Narrabri Gas

I write to express my personal opposition to proposals to pursue coal seam gas exploration in the Pilliga.

My wife and I happen to have just returned from a trip to the Coonabarabran area which included a day spent bicycling along tracks in one large area of the Pilliga.

My impression was that this environmentally important area is already being quite seriously impacted upon by human activities, and the bird life in particular is probably quite depleted as a result of introduced predators. These are only impressions and I do not claim to have any particular expertise in offering these impressions. However it seems clear to me that this important area needs the fullest possible protection. Coal seam gas exploration would obviously be to the serious further detriment of the environment.

I think that it is a fairly obvious reality that the collective greed to consume (I do not exclude myself) is relentlessly and inevitably leading to the destruction of Australia's remaining wild places. The inevitable end result will be a catastrophe. This is already happening for the Great Barrier Reef, which may already be in terminal decline. How many more environmental disasters do we want to create? In my view it is a moral imperative that those with the vested authority to do whatever is possible to prevent such predictable and catastrophic outcomes.

Thank you for considering my view.
Dr Paul Schimmel

I request that the Narrabri Gas Project be rejected on the following grounds:

1. The land is beautiful and should be cared for not exploited.

2. I want us to respect the traditional custodians of the land, the Gamilaraay people, and respect their wishes to keep mining companies out. If we permit Santos to mine it's activity will deface the land both above and below ground.

3. I stand by farmers and local community who know it is a bad idea to mine the area. These are intelligent people who know the land and what's good or bad for it and that their well being is tied up in the land. Please govern towards their well being.

4. I would like to see the work of Siding Springs Observatory continue unhindered by air pollutants. The benefits of science, research and intellectual endeavour are just as important as profit, and the Observatory is a huge cultural asset for our nation.

5. The products of this mining will contribute to climate change and damage the environment for local species, some of which are rare.

My wife and I vehemently object to the proposed Narrabri Gas Project on the grounds of inevitable, irreversible damage to the Great Artesian Basin. Nothing is worth the risk to our water source. If the water quality or its supply is compromised in any way, that will be the end of our livelihood, as well as that of all of those who also depend upon it, not to mention the inpact of the loss of prime agricultural land and products.
Even a 100% guarantee of being "safe" is too risky to be ever considered. Australia is the driest continent on earth, and we cannot comprehend that any government department or agency would feel that interfering with, and inevitably destroying the only dependable water supply we have, is completely incomprehensible.
Ecological destruction, ground water pollution and air pollution are also other irreversible outcomes of this project. Any reported short term gains, when balanced against the widely documented negative impacts that will be the legacy felt forever, we consider will never be worth the destruction caused by this project.
You don't need to be a scientist to understand that it once the Great Artesian Basin is compromised, there will be nothing to undo the damage.

Why do i need to write an email about protecting our environment. How much money have you been given. This is complete bullshit .

I am strongly against mining activities in the Pilliga. The proposed Narrabri Grass Project perpetuates the myth of sustainable exploration of finite resources and seeks to do so at the expense of an invaluable natural environment.

What is wrong with the EPA how can they not know if this money grabbing project for short term gains by a hand full of greedy people should go ahead just think of this. Even the slightest wrong decision could cause a overwhelming catastrophe and Santos are very qualified in this area, the consequences for all Australia would be at risk. The Artesian Basin is this countries water hole which we all depend on . Forget the future of your children and your grand children, because you people today will be affected and this great country of ours will become the biggest desert in the world.

The unique Pilliga region and the Great Artesian Basin will be destroyed forever if the coal seam gas project goes ahead. This is unacceptable for now and for future generations.

With science finding alternate ways of creating energy this Santos project MUST BE STOPPED as the beautiful region of the Pilliga and the valuable resource that is the Great Artesian Basic will be ruined for all time.

We need to protect our water and project this area which is a rich source of food. Santos does not have the community at heart. The farmers do.

Please protect the Pilliga Forest, the Artesian Basin and end CSG in NSW once and for all. We should put the environment first.
Dene Mcmillan
Arakoon.

Dear NSW Government Planning and Environment Department,

I am a concerned voter in this state. I am appalled by the environmentally destructive processes involved in coal seam gas extraction. I wish to voice my objection to all coal seam gas extraction in NSW and in particular to the proposals for the Narrabri Gas Project.

You are the department of planning. Intelligent planning for our long-term future cannot possibly involve damaging our environment, it is all we have. So from a long-term perspective it would be incorrect to plan for damaging our water system. Water is fundamental to life Â- gas is not! You have a duty to future generations, your children, donÂ't plan for them to inherit a damaged country.

You are the department of the environment. Coal seam gas extraction is environmentally destructive. CSG extraction damages our land and our underground water. Santos doesnÂ't care and we the NSW people will be left paying the bill for their destruction possibly for thousands of years. We know already that, NSW will not financially benefit in the short or long term from allowing them to damage our lands and water. The Federal Government has admitted they are being ripped off. Given there is no short-term financial benefit why would anyone in their right mind approve this. DonÂ't be swayed by false arguments about jobs, they are minimal in CSG extraction. NSW would do itself better by creating jobs in the renewable energy sector where there are real jobs that are sustainable and do not damage jobs in the agricultural sector.
I urge you to reject the Narrabri Gas Project proposal.

