Narrabri Gas

We the people must protect our water sources from being polluted. I don't profess to know a lot about the damage that can result from CSG drilling but all I can say is it can't be a good thing from what I have learned and it must not be allowed to continue. I truly thank the people at the heart of the protests to stand up to these companies Our ecology is fragile and any attempt to harm it for the sake of the mighty dollar is deplorable! Thank You.

The land must not be destroyed.
It is horrifying to think that not only will the Aboriginal people have a great loss to their lives and culture but the land will be destroyed.
We must look with a vision to the future generations and this beautiful land of ours.

1. The Narrabri Gas Project risks precious water sources, including the Great Artesian 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.QPacO6FQ.dpuf

There is increasing evidence of negative impacts of unconventional gas mining on human and animal health (some relevant references below). While the geological impacts on groundwater and other physical resources lie outside of my field of expertise, what is increasingly clear from the medical literature is that the impacts of unconventional gas mining on the health - physical and mental - of individuals and communities can be very significant.
It seems extraordinary to me that a responsible government can even consider compromising the health of its peoples in this way. Do Australian governments now consider it ethically justified to sacrifice the health and psychological wellbeing of their rural communities for economic profit? Should we not be actively investing in and promoting non-injurious means of meeting electricity demands for the Australian community?
The decision to engage or not engage in uncoventional gas mining can no longer be considered simply an economic issue or a health issue. It is an ethical issue about what matters most to our society: the health and wellbeing of Australian people living in rural communities, or corporate profit?
Some relevant references below for the committee to consider, including 3 recent articles from the Medical Journal of Australia:

References:
Bamberger, M., & Oswald, R. E. (2012). Impacts of gas drilling on human and animal health. New Solutions, 22(1), 51-77.
Castleden, W. M., Shearman, D., Crisp, G., & Finch, P. (2011). The mining and burning of coal: effects on health and the environment. Medical Journal of Australia 195(6), 333-335.
Coram, A., Moss, J., & Blashki, G. (2014). Harms unknown: health uncertainties cast doubt on the role of unconventional gas in Australia's energy future. Medical Journal of Australia, 200, 210-213.
Finkel, M. L., Hays, J., & Law, A. (2015). Unconventional natural gas development and human health: thoughts from the United States. Medical Journal of Australia, 203(7), 294-296.
McCarron, G. P., & King, D. (2014). Unconventional natural gas development: economic salvation or looming public health disaster? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38(2), 108-109.

Stop fracking all together!...

Australians are not stupid. We know that opening up a giant new gas field is madness, especially when it risks our water, our farms and our endangered species.
At a time when we urgently need to transition away from fossil fuels, we expect you to stop taking backward steps and hindering the progress of sustainable clean energy.

No matter how much money you think gas will generate it won't compensate the destruction and the potential jobs that will be generated at home, instead of overseas.

Get on board and do the right thing. Stop the gas fields.

CSG mining is particularly dangerous to the environment. Long lasting detriments fro short term gain. Stop CSG mining in the Pilberra and everywhere

CSG Extraction puts the needs of the few above the needs of all - destroying water basins and surrounding farmland. I wish to submit my total objection to further exploration and extraction, giving some reasons below.
Extracts from a Q & A with CSIRO Scientist:
Extraction of methane from coal seams requires the extraction of large quantities of water, so across the industry, it may total between about 90 and 30 gigalitres of groundwater per year, or the equivalent of about three Olympic swimming pools for each well, each year. Basic sets of impacts that are broadly well understood are: the likely drawdown of aquifers; depressurisation of aquifers; risk groundwater contamination; risk of subsidence of the surface, and salt that is in the water of coal seams will be brought to the surface as well, in a quantity of about 1.8 million tonnes of salt per year.
There are several types of water contamination that are possible. One is through the injection of chemicals through the fracking process. Another is through chemicals that naturally exist in coal seams, being taken out of coal seams and exposed to other parts of the environment, and the third is just from the removal of large quantities of water from aquifers or coal seams. You can get a lateral flow of water and aquifers, and aquifers actually differ in their water quality throughout their extent, so just having that lateral flow in aquifers can lead to changes in water quality.
What appears to be the most common is where there's introduction of waste water into the environment at the surface and that has a number of effects that we know about. Because produced water tends to have an elevated level of sodium, and a high ph., it can have several impacts. The first is that the salt in water itself, can reduce the growth of sensitive plants, so that it could even killed highly sensitive species. The produced water can also reduce the soil's structure, which make soils more prone to water logging and is generally more conducive to plant growth.
The produced water is often quite alkaline so it it's introduced in the solid it can change its ph., and the actually change the balance between different components in the soil and can make it more suitable for plant growth and other purposes.

