarrie Lake, and Santos propose that wells might come as close as 200m from the Lake.
The air quality assessment fails to include health-damaging fine particulate pollution with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (known as PM2.5). With diesel generators at each well pad and at the water treatment and gas compression plants, there will be significant PM2.5 emissions. The air quality assessment and greenhouse section also fail to model the likely substantial escape of fugitive methane emissions. Light pollution from flares, compressor stations and the water treatment plant will ruin the dark sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory. Recent research by the Melbourne Energy Institute shows that Australia may be dramatically under-estimating the fugitive methane emissions from unconventional gas, including coal seam gas. It's not needed or useful as a source of energy: we have the technology we need to replace gas with renewable energy
I would like to be informed that extensive assessment will be conducted into the Narrabri Gas Project before any decision is reached and that alternative sustainable energy resources will be explored

I write to express my opposition to the Narrabri Gas Project. The purblind folly of this plan is scarcely believable, even in an era of short-sighted, grab-the-money-and-run economic "development".

I do not need to tell you of the risk to our largest aquifer - the Great Artesian Basin - nor of the danger to our most important national river system. And Santos' assurances about water quality sit uneasily alongside their long track (or should that be "trash"?) record of spills, leaks and pollution. To trust them requires a level of gullibility not easy to find - among the public, at least - in today's political environment.

I am particularly concerned about the escape of methane, which is known to be an enormously powerful greenhouse gas, and which current mining practices have been releasing into the atmosphere with consequences that are not yet clear but will almost certainly be more devastating than is at present realised.

I urge the Department to prevent this madness.

Please consider and reject the proposed Narrabri CSG project, for the sake of regional residents and farmers who depend upon the aquifers, for Australia's agricultural future which needs to be free of toxic contaminants, and for the sake of human generations who will suffer the effects of catastrophic climate changes.

The proposed CSG project would involve
* over 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater.
* significant diversion from an already stressed and over-drawn recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin,
* likely earth tremors, as very well documented in the USA experience, causing not only physical damage to human structures, but more importantly leading to surface water supply loss / contamination, artesian water contamination with gas-field fluids
* clearing close to 1,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest, fragmenting the largest temperate woodland in NSW, home to unique wildlife and critical as a reserve to absorb some of the CO2 we humans output with inadequate care, and
* directly further fueling catastrophic climate change - through carbon emissions, CO2 global warming, to accelerating desertification, plus sea-level rise, plush violent wind storms, floods and droughts, and many other well documented effects of anthropogenic climate change.
Worse still, the proponents cavalierly intend to destroy land that is not even in their title !!

To even consider such a proposal is insanity, for so many reasons.

There is proven to be no demonstrated totally safe and responsible extraction method, and there is equally proven the impact on future animate and human life.

I have been following and reading about the recorded issues and the related CSG methods for over 20 years. The history is clear. The exploiters try to make a quick dollar, trash the whole environment, then fade into insolvency or export their earnings to tax havens, leaving our nation with the costs and mess and a problem that cannot be remedied.

No CSG extraction for Narrabri region - or anywhere in Australia.

I object to this project.

1. The SANTOS EIS claims that they will not interfere with the GAB recharge zone.
The project plans to extract over 35 billion litres of water, much in the first five years. Government hydrogeological mapping of the GAB shows the project will straddle the most important inflow zone into the GAB in NSW (Hydrogeological Atlas of the Great Artesian Basin (2016) Department of Water Resources (NSW) Hydrogeological Series Sheet SH 55-12; NSW Department of Water & Energy April 2009 PN00799 WR2008-089).

2. Coal seam gas (CSG) production can have an impact on groundwater quality and quantity in adjacent or overlying aquifers.
The EIS provides no evidence that shows there is no connectivity between aquifer strata. Recent studies document migration of coal bed methane to the surface (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep15996).

3. All well casings will fail eventually.
There is no comprehensive strategy to ensure long-term well integrity. We will have 850 leakage time-bombs through the GAB
(http://www.pnas.org/content/111/30/10955.full).

4. Santos want to release treated water into Bohena Creek during high and moderate flows.
The EIS ignores that Bohena Creek is a recognised surface groundwater ecosystem (Australian GDE Atlas). Treated water must not be released into Bohena Creek.

5. Recent work has shown that the levels of methane emissions from CSG operations are high enough to pose significant risks to greenhouse gas levels
(http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/559549/Fugitive-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-from-Coal-Seam-Gas-Production-in-Australia-CSIRO-report.pdf;

http://energy.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/2136223/MEI-Review-of-Methane-Emissions-26-October-2016.pdf).

