Narrabri Gas

Our earth is precious, we need to respect it, not destroy it.

I strongly object to the Narrabri gas project as it will destroy the natural beauty and heritage forever in this area.

No to gas drilling please. Enough is enough.

The Pilliga water is Jurassic. It is water for our future generations. Please don't allow Santos to drill 850 coal seam gas wells through the heart (like an arrow) of the Pilliga forest and through the Great Artesian Basin. It is a polluting desecration that will have long lasting and unacceptable effects--massacre trees that are sentient beings and significantly reduce the potable water available for future needs.

I am greatly against the Narrabri Gas Project. Having studied Earth and Environmental Studies I know how important the Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin are to Australia. Contaminating these basins would be disastrous for a very large area of Australia and greatly affect many ecosystems for both flora and fauna. We, as Australians, should be moving away from Coal Seam Gas and towards cleaning energies such as wind or solar. I greatly object to the Narrabri Gas Project.

I OPPOSE THESE MINING PLANS

The area where this project is to happen is very sacred, special land that has a fragile ecosystem.
Coal seem gas would devistste this area, contaminate the water table, threaten native animals and would also be on ancestral land. There's a strong community that say no, they don't want this around, they should be heard!
This can't happen!

STOP THIS !!!
BECAUSE:
1. The Narrabri Gas Project risks precious water sources, including the Great Australian 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.uKDyV1js.dpuf

CSG will destroy / kill our ground water aquifers, aquatic life, insects, wildlife and fauna and flora in our so called protected bushland in all surrounding areas never to be used again. As it will all become TOXIC!
CSG needs to stop.

The Piliga is such an important habitat for so many species. It's an area of cultural significance and traditional owners of the Pilliga area object to this project as well. How much more land will we take away from Australia's first peoples? If Australia does this, we are sending a clear message to the world that we don't care about biodiversity & the value inherent in nature nor do we care about the oldest surviving culture on Earth. I care. I care about the Great Australian basin. I care about the future of our environment. I care about the first peoples. This MUST not be allowed to occur.

Human greed is destroying the planet, when will it end? Let us not pillage the Piliga with the alleged intent to help Australia's economy when really it's for the sake of lining pockets. Let us keep the Piliga scared. Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves what legacy do we want to leave for the future? I know what I want it to be. What about you? We can do so much better than this! Let's choose the choice which will allow biodiversity to continue to flourish & Australia to remain scared. I object to the pillaging of the Piliga.

The artisan basin is millions of years old we dont need or want coal seam gas it is to unreiable once you stuff the basin up that it it dead. And it belongs tp the first australians leave it alone we have done enough damage to the world already and santos needs to be bought to justice for most of it please dont let them do this

NO! To Narrabri Gas Project. NO!
No to any and all Coal Seam Gas projects in Australia!
Only fools put any sort of risk to the water in the driest inhabited country on the planet.

It is vital that government acts now to protect our precious natural resources for future generations. The protection of biodiversity is crucial now more than ever as we undergo the a massive change in our climate.
The government should stop supporting archaic methods of energy creation and instead help funding the future of energy production through renewables and importantly battery storage. Whilst it is important to maintain energy security especially through ensuring base loads, the NSW government has an ethical and legal obligation to protect the future generations who ultimately will have to pay the price for the destruction of delicate ecosystems.
Rather than support CSG projects, the government should help incentivise businesses to migrate to the future of energy production in the renewables realm.

Enough is enough!!! The public has had a gut full of your destructive antics!

Unnecessary
Choose the Renewable option and demonstrate good judgement.

Australian govt. can't afford to keep chewing up resourses and giving them away to the lowest bidder just because some multi national companies wants to make massive profits and send overseas and when not economically viable walk away from their responsibility to even clean up their mess.

I am opposed to the application for many reasons.

Primary among these is that the Gamilaraay Traditional Custodians are opposed. Approval of this application would further the long history of injustices done to the First Peoples of this land due to resource extraction. This is unjustifiable, especially given the following reasons.

Coal seam gas is a fossil fuel, and methane is the major component of the gas. Methane is an incredibly strong greenhouse gas, and it has long been a well established fact that climate change, caused by human emission of such gases, is causing serious damage in areas of biodiversity, ecological sustainability, agriculture and food security, extreme weather events, forced migration, and many others. It has been shown that renewable sources of energy are far cheaper than fossil fuels, especially when considering the externalities. To approve of this project would be to contribute to the destruction of lives and the planet on which we depend.

Local residents are in clear opposition. Surveys have shown that 96% of the communities in the region are opposed to CSG. Unprecedented protest actions have been conducted by hundreds.

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 barium. 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.

Between 17,000 and 42,000 tonnes of salt waste would be produced each year, and Santos has no solution for its disposal. This waste poses a threat to the water and the land.

Methane stacks burning permanently, even on total fire ban days in catastrophic bush fire conditions, is simply untenable to any reasonable person. The potential loss of life and of the natural environment cannot be ignored, especially in a region prone to fires.

Coal seam gas exploration and production is unsafe for people and their environment. It should be banned indefinitely from the Pilaga and from our precious Great Artesian Basin and from our lands. Their are safer and more sustainable alternatives for both energy generation and employment creation. The science is in and the logic iron-clad. You must do the right thing for our traumatised ecosystem before it is too late.

We are such a vast country, surely we can afford to keep this very special area pristine and protect it's native inhabitants.

One would think you would of learnt by now that the risk is too great @ the people don't want a bar of it.