Narrabri Gas

I am a 16 year girl who has lived on "Yera" Edgeroi since I was 8 years old. I am really scared for the future of the environment that I have grown up in and love. I am planing on coming back home after uni but if Santos is permitted to go through with their planned expansion, I fear for the future.
I am really confused as to how the government feel that they can continue to allow companies to make money through practices that damage the environment. As children we are taught that we are not to damage or ruin things that do not belong to us. We are only here temporarily, so how can the adults that are in charge feel that they have no responsibility to our generation and do not seem to care the problems they are leaving to us to try to resolve.
Please think about the future and how we are going to be able to live in a world that has had our natural resources depleted.

The lack of detail: Santos' EIS is very short on detail. It does not provide maps indicating where these 850 wells and the lines and infrastructure that run between and around them will go. Santos is seeking a blank cheque consent for this gasfield on the promise that it will decide where the wells will go afterward using a "Field Development Protocol." No project has ever been assessed this way before in NSW and the constraints Santos propose are weak and subject to change later on. This is not an appropriate way to assess the largest development project ever undertaken under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and the Government must insist that Santos release details to the public about the placement of its wells, pipelines and some other infrastructure.
There's no justification: The significant harm on the social, environmental and economic values of the Narrabri Shire and New South Wales that this project will inflict needs to be weighed against the economic justification for the project, but 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 total number of jobs the project will support once the construction is over is just 145, with approximately 10% of those based in the Narrabri LGA. 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.
Salt: 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.
Cultural heritage and the Pilliga: 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.
Biodiversity and the Pilliga: 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.
Social and health impacts: Santos' social impact assessment is three years old and utterly inadequate. The compendium of health studies produced by the Concerned Health
Professionals of New York shows mounting evidence for health damage by unconventional gas operations, including water contamination and respiratory illness. 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.
Air quality: 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.
Dark sky: light pollution from flares, compressor stations and the water treatment plant will ruin the dark sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory.
Climate change: 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 sources.

After considering the environmental constraints of the Pilliga forest and hazards related to CSG production and the GAB, I request that the NSW Department of Planning and Environment recommends refusal of development consent of this Santos proposal in the Pilliga.
There should be No CSG infrastructure in the Willala Wilderness Area; areas of old growth woodland must be protected, as well as all endangered ecological communities, and threatened plant and animal species habitats. Adequate protection of these and other heritage values of the Pilliga woodlands will be impossible if this CSG proposal is approved.

My name is Felix Cobb-Johnson, I am 14 years old and live at "Yera" Edgeroi. My dream is to take over the family farm. If Santos is allowed to continue to drill and cause damage to the environment I wan't be able to as we are dependent on underground water for our cattle.
We are told that we have to be honest, to do the right thing by other people and not to hurt others. Santos have not been honest about things they have done and what they are going to do.
Please don't let them ruin the environment just so a few people can get rich. It isn't fair that business is allowed to change the rules so that they can make money.

The lack of detail: Santos' EIS is very short on detail. It does not provide maps indicating where these 850 wells and the lines and infrastructure that run between and around them will go. Santos is seeking a blank cheque consent for this gasfield on the promise that it will decide where the wells will go afterward using a "Field Development Protocol." No project has ever been assessed this way before in NSW and the constraints Santos propose are weak and subject to change later on. This is not an appropriate way to assess the largest development project ever undertaken under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and the Government must insist that Santos release details to the public about the placement of its wells, pipelines and some other infrastructure.
There's no justification: The significant harm on the social, environmental and economic values of the Narrabri Shire and New South Wales that this project will inflict needs to be weighed against the economic justification for the project, but 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 total number of jobs the project will support once the construction is over is just 145, with approximately 10% of those based in the Narrabri LGA. 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.
Salt: 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.
Cultural heritage and the Pilliga: 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.
Biodiversity and the Pilliga: 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.
Social and health impacts: Santos' social impact assessment is three years old and utterly inadequate. The compendium of health studies produced by the Concerned Health
Professionals of New York shows mounting evidence for health damage by unconventional gas operations, including water contamination and respiratory illness. 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.
Air quality: 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.
Dark sky: light pollution from flares, compressor stations and the water treatment plant will ruin the dark sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory.
Climate change: 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 sources.

X

No coal Seam gas Save our land. Save our water ways Save our future

I would not like csg to come into anywhere in Australia as it's toxic to our water and the pollution kills. It is responsible for global warming so I believe we as a country should invest in 100% renewable . Enough is enough we r sick of the greed and environment vandalism !

I am concerned that as part of this project there could be close to 1,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest cleared. This will result in massive loss of habitat to a number of animals such as koalas, and regent honey eaters, which are already endangered in some areas do to previous loss of habitat. It will fragment the largest temperate woodland in New South Wales.
It will also 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.
There has already been significant trauma among the Aboriginal community, specifically the Gamilaraay people and this will just add further to their loss of spiritual, cultural and social life.
NSW should rather be investing in renewable energy which does not have the same impact on the environment such as emissions of methane, adding to climate change.

There is no justification for the Narrabri gas project.
There is no amount of profit or benefits from this project that will ever outweigh the significance of the Pilliga as a cultural site to our Gamilaraay people. Our family have held cultural connections to this land for thousands of years and will continue to do so through our future generations. I object to using this land for the gas project.
This is not the Australian Governments land to sign over to the gas project.
The Pilliga - always was, always will be Aboriginal Land!