6. Recent work has shown that the levels of methane emissions from CSG operations are high enough to pose significant risks to greenhouse gas levels
(http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/559549/Fugitive-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-from-Coal-Seam-Gas-Production-in-Australia-CSIRO-report.pdf; http://energy.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/2136223/MEI-Review-of-Methane-Emissions-26-October-2016.pdf).

7. The region is an astronomy destination providing jobs, business and tourism. Flaring gas and increase in airborne dust pose a significant risk. The impact of high level flares must be assessed (https://www.aao.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/warrumbungles-declared-australias-first-dark-sky-park).

8. Fragmenting the bush of the Pilliga forest will add to pressure from fox predation on threatened species. No control program will compensate for the increased fox activity along new tracks and easements (Meek and Saunders 2000 http://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR98030).

9. The project will clear close to 1,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest fragmenting the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales. The Pilliga Forest is a remnant forest, a significant genetic repository with a complex interrelationship with recharge and inflow of ground water to the Great Artesian Basin and other acquirers closer to the surface. More research is needed.

10. The proposal fails to adequately address concerns by the Gamilaraay people about further destruction of significant social, cultural and spiritual sites.

This project should not proceed. Construction and exploration already undertaken has had a significant impact on the communities and the environment. The proposal to massively elevate drilling has a residual catastrophic risk to the immediate environment, the integrity of the Great Artesian Basin and other aquifers, and the communities dependant on them.

I am opposed to the Narrabri Gas Project for the following reason:
* Extraction of CSG from the Pilliga will severely impact on the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) water and the GAB pressure head, the impact will not be immediate however it will be ongoing and will effect the GAB for many generations. This is a totally unacceptable impact on one Australia's greatest assets that our generation should not force on future generations.
* The extraction process for CSG requires the depressurization of the coal seam aquifers to release the gas, experiences in Queensland and many other places around the world, strongly demonstrates that CSG does not only release into the gas well. There are many examples where the gas finds faults and fissures and releases into other water aquifers and also up the surface thereby releasing uncontrolled fugitive gases to the atmosphere. Latest research from QLD gas fields strongly demonstrates this occurring. In this current world situation of man induced climate change, we would be totally irresponsible to approve projects, such as this Narrabri Gas Project, that will knowingly further increase the release of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. It should also be noted that this project will put Australia further away from our signed international agreements, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Climate Change Agreement, to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
* Extraction of CSG requires the dewatering and depressurization of the Coal Seam aquifer, the produced water is contaminated with salt, heavy metals and if fracking has occurred a number of other chemicals. Santos has not provided an adequate solution to what they will do with this contaminated water, if reverse osmosis is done as proposed, there is currently no acceptable measure provided as to what they will do with the super-saturated brine solution left over after reverse osmosis. Once again it would be totally irresponsible to approve this project. We cannot leave a legacy of millions of litres of highly contaminated super-saline solution for our future generations to deal with.
* Extraction of CSG requires the dewatering and depressurization of the Coal Seam aquifer, the produced water is contaminated with salt, heavy metals and if fracking has occurred a number of other chemicals. If the solution to deal with the produced water is to re-inject it into other aquifers we seriously run the risk of disturbing, contaminating and fracturing other water aquifers. This damage will be permanent and very difficult to model the impacts over time. This unknown impact is totally unacceptable and once again our generation does not have the right to impact permanently on these water aquifers which may be ruined for future generations.
* If fracking is allowed to improve the gas yield in the Narrabri Gas Project then the above impacts will be exponentially expanded. Fracking must never be allowed in this project, the risks are far too high and permanent.
*Fracking has caused earthquakes around the world and is well documented, most recently Sep 7, 2016 - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook Oklahoma, this earthquake tied for the strongest quake ever recorded in the state and research has proven that this quake was caused as a direct result of fracking. We cannot allow this Narrabri Gas Project to be approved when risks such as this and the ongoing impacts could continue to damage our precious water resources.
* The Narrabri Gas Project poses a serious threat to the ability of the Siding Springs Observatory remaining open. The gas project will "flare" off gas into the atmosphere causing massive Light Pollution that will impact on the ability of the Siding Springs Observatory to continue its' world leading research into our galaxy. As well as light pollution, astronomers are concerned that material dispersed from mining operations will be corrosive to telescope lenses. Siding Spring has around 50 high-grade telescopes pointing at the heavens. There would be many jobs lost from the region if Siding Springs was to close and there would be millions of dollars in stranded assets abandoned as a result.
* Flaring off gas during Total Fire Bans has occurred by Santos and will continue if allowed. So far there are two bush fires under investigation that have possibly occurred as a result of Santos flaring off during Total Fire Bans, once again a totally unacceptable behaviour.

