Narrabri Gas

I am totally opposed to the destruction of arable land for the production of gas, the burning of which will produce further greenhouse gas.

I absolutely object the Narrabri Gas Project for the follow reasons!

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 clear close to 1,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest, fragmenting the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales, home to unique wildlife.
It will cause significant diversion of water from a recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin, which is a water resource relied upon by rural communities across western NSW.
It will lead to large deliberate and fugitive emissions of methane, adding to climate change.
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.
It 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.

The proposed Santos Narrabri CSG development seems more of an ideological statement than a business proposal.
The many technical and environmental hurdles to overcome seem to be overlooked within the vague production proposals and voluminous EIS; the detailed extrapolation of this I leave to more knowledgeable authors.

As a freelance photographer I spent approximately twelve weeks in the Pilliga area in early 2016, embedded in a protest camp near Coonabarabran. During this time I traveled extensively throughout the forest and surrounding farmlands, meeting many concerned residents, and many concerned citizens from all over Australia, of all walks of life.
I saw at first hand the fragile beauty of the Biliga, the fleetingly elusive fauna, the magnificent endemic flora. I saw sandstone outcrops and caves held sacred by the local Gomoroi people and was told that Biliga means 'Land of the Spear', and is an important site for both men's and woman's lore within this culture.
I also saw the devastation already wreaked by the gas industry within the forest, visiting various historical spill sites and noting the ineffectual attempts at rehabilitation of these sites.
Traveling through the gas fields such as Bibblewindi I often found myself suffering symptoms of chemical exposure such as headaches, itchy throat and sinusitis. This I attribute to venting and fugitive emissions.
I observed the absurdity of flaring gas in an arid scelerophyl forest during days of total fire ban, and visited the nearby CSIRO Siding Springs Observatory. The optical array of telescopes at SSO will be rendered virtually obsolete if the plan to place hundreds of these flares proceeds, at an incalculable cost to international scientific community.

Most worrying is the apparent collusion between Santos and the NSW State Government to push this project through no matter the cost to Land and People. I find it hard to believe the lack of baseline studies was an oversight for a project of this magnitude. The consequent recent (2017) baseline measurements near a previously drilled site are a parody of science, open to dismissal upon release.
The recently announced Inland rail line and adjacent gas pipeline also makes sense of the Honorable Mr Joyce's bizarre 2006 purchase of land at Gwabegar.
The strengthening of antiprotest laws at the request of the mining lobby speaks suggestively of a malfeasance which may some day be answerable in an anticorruption hearing.

I also find it hard to believe the 'Economic Return On Investment' is viable in a time of inevitable immanent carbon pricing, which leads me to assert this is part of a cynical ideological strategy to extract a low quality product before these high impact extractive technologies are curtailed. Santos' business plan of a catastrophic 4°C pathway affirms this.

I have not touched upon the impact to water quality and drawdowns of the GAB, assuming that many submissions will extensively cover and call into question Santos' dubious scientific assertions on this matter.
It is not an exaggeration to state that "Water is Life". Governments and Industry ignore this self evident fact at their peril.

A. Stevenson. Brisbane, Qld
16/05/2017

I wish to register my opposition to the proposed plans by Santos to drill through the Great Artesian Basin in the Pilliga Forest for coal seam gas.

My opposition is based on evidence of irreversible ecological destruction, harm to native animal species, destruction of sacred sites, and CSG's significant contribution to global warming that will result from the proposed plan.

Sincerely,
Richelle Roberts,
Armidale NSW 2350

I object to this gas mining in our Pilliga .. You need to protect our land and especially our water for us and future generations. Why would you even consider risking the Great Artisian Water Basin

I object to this but feel it will fall on deaf ears as the government doesn't care about any of us who live here.. whether we have water to drink or not .. Don't destroy our land and water