We need new industries to support our town to ensure it grows and moves forward

i think this wrong for our countries children and our health.

I am totally opposed to any further CSG in this country
I have worked as a civil supervisor in the Surat basin seen the damage done
The degradation to our water supply is to much to risk in the driest continent in the world
The financial aspects do not add up when a foreign country can pay less for gas than we here in Australia whilst putting our aquifers at risk
NO CSG ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

My name is Amelie Cobb-Johnson, I am 11 years old and in Year 6 at Narrabri Public School.
I live on a farm with animals, and the way Santos are going I could not have a life like I have now.
It is sad that Santos can turn it into a gas field for money. The government will agree if we don't try to stop them.
Please don't let them stop farmers from being able to make food.

The lack of detail: Santos' EIS is very short on detail. It does not provide maps indicating where these 850 wells and the lines and infrastructure that run between and around them will go. Santos is seeking a blank cheque consent for this gasfield on the promise that it will decide where the wells will go afterward using a "Field Development Protocol." No project has ever been assessed this way before in NSW and the constraints Santos propose are weak and subject to change later on. This is not an appropriate way to assess the largest development project ever undertaken under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and the Government must insist that Santos release details to the public about the placement of its wells, pipelines and some other infrastructure.
There's no justification: The significant harm on the social, environmental and economic values of the Narrabri Shire and New South Wales that this project will inflict needs to be weighed against the economic justification for the project, but 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 total number of jobs the project will support once the construction is over is just 145, with approximately 10% of those based in the Narrabri LGA. 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.
Salt: 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.
Cultural heritage and the Pilliga: 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.
Biodiversity and the Pilliga: 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.
Social and health impacts: Santos' social impact assessment is three years old and utterly inadequate. The compendium of health studies produced by the Concerned Health
Professionals of New York shows mounting evidence for health damage by unconventional gas operations, including water contamination and respiratory illness. 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.
Air quality: 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.
Dark sky: light pollution from flares, compressor stations and the water treatment plant will ruin the dark sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory.
Climate change: 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 sources.

We are opposed to any CSG projects in the Narrabri region for a few reasons
1. There is no compelling evidence that there is no harm to the Great Artesian Basin on which we currently rely.
2. There is a massive double-standard afforded to the logging industry which has been largely banished from this region compared to the CSG industry which appears able to do what they like above and below ground. Again this is also in stark contrast to what local landholders can, or would, do.
3. The salt by-product appears to be a nuclear waste that has no place and will become an environmental pollutant as it has become with the Queensland projects that are still unable to offload this salt. It's good and well to use water for irrigation but not if the extractants from this water are this hazardous salt by-product.
4. The eventual pipelines needed for this project will pose environmental and biosecurity risks. The pipelines are not deep enough for these soils. The easements will be prone to noxious weeds that could be transported and spread by pipeline staff. Biosecurity concerns could only be met by strict training and entry protocols that would undoubtedly be unique to every region and the risks of being exposed to Anthrax, equine flu, Q fever, etc by pipeline staff and activities are risks we are not willing to accept as a result of a CSG industry.

There is too much evidence that CSG processes are unsafe for our underground and above ground water sources, soil, and air quality. There have already been 'accidents' that have resulted in pollutive substances damaging our natural environments and this can not be allowed to continue. Put people and planet before profits. We have alternative energy sources and an intelligent government would be implementing these cleaner, safer options rather than risking so much by letting CSG wells take over. My daughter (6) and I object strongly to the application.

To all concerned parties,

First and foremost, CSG has been proven on numerous occasions to pollute groundwater supplies as well as fresh water rivers with flammable gas, so it is totally ridiculous to put at risk two of Australias biggest groundwater aquifers - the Great Artesioan Basin & Murray-Darling Basin - for water is life!

To add, the Pilliga is a great natural haven for threatened wildlife, and we definitely have already been destroying enough of that, so saving any is essential in this day & age.

Plus the local farmers & community, and also the traditional custodians in the Gamilaraay people all oppose the project. This has been shown by surveys with the local community as well as consultation with the Gamilaraay peoples and their historic sites in the area.

Not to mention that CSG also puts at risk not only the environment, but also human health all at once.

There are many other reasons, but these stated above should be enough to stop this project from even being considered moving forwards!

Please stop this project for now and forever, for the sake of all of the local community and its surrounds.

Sincerely,
Ti Coleing

The health of our environment and our people is critical. Australia needs to disinvest in coal and coal seam gas and to massively invest in renewable energies at the micro and macro level. To do otherwise is a threat to this and future generations.

I support the gas project because I believe our community will benefit economically. We are lifelong residents of Narrabri and are now raising our own children here, I look forward to seeing some improvements to the community that only the gas project could bring.

I support the Narrabri Gas Project as it will allow Narrabri to grow

Ttaking all available information into account, this project appears to tick all boxes. Environmentally sustainable, excellent employment opportunities, an economical injection for narrabri that the community would be crazy to not support.

This project has the potental to turn Narrabri from a great town to a Great town with lots more great infustructure, community facilities and other benefits that may come from the mining royalties narrabri will receive.

Not only would the project bring More people to town but it would breed confidence in the housing market an drive development in that sector.

I sincerely hope that narrabri takes this unique opportunity as it is very unlikely such an opportunity will be arise again.

Supporting santos all the way.

I object to the approval of this project. It is short sighted as the project deliverables would destroy irreplaceable agricultural land, water sources, wild life habitat and other resources. Please do not approve for the sake of future generations.