Narrabri Gas

This is not the way forward. Our natural environment needs our respect not our destruction. If we continue to choose to procreate we need to consider our natural environment not just immediate short term economic goals that have such a negative impact on our habitat.

We have the capacity to destroy life as we know it on Earth. I feel to continue to provide ourselves with the product of industries that use the bounty found on Earth in unsustainable ways that continuously contribute to environmental struggle then we are indeed moving the path of destroying our existence here along with countless other life forms closer. Please do not allow the impact of business and making money to be more important than taking care of the planet we all live on. Please allow self responsibility to each other and our environment to be a global behaviour that is upheld by governments with their ability to legislate the way we operate to Law.

Enough allowing these large Oil and Gas Companies to destroy our Forests and Ocean. What are you leaving behind for our children and grandchildren.

Take a look at the Coal Mines in the Latrobe Valley, will they be filling in and putting back what they have destroyed NO!!!

Our Governments State and Federal are letting us down big time. What concerns do these Companies or our Governments have about our Wildlife our National Parks our Land NONE no concern at all. All they see is $$$$$s.

How come I still have to support these organisations when coal seam gas should be banned, coal phased out and coal mining banned from wilderness and agricultural areas

I know it's hard being a politician
But I don't understand how common sense doesn't prevail in our environment and resource decisions
Why is success not synonymous with sound safe decisions and planning
Thank you
Angela Slight

The Narrabri Gas Field project is proposing some 425 well pads, which will require road access, clearance of surrounding bush, access roads and other infrastructure which will effectively ruin this area.
The people of N.S.W need pristine forest areas for recreational purposes, clean air , retention of wild life and other socially acceptable activities. The financial returns to the State are minimal and not worth the cost.

The proposed Coal Seam Gas wells in the Pilliga are unnecessary to provide gas to the east coast of Australia. There is no problem with supply but a problem with how the gas market is regulated.

Australia is now the biggest exporter of LNG in the world and the ability of the gas producers to secure a higher price for their product on the export market than they can on the domestic market is one of the main factors in domestic supply issues.

Greater transparency in pricing, and regulation of how much of Australia's gas is allowed to be exported for profit by these companies are two measures that will resolve the supply 'crisis' without risking pristine areas of our shared natural environment.

The only thing the government and others who have been manufacturing this supply 'crisis', gain from pushing for these gas wells is increased profits for the companies drilling the wells.

Considering that these companies have donated to the political parties involved, and that the risks of this project will be borne unfairly by local landowners and the environment, the only word to accurately describe what is going on is corruption. The government should be governing in the long term best interests of its constituents and indeed all Australians. Not to their corporate donors.

I vote against project which will
place 850 coal seam gas wells in the heart of the Pilliga forest in North West New South Wales.

Water is very important and I want to see all of our waterways protected and care for. We cannot survive without water. It is a precious commodity. Lets keep it that way

1. The Narrabri Gas Project risks precious water sources, including the Great Australian Basin--Australia's largest groundwater aquifer

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.

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'

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


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.

I don't support this CSG project.

The risk reward ratio for the general public does not add up to good value.This point is very important.

There is huge amounts of gas in the NW of the country and now that we are paying near world price for our gas we might as well source it from the West.

We have to be very careful with our remaining natural resources and environment. Think of the generations to follow.

I object to Santos developing coal seam gas in the Pilliga region, on environmental grounds.

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.

This is a totally inappropriate development/action and can cause massive damage to the environment below and above ground.

Don't do it!
This is a horrible industry causing destruction and suffering around the world. Let's be proud of our country and make it the best in the world.

Please do not grant Santos' application for hundreds of CSG wells. The Pilliga Forest is too important as endangered species habitat to destroy for gas production.

To whom it may concern.

My submission is simply going to focus on two key points which are solid reasons why coal seam gas mining should not occur in the Pilliga area.