Isnt it about time we joined together for our country and took responsibility for our actions.
CSG is will kill our wildlife, poison our farms and dislodge the Aboriginal people of the area.
NO

Land, heritage, culture and for what? It took millions of years to form this and now you want to create profit for a small few?
How about investing in renewable energy technologies...that would be something noble. I strongly oppose this project.

As a farmer in the Central West of NSW I'm appalled by all this gas nonsense. Leave it in the bloody ground!

The woodlands of the Pilliga Region are the last great tract of a once widely spread, broad vegetation type found throughout the Western Slopes of NSW. They are amongst the most important remaining woodlands in Australia along with the Great Western Woodlands of W.A.
The 'Pilliga' is crucial to the ongoing survival of vast suite of threatened entities, including ecological communities, individually threatened fauna and flora species and populations, as well as many locally uncommon and regionally significant species. The woodlands also provide critical habitat and food sources for a range of migratory and nomadic fauna species.
These woodlands also provide vital resources for a growing population including clean water, air, carbon stores, aesthetic and wellbeing values.
Mining operations such as those proposed should not be approved for such a vitally significant area of natural heritage. These woodlands are a remaining example of what once was and should be left undeveloped / undisturbed for the reasons mentioned above.
These ecological restraints in combination with the absolute lack of robust data on the impacts of mining operations such as gas this project should / must be considered during the environmental assessment process and lead to the proposed project not being approved.
We have not only an obligation to both current and inter-generations but also to our biological heritage to ensure the ongoing, long term survival of all species. This project will directly contribute to the current extinction crisis which has reached an absolute tipping point and we must all act to reverse this trend. T
his process must start with strong, bipartisan leadership from Government and listening to the science, being guided by conservation experts.
Please act to stop Narrabri Gas Project and future proposals in this region from going ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Andy
Andrew Robinson | Bushland Technical Officer | Ku-ring-gai Council
P: 9424 0402 | M: 0407 019 360 | F: 9424 0001
E: [email protected] | www.kmc.nsw.gov.au
Ku-ring-gai: Sydney's green heart

We should in invest in alternative clean energy

Please please please
No Coal Seam damage here

This will have disastrous and extremely long-term impacts on our ability to provide quality food to Australia! Stop fracking and damaging our environment in the hope of finding what is a less-than-ideal energy source in the first place!

This project ia against the wishes of local population including the aboriginal custodians of the land.

It would threaten already endangered Pilliga wildlife and water supplies.

Santos has a history of leaks in the area, has already contaminated freshwater in Pilliga with Lead, Uranium, and more. Why would they be trusted to not do more damage?

This project would cause a lot of long-term irreversible damage and makes no economic sense for people of Australia.

I strongly oppose this project. I do not believe the environmental mitigation measures imposed will ever be able to protect this beautiful natural habitat. I believe this project should not proceed on a tick & flick Environmental Impact Statement that can be edited in the proponents favour.

I am writing this submission as I am strongly opposed to the proposed coal seam gas field in the Pilliga region. The risks to the environment are too great. The potential devastation to the great artesian basin is nothing short of criminal. The traditional owners of this land should be listened to and respected. I conclude by saying renewable energy sources are the future of our power needs. They should always be considered first in our quest for our energy requirements.
Thank you
Gillian Hand

It is essential to preserve the Pilliga from CSG and mining.
Environmental destruction continues to destroy wildlife habitat, forest and pollute water in all its forms.
Reject any further exploration in this precious place.
Leave it as a place of refuge for the wildlife.
Renewable energies are evolving and burgeoning and this is where the future lies.

I am totally against this and It's about time the citizens of This great land of ours took a stand against these companies that put money ahead of Water and Food. When are they going to wake up and realise People, Fauna and Flora can not Live on Gas, Coal etc.

I am writing in opposition to any project that involves drilling for coal seam gas because available evidence shows that it will affect the livelihoods of many people due to poisonous substances being leaked into nearby waterways.