My protest is really about intelligence.
We have seen the damage done in Queensland by fracking. Loss of value on farmland, burning rivers, sick families exposed to noxious gasses everyday.
It takes no time at all to see the enormous damage fracking has done in the USA where poisoned aquifers and earthquakes have become the new norm for many communities. See any Erin Brokoviches pages and its all there. Farmland destroyed, leaking gas pipes, enormous amounts of methane released in to the atmosphere creating more Global Warming. These things are documented and true. There is no scientist anywhere who can discredit or disprove that this is happening because of CSG and fracking. No scientist anywhere.
Yes, we have an energy crisis created by greedy companies sending all our gas offshore. The linkage of the Victorian gas lines with the NSW gasline by the Wagga Albury gasline last Christmas has now allowed all our gas to be sent offshore leaving us with nothing except falsely inflated prices to keep our businesss and homes with energy. That's a political disgrace that doesnt appear to have a cure yet.
I have been to The Pilliga. I have seen a spill that happened in 2011 where no regrowth has happened at all since then.The ground is poisoned and will be for avery long time it appears. What chemicals are they using? Obviously not ones safe for our environment.
As noted The Pilliga is a large area of feed for The Great Artesian Basin. Will we risk poisoning that water source used by so many towns and farms throughout the west?
Especially for profit that will most likely be siphoned overseas with no taxes and bounties paid?
If you look at the pads for each well and multiply that by 850 you will see jsut how much land will be taken from the wildlife and plant;life of the Pilliga.
Fracking works by infilling so when one well goes dry another is drilled nearby to find more gas. Imagine in 10 year time many more wells to source the gas, many more poisonous chemicals pumped into the ground and the concept of Pilliga Forest becomes just a memory.
My protest is really about intelligence. When 90% of the population are intelligent enough to see the dangers in fracking why is it being allowed? People dont want this industry because they know there is no future in it for them and their environment.
Bad officials are the reason. How many politicians will go on to work for the miners when they have been kicked out by their constituents? How many will be rewarded with massive wages as a thank you for promoting this terrible industry?
I say intelligent government officials working for the good of the community can say no to CSG and the Santos plan for the Pilliga. Listen to the will of the people.
Use your intelligence. There is no basis for CSG. It is too dangerous.

Attn: Executive Director, Resource Assessments
Department of Planning and Environment
GPO Box 39
Sydney NSW 2001

This is a submission to the Narrabri Gas Project EIS.

I object to this project and believe it should be rejected.

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.

I urge the Government to reject this project and make the Great Artesian Basin recharge off-limits to gas mining.

Signed
Michelle Dambergs

Comments regarding the Santos Environmental Impact Statement for the Narrabri Gas Project.

Dear Sir/Madam,
Chris Fell produced a discussion paper in September 2014 for the Office of N.S.W. Chief Scientist and Engineer. The discussion paper was titled "WATER TREATMENT AND COAL SEAM GAS" . On page 45 of this discussion paper Emeritus Professor Fell expressed concerns that the problem of disposal of the salt produced from coal seam gas operations has not been resolved. In my opinion, the Santos Environmental Impact Statement for the Narrabri Gas project does not satisfactorily address the environmental impact of salt disposal. Section 7.8.1 of the Environmental Impact Statement estimates there will be be on average 47 tonnes of salt produced per day for 25 years. Therefore, the total amount of salt produced by the Narrabri Gas project is estimated to be 430 thousand tonnes. This salt is obviously highly soluble because it is dissolved in water. Section 7.8 of the Santos Environmental Impact Statement states that the salt will be managed by burial. There is a risk that buried salt may leach into the environment. A plastic membrane used to contain salt that is buried in landfill can decay or leak. 430 thousand tonnes of buried salt may be a mess that cannot be cleaned up. There may be no going back once this mess is created.

The Narrabri Gas project should not proceed because there is no satisfactory plan to dispose of significant quantities of salt.

Coal seam gas has no place in Australia. For the protection of our environment, our first people's culture, our farmers livelihoods and the health of the Australian people I oppose the proposal to use coal seam gas mining in the Pilliga.

Our water, our people and our land need protecting from persons who only seek to line their pockets in the short term.

Dear Planning Department

The EIS presented by the developer does not adequately address a wide range of likely impacts of the project. I object to the proposed Santos Gas project at Narrabri for the following reasons:

This project threatens future groundwater access for farming communities and the environment by drawing a large amount of water from limited groundwater aquifers.

This project risks polluting groundwater, surface water and landscapes with the chemicals and salt which are drawn to the surface through the "fracking" process.

The project intrudes into areas held as sacred by local Aboriginal people, thus denying the their rights as well as further fracturing community relationships.

This process will fragment the beautiful Pilliga landscape, leading to a loss of biodiversity and visual amenity for locals and tourists alike.

The project will cause light pollution which will adversely affect the operations of the Siding Spring Observatory. The recent astronomy TV programs have led to increased visitors to the Narrabri area, with economic benefits to the community - which are threatened by the project.

The project will result in significant "fugitive" emissions of methane which in turn will contribute to further global warming with the associated risks to agriculture as well as floods and bushfires.

The project will lead to adverse health impacts for locals and people at a distance. The World Health Organisation has reported that over 7 million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution - much of this from the burning of fossil fuels.