There are so many more reasons why the Narrabri Gas Project should not be approved, however I do not have the time. The points made above should be enough to stop this project from being approved, however it never ceases to amaze me how our Governments and appointed officers continue to approve projects that should never be allowed to go ahead, even when there are known facts as to why they should be stopped. Years later we see the damage and ask the question why did they approve it? The answer is complex and can in essence be answered that they did not care for the future and only wanted short term gain.

I believe that the Narrabri gas project will be extremely beneficial for Narrabri as it will not only bring long term employment but will benefit to the complete workforce anc economy in general. Living locally it would mean our children will have the opportunity to be professionally educated elsewhere and return back home to work instead of going further afield or interstate.
In many conversations I have had with farmers they all believe that the gas will not affect their farming lands as it has been around for decades.
We all need fossil fuels to survive in reality and gas in the least pollutant of the fossil fuels. I would be proud to have gas come from Narrabri and the majority of LOCAL people agree.

Please stop supporting gas mining. The wellbeing of people and the environment far out ways the commercial needs of mining companies. The time to change is now. We are well past the tipping point as regards climate change. It is senseless and stupid to continue down the same road just to milk that last of the profits from fossil fuels. Look to the facts and not the alternative facts and stand up for life. The planet is our home - we can't live without it. Please don't destroy it and rob humanity of a future.

I oppose the Narrabri Gas Project due to the danger CSG mining poses for the surrounding environment, including contamination to water systems. Furthermore the danger this project poses to vulnerable and endangered species in the Piliga by fragmenting the landscape is too big of a risk. As told by the Gamilaraay people (traditional custodians), this land is sacred and should not be used for CSG mining.

This is NOT an enquiry, but a submission about the proposed Narrabri Gas Project. I wish to object to the Department authorising this proposal to proceed. I have been unable to find any other way of stating this objection using the online website. I am a Knitting Nanna from the Illawarra and during the five years since I first became involved have learned a great deal about the risks associated with CSG mining. Most significantly these include the use and potential contamination of the Great Artesian Basin. There are many other reasons why I object to this proposal but i am unsure how much space is available to me using this method of contact.

I AM A FARMER WEST OF BELLATA OUR FAMILY HAVE BEEN FARMING THIS LAND SINCE 1923. OUR 3 CHILDREN ARE THE AGE OF 20 18 16 YEARS OLD AND ARE EXTREMELY KEEN TO CONTINUE TO FARM THIS LAND ONCE THEY FINISH THEIR EDUCATION.
I AM EXTREMELY CONCERN THIS COAL SEAM GAS PROJECT IN THE PILIGA WILL IMPACTED OUR LIVELY HOOD FOR MY FAMILY, OUR LAND VALUES WILL BE SEVERELY EFFECTED FOR SUCH A SHORT TERM PROJECT. EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT A SCIENTIST BUT OUR BIG CONCERN IS THE EFFECT THIS PROJECT MAY HAVE ON OUR GREAT ARTEISIAN BASIN, THAT NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE ANY EVIDENCE OF HOW THIS WILL IMPACT OUR RICH AGRICULTURE LAND. PLEASE CONSIDER HOW RICH THIS AGRICULTURE AREA IS AND WHAT IS PRODUCED IN THE BELLATA DISTRICT.
REGARDS
VICTORIA FULTON-KENNEDY

This project, if approved, would:
1. Extract over 35 billion litres of salt laden groundwater, much of it in the first five years. This water will be treated and will generate almost 500,000 tonnes of salt waste, for which there is no safe disposal plan.
2. Clear close to 1,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest, fragmenting the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales, home to unique wildlife.
3. Drill through a recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin and draw water down from a water resource relied upon by rural communities across western NSW.
4. Lead to large deliberate and emissions of methane from venting and leakage, adding to climate change.

The project will also 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.

The project is not justified: Santos' own coal seam gas export activities in Queensland have caused gas prices to rise and supply to become unpredictable.

NSW should respond to this by investing in more reliable and ultimately cheaper renewable energy, not by letting Santos inflict more environmental, social and economic harm.

It will cause economic upheaval in Narrabri and put agricultural industries at risk, as well as causing light pollution that will ruin the dark night sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory.

Coal seam gas is harmful to health. Neither the NSW Government nor Santos have investigated or dealt with the serious health effects of coal seam gas now appearing in peer-reviewed research in the United States.

Groundswell Gloucester urges the Government to reject this project and make the Great Artesian Basin recharge off-limits to gas mining.