The first is that the area contains the sandstone recharge zones for the great artesian basin. This vital and massive aquifer is essential to a huge area of Australia. There is a risk - for this water to become contaminated and altered for all time hence forth. It is not worth taking any risk whatsoever with this natural resource which is the lifeblood of Australia and the future.

The second point is simply that the overwhelming majority of the population within the area are firmly against the proposal of any coal seam gas mining.

We as a nation have put colonisation to the history books but the proposal resonates as a modern form of colonisation given the community's stance. I believe those within the area would see it as an invasion, massacre and rape of the local community and resources; irrevocable change and damage. The costs borne economically through emotional, social and natural damage.

Of course companies need to make profits and be viable. At what expense and whose, and for how long? The costs to our precious country in this venture is too greatly outweighing the benefits it would bring.

Yours sincerely,

Helen Crawford

We need to travel with caution in this area

As a university undergraduate studying wildlife and conservation, I know just how much this project will harm the fragile ecosystems of NSW. At some point, we must take a stand and realise that this planet is not ours to damage - we share it with the forests, and we share it with the animals. It's about time politicians realised that they should respect the Earth, and cease the decisions bent on corrupting her.

As a frequent eco-tourist, I want to preserve as much unspoiled wilderness as possible for future generations.

KOALA ACTION INC.
Postal Address: 52 Poole Road
GLASS HOUSE MOUNTAINS QLD 4518
ABN: 92 282 853 793
http://koalactioninc.org



TO: THE NEW SOUTH WALES PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT

I have been asked by the members of Koala Action Inc. (KAI) which is a volunteer not for profit incorporated association made up of individuals concerned about the long-term survival of the koala population all over its natural range with a specific focus in South East Queensland to provide a submission objecting to the industrialisation of the Pilliga region.

Our focus is on retaining the existing environment in order to provide a future for all native wildlife utilising that site but in particular for those species considered Â"vulnerable to threatenedÂ" on a local, state and federal level. The koala is now considered in serious decline in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT.

For your information KAIÂ's objectives are to help koalas by urging local, state and federal government as well as businesses to retain native bush land habitat, provide resources to rehabilitate degraded bush land to increase its carrying capacity and encourage the replanting of koala food trees and other natives in parks, reserves and open spaces.

KAI provides free koala education and awareness presentations to community groups, schools and private enterprise. Members are also involved in the rescue and care of sick, injured and orphaned koalas as well as actively facilitate the creation and grow koala food tree plantations.

KAI applies for grants and funding at a local, state and federal government level to enable our members to rehabilitate degraded bush land habitat and replant koala food trees and other natives wherever possible. In addition, KAI provides support to those raising koala orphans from their homes.

KAI recognises the importance of protecting the Pilliga forest which is the largest intact woodland in eastern Australia, stretching across half a million hectares in north-western New South Wales. It is a unique ecological refuge, home to 25 nationally listed including the koala and 48 state-listed threatened species, such as the Pilliga Mouse, which rely on the Pilliga for survival.

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.

Members are deeply concerned that energy giant Santos has plans to industrialise the Pilliga with 850 coal seam gas wells. KAI believes and research supports us when we state that such activities threaten this natural refuge, negatively impact on our precious groundwater and may destroy the communities who rely on it. KAI also knows that if weÂ're to maintain a safe climate and keep global warming below 2 degrees, projects like this cannot go ahead

Members of Koala Action Inc. are supporting locals like Anne Kennedy and Jane Judd who have lead the community protests against this risky project. KAI is grateful that for years theyÂ've managed to keep the project from progressing.

Members are deeply disappointed that the NSW Government has ignored the voice of the community in this project. It is our intention to stand with the community who has been tirelessly campaigning against this project for so long.

Although KAI is not directly affected by this Santos project nor do our members live in NSW we are aware that if this project goes ahead, it will affect all Australians. KAI would like to add its voice and the voice of our members to the many others who are also protesting against any industrial and/or development plans that will destroy this unique yet fragile ecosystem.

With thanks Vanda (aka Wanda) Grabowski
President/Secretary
Koala Action Inc.