The CEO of Santos was recently recorded at a company AGM stating that rather than complying with the Australian Government commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement of 2 degrees of warming, the company was aiming for a level of 4 degrees. As outlined in today's (16 May 2017) Sydney Morning Herald, even 2 degrees of warming will likely result in profound impacts on Australian agriculture, bushfire prevalence and extreme weather events. Scientists have stated that four degrees would take the Earth into a situation where many staple global food crops start to fail, leading to global famine, dislocation and massive economic losses. On this basis, I contend that the company is not a responsible entity and that the project presents a threat to all Australian, not just those who will be adversely affected locally.

In this age of global warming, water scarcity and environmental degradation, it does not make any sense to allow any more exploration for fossil fuel in pristine forests, contaminating water tables and ruining farmers' livelihoods.

Farmers' products are also becoming more valuable as Asia places a huge premium on supposedly clean Australian food products, so why ruin the environment for short term fossil fuels?

Renewable energy sources like solar, when combined with battery storage, are reaching the point where they can provide reliable energy.

Santos' plans to industrialise the Pilliga with 850 coal seam gas wells will threaten the precious groundwater of the Pilliga and the communities who rely on it. The sandstone under the Pilliga is a vital recharge area for the Great Artesian Basin, and creeks that flow through the Pilliga provide clean water into the Murray Darling Basin. These water sources are the lifeblood of farming communities throughout the southeast and inland Australia.
The Pilliga forest is the largest intact woodland in eastern Australia, a unique ecological refuge that is home to 25 nationally listed and 48 state-listed threatened species, such as the Pilliga Mouse, which rely on this particular habitat for survival. The economic gain from this project is questionable and it is not worth compromising such a valuable and irreplaceable environmental resource.
Also, if government is serious about maintaining a safe climate and keeping global warming below 2 degrees it would be foolhardy to approve a project such as this.

Santos has a woeful history exploring the Pilliga. We can't afford to expose the Pilliga and the Great Artesian Basin to such risks. Further, climate change requires that we keep fossil fuels in the ground. Approving the Santos Narrabri Gas Project would be a crime against our environment and against humanity.

I ask the government to take a leadership stand and REJECT all coal seam gas mining in general and specifically in the Pilliga.
Coal seam gas mining is a short-sighted venture which is a misuse of our nations natural heritage, our earth public and private resources. I ask that the NSW government encourage only environmentally sustainable energy production initiatives and reject this venture.
To accept development of coal seam gas is to subject the Pilliga, NSW, Australia and the earth's delicate balance to an industry that will pollute the water, the land, and our air. We are ALL dependent on the health of our planet, but it is this Government Department who will be making a decision on behalf of the Australian citizens and the larger global community in this regard.
I do not accept that my health and the health of us all be allowed to be compromised. Nor should you.

The only point at which we truly have a say over what private company such as Santos, is NOW at the Planning Stage. If this project was to be given approval, the Government will then be responsible for the environmental and social degradation that would result. Not Santos, but the NSW government. Please have some foresight and know that you have the support of the Australian people to reject this dirty industry. Please take a stand for the sake of us all, and REJECT COAL SEAM GAS MINING.

As an architect I understand that the planning process and the responsibility that goes with it. We all deserve a better, long term solution. As an architect specialising in environmental sustainable design, I know that is is not our only option.
Perhaps while the Planning Department is at it, they could seriously look at encouraging, promoting and supporting clean energy initiatives.
Take a stand and do something positive NOW!
REJECT COAL SEAM GAS MINING.

With the continuing threats to the diversity of natural life supporting ecosystems in our state of NSW and Australia as a whole we can no longer risk losing piece by piece any more of our Natural Heritage. Bottom line Company profits should not be the guide to how this Heritage is to be treated

....this will result in degradation and destruction of our lands for a quick buck!!!!!!!
Please consider the consequences to our country.

This land is not able to be returned to its original habitat if you mine it and is aboriginal land

In brief, I OPPOSE ALL CSG operations in NSW. I do not support the Santos Gas Project in Narrabri. I do not believe CSG is a safe, sustainable or environmentally responsible approach to obtaining resources.

I wish to lodge my strong objection to the Santos application for developing coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga region. CSG drilling and the fracking process would irrevocably undermine and contaminate the local water resources and this is irreversible. This natural refuge, our precious groundwater, and the communities who rely on it would be very seriously threatened by such a project. If projects like this go ahead, we cannot maintain a safe climate and keep global warming below 2 degrees.