Narrabri Gas

I want protection for the Pilliga forest. I am against Santos' Narrabri Gas Project .

I urge those assessing the proposal to Reject it in its' entirity. Santos a s greedy corporation that has gone out of its' way to deny Climate Change, and the harm caused by its' fracking ventures. They have made it abundantly clear that the bottom line is all their management and investors care about, and the environment can go to hell. They have a bad record when it comes to environmental remediation, or even simple consultation with the local community. 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. They are an unacceptable risk.

Moreover, the proposed project creates a number of unacceptable risks in the immediate environment, including the build-up of salt (already a significant problem in Australia's drought prone biomes), something that has not even been accounted for in the current proposal - a pretty damning oversight on their part.

There will also be a concomitant increase in the risk of fire in the immediate vicinity, due directly to the presence of human activity, and to the release of methane in flare stacks and into local aquifers and waterways. The Pilliga is already severely fire prone; adding fuel will only exacerbate this.

The release of hydrocarbons in the process will also have impact on human health in the vicinity; volatile organic compounds are necessarily released during "fracking" and other gas exploration mining processes, and these are known to be responsible for a range of negative impacts on human health.

In a wider context, the release of these materials will also toxify the surrounding bushland, and put the habitat of rare and endangered animals at risk, just so Santos can make a profit. 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 pipelin, damaging vital habitat and threatening the survival of endangered species.

And in an even broader context, the project Directly contributes to Climate Change, at a time when we are at a critical threshold for the survival of many of the world's environmental systems. It is already cheaper to generate power via wind or solar than it is to use fossil fuels, yet our governments are letting us down by continuing to subsidise oil, coal and gas projects such as this. There is no good economic argument to justify this - it looks more like corruption than anything else. Supporting a dying industry is a fools errand, and a betrayal of both the present and the future. Further fossil fuel projects should attract *prohibitive* levels of taxation and regulation, not receive taxpayers money and diminished environmental and safety standards.

The project has already been rejected by local farmers annd residents; 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.

It does not have the approval of the local aboriginal community either; 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.

The project threatens water sources, both in the Great Artesian Basin, and the Murray-Darling river system. Our nation depends on these for survival, and they should not be risked, just to let Santos make a few more bucks. The days of fossil fuels are dying, and the industry needs a swift kick in the pants, not a golden handshake. Do your duty and protect Australia into the future, don't sell it out to the past.

I do not support the Santos application for 850 (or any number) of CSG wells in northern NSW - or anywhere else in NSW.

CSG is dangerous and damaging to groundwater, disturbs surface soil profiles and ecology, destroys farmland, and divides communities.

We do not need this gas at any cost.

Please refuse the application and do not grant Santos any further licenses.

Approval of such development such as proposed for Narabri will go down in history as part of fossilised thinking of this governing body. This is an opportunity to end such dinosaur development The community at large is every increasingly cynical and critical that government decisions are made in order to remain in power, and that power in large part comes from the donations made by corporate interests and subsequently looking after those corporate interests.. This is NOT in the interests of the people and "the people" increasingly have had enough!

I'm worried about climate change - we need to stop extracting coal and gas, and boost renewables if we are to minimise the dangers and losses we face from global warming. Coal seam gas extraction releases a lot of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas (much stronger effect than CO2). Supporting gas projects also detracts from the renewables industry, which we should be focusing on. On these grounds alone the costs of the Narrabri project are too high.

I would add that as a young person, I strongly condemn and despair at efforts to lock us and our children into disastrous consequences. And given the climate change effects already observable today (for example, in some places in the US autumn and winter have simply failed to show up), and the adverse effects of very hot days on our bodies, it looks like climate change will hurt most everyone alive today.

Additionally, coal seam gas extraction harms human health and contaminates water and Santos does not have a good record when it comes to environmental safety. Approving this project would be simply unacceptable.

I strongly oppose the Santos Narrabri Gas Project and heavily urge all of those who have the power to stop this terrible decision before it begins to do so now. As our forests deplete by the second and our carbon emissions skyrocket, the value of our forests increases unfathomably. Forests are the only chance we have to offset the human-caused emissions from causing permanent damage to our atmosphere and removing them removes any hope of recuperation.

Besides this, forests hold unique speceis' of plants and wildlife which cannot evolve quick enough to adapt to living in different climates once their habitats are destroyed.

Do not Destroy what makes life worth living for the sake of monetary gain. There is no price you can put on something as irreplaceable as a forest. Coal Seam Gas is not proven to be safe or beneficial for our environment and this land is not ours to be messed with.

There is scientific evidence that logging in the area is not ecologically sustainable. If you declare the area protected, you would dramatically boost tourism and create over 500 jobs and gain $48 million a year. There's private backing for existing proposals for an eco-lodge, a tree-top walk at Cambarville and a zip-line at Toolangi - that would also lead to further growth.