Sincerely,
Dr Michael Fisher

Stop raping the earth at the expense of future generations, it's never going to be as good as it is now (or was). Seriously, stop fucking up the land. Pull your heads in and take a good look at yourselves, you're going to be hunted down when it all goes to shit. You can't eat money, at the very least people are going to want answers as to why they can't drink water from the table you've polluted.

If this is approved I for one can't wait for the witch hunt, but of course these CEO's and chairmen will be safe behind their guarded fences and secure properties. Better hope the public doesn't find you!

Dear Minister,
I would like to play my objection of any coal seam gas fracking and or extraction of methane gas from the Piliga State Forest. The following points are of great concern and the outcomes if Santos were to proceed, would be, in the view of myself and many others, irresponsible, because this State Forest should be a national park and preserved for the protection of our unique biodiversity in the region, and also to protect The Great Artesian Basin which supports agriculture and wildlife over a vast region outside the Piliga. To allow Santos to proceed, would be fool-hardy and will not benefit Australians, or this planet. The detrimental affects of project far exceed any monies made from this venture. The damage would irreparable and future generations would pay the price.

My main reasons for objection include:

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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 , Sydney and in America.

9. 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.

10. 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.
conditions

11. 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

Robyn Pollard

I object because there will be significant negative impact s on the environment and the duture of all our flora fauna and human life including:
* extraction of over 35 billion litres of toxic groundwater
* the generated tens of thousands of tonnes of salt extracted from that water at the disposal location
* the approx. 1,000 hectare clearing of the Pilliga Forest, will fragment the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales, home to unique wildlife.
* the significant diversion of water from a recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin will increase the drought effects of lives of rural communities across western NSW.
* the subsequent large deliberate and fugitive emissions of methane will add to climate change.
* the increased trauma to regional Aboriginal communities because of the area of impact to crucially important spiritual, cultural and social lives of Gamilaraay people and neighbourinf Wiradjuri 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.
We must stand and listen to the people and not the mining companies because this ultimately impacts the people and their long term lives and future lives. And the trauma is too great a cost to bare.

850 Coal Seam Gas Wells!!
The Pillaga is a very important part of our environment here in Australia. It supports the unique natural environment of flora and fauna and we cannot afford to allow overseas interests to tamper with our environment. They do not have our best interests at heart of which they know nothing.
This is a very risky and dangerous activity. I strongly protest to the NSW government in allowing this project to go ahead.

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.dKda26Az.dpuf

This industry is unsustainable and true leadership is needed in the energy sector for a long term solution. Poisoning our environment for the profit of corporations, with minimal positives for Australians, is NOT the way forward.

This is a plea on behalf of myself and my husband but more so on behalf of my 2 young sons - aged 13 and 15, and all of their young friends.

I would like my sons and their children - should they choose to have any - to actually have a world to live in that is not beset by high temperatures, extreme weather events, and dying flora and fauna.

I find it incomprehensible that a State Government can so easily choose to ignore it's own climate scientists but also the opinions and advice of the international scientific communiyy.

We can no longer afford to burn fossil fuels in this country and indeed in this world. That may sound extreme but it is not.

We must invest in and develop alternative forms of energy asap.

Please do not allow the vested interests of the fossil fuel mining companies to have sway over you.

The local community of the Pilliga do not want Santos to open up a new gasfield. We know from many sources that the mining of CSG is not at all safe for the local community. It causes illness and it destroys the land underneath which it is sourced.

Drillng for CSG risks devastating pollution of water supplies - and we all know just how precious a resource water is in the country of ours.

Please do the right thing. Be a leader.

I will be grateful and so will my sons. If you choose not to show leadership than, in my opinion, you are being wilfully negligent.

Yours sincerely,

Sally Fryer.

This is another unsustainable mining project in an area of great environmental and economic wealth. If Santos is allowed to mine and do further mining exploration in this sensitive area it will become an unusable waste land. Santos does not have a very clean record already why give them further chance to make that record worse? If the Artesian basin becomes poisoned it will become good bye to any agribusiness that uses it's resources and in turn goodbye with the flow on effects to the towns reliant on this as well. Long term financial and responsibly this would be a poor decision to allow Santos to continue. The government would show it has no future planning for this area and is only after the immediate fiscal gain that wouldn't even pay for half the clean up this area will require post mining.

There is now extensive evidence from across the world which shows the impact of coal seam gas extraction on people, farming lands, waterways and the environment.
In a country where sources of clean fuel are so readily available coal seam gas extraction is a backwards step for the community and the land. Approving this to go ahead with what is now known about Coal Seam Gas would be negligence on behalf of the government and Council.

I OBJECT TO FURTHER DESTRUCTION OF LAND.
It is Land that Feeds the People of Australia!

A nation that cannot feed its own people is doomed to be a slave - reliant on other nations to Feed those people.

We have some of the most productive Agricultural land in the World.
STOP Destroying it - and the Air and the Water we all need for survival.

NO MORE CSG, anywhere in Australia, EVER!