The proposed park the proposed park - stretching between Kinglake, Mount Baw Baw and Eildon - could grow to rival Sydney's Blue Mountains as a drawcard. This is good business!

For an investment of $45 million from government and private enterprise, it could deliver more than $70 million annually and create 760 full-time jobs!

If you destroy the forests, then you also destroy the potential - folks now more than ever want to visit nature to get away from the hardships of life. Please look at the long term affects - forests are the lungs of our planet. We need them.

Thank you.

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 the impact it has already had the evidence is there.

Remember that water is more precious than profits. Save our water tables for the future.

as a shareholder in Santos who has seen my once viable share price hammered over the last months by mismanagement and wrong calls, i would like to see this company take a very forward looking view and put its efforts into sustainable energy projects.
An energy company does not have to be a fossil fuel company...it surely has the resources and expertise to remain a functioning entity while it transitions to renewable energy activities. As it is, the company is embarking in seriously degrading the environment for very short-term gains....just as in the good old days.

I oppose all further coal, coal gas or petroleum mining in Australia. Our carbon footprint is already too high. We can achieve energy security by other non destructive means.

While I particularly value the Pilliga area, where I have camped on occasions, it would not matter to me if the development proposed was in an area I do not know or use.

Do not approve this unnecessary development. Please.

This project must not go ahead.
First is the risk to our precious water: the huge Great Artesian Basin underlies the region of the Pilliga Forest and relies on this area for recharge. Taking water for CSG extraction risks depleting these vital and ancient waters. There is also a very real risk of contamination: creeks in the Pilliga drain to the Murray-Darling Basin and there are already documented cases of serious contamination by Santos' Narrabri Gas Project.
The Pilliga is home to so many species of animals and birds that it has been listed nationally as one of 15 'biodiversity hotspots' and internationally as an Important Bird Area. The proposed gasfield will fragment this crucial habitat, preventing ecosystems from functioning and worsening the situation for endangered species.
We have just experienced a summer of record-breaking heat and dangerous bushfires due to climate change. CSG accelerates climate change through the release of methane during all stages of extraction and use.
Gamilaraay Traditional Custodians of the forest, farmers and local communities are all clearly opposed to this project. For the sake of all our futures, this project must not go ahead.

It's time we think of our food and water supplies ahead of gas supplies. Throughout the world, it has been proven that extracting coal seam gas is harmful to the surrounding areas. I ask you not to approve the submissions for coal seam gas drilling in the Pilliga region of NSW.

No one is denying that we need gas in the short term before the transition to 100% renewables is completed. We have enough from existing offshore fields. The problem is that too much of it is being exported. Rather than destroy our woodlands to the detriment of future generations, we should simply divert sufficient gas from the export market to meet our domestic needs.

Simon Mallender
BSc. MEng (Power Engineering - University of Bath, UK)

I am an Aboriginal woman, I have three girls, two grandchildren, and I am not letting them miss out on the natural beauty of Australia!!!

This is disgusting that you're trying to do this behind the voters' backs! Do we not have the right to know when you're destroying our homeland!

With all due respect,
Cairene Gai Davis of the Garrigal Nation.

As an Aboriginal Australian and Elder, I am committed to sharing this country with everyone, now and in the future. The country I am duty bound to hand to Australia's children is rich, abundant and balanced and its abundance is to be shared equitably.

Santos has no such obligation to us all and is willing to poison the land to make money for rich people then walk away and leave a poisoned land for our children. Santos will tell us that the mines are safe and that we will all get rich from the mines but the evidence we see with our own eyes, the damage to our beautiful lands, is the truth we need to hold. This truth tells us to restore the balance, keep ourselves and the land healthy. It tells us; No More Mining!

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. 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.
- See more at: https://www.wilderness.org.au/final-push-pilliga#sthash.fEju7iMW.dpuf

Dear Government,

Australia is special for many reasons. One of them is, that the flora and fauna is unique. Many extraordinary animals have already been hauled into extinction. Forests and plant species are following.

Australia is always intent on evaluating and bettering processes and aims. Here we go: We have a great chance.

Be remembered for the preservation, not the extinction, of unique Australian flora and fauna.

I am opposed to the project as I understand, inter alia, it:
* is opposed by the local community and local original owners;
* will cause large build-ups of salt waste;
* risks a large astronomy facility;
* puts in danger significant groundwater supplies;
* has a real risk of causing toxic waste leaks;
* endangers a pristine forestry reserve home to countless wildlife species and these are few and far between nowadays;

thanks

Dear Sir or Madam,
It is time to stop the CSG development right now of our precious Pilliga Forest. CSG is an environmental disaster and the long term ramifications of this type of mining is completely unsustainable. It is a greed driven proposal that is very short sighted and will be the negative impacts far outweigh the short term gains by ruining this precious forest for the generations to follow us.
Kind regards
Ally and Pete Bosley