Narrabri Gas

The forests of the world have been proven by science to hold the water in the earth. They keep our planet green and healthy and stop drought. In a country like Australia where we are the most arid continent on earth today, we desperately need everything that keeps water. Water is life, we cannot survive without water. The Piliga forest is a resource that cannot be destroyed. It is vital to life in Australia, to animals and human life. Once it is gone it will take hundreds of years to bring it back, if ever. Please do not destroy this forest, as there are many other sources of ecological power that can be used in its place that are cost effective, efficient and will not destroy the environment.

I object to the Narrabri Gas Project on the grounds of destruction of the environment and the horrific impact it will have on our country, our people ( yes there will be terrible effects on health and well being) and the beautiful wildlife - our whole ecological system. I am trying to protect my country. We are asked to have national pride and look after our country. It is getting very difficult when it is allowed to be destroyed in this fashion. It is argued that we need gas, we need oil, we need coal so we have to do this for our good to supply our needs.We have other ways and we must use them now. People can be taught easily to conserve energy, use more solar and other means and work together. We as a community have learnt how to do it all. Those who haven't been taught seek others to provide the basic training. It is a sad thing when a " parent" of a country doesn't have foresight and can't see the future being destroyed or ruined. When a 2 year old child gets upset and wants more and more food but is throwing it all on the ground, the caring, loving parent doesn't keep giving him more and more in a never-ending fashion, spending all they have on food and destroying the home. They do not give the child only lollies for breakfast lunch and tea either as they know the results that this will have on the child's health and well being.They, as caring and loving parents, find an alternative way. We change what we already have and offer it in a different way. The child learns, we calm the child, he continues to thrive and be healthy and well balanced. We have the same responsibility to our land and it's people. If people are screaming and want more and more but are not utilising what they have well and sensibly then we cannot keep giving more and more for them to waste and mess up our "home" and costing us and our land it's health. No to this project. I send healing and love to the land and to the corporation involved that they can use their incredible knowledge and talent to find loving, caring ways to look after our land.And so it is.

The consideration of gas profit over the unscarred area of Australia for many Australian lifetimes to come must be considered. I do not consider this CSG valuable enough to Australia to warrant this destruction.

I am.

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.

I a cannot express in words how strongly I am against Santos ruining this prestine environment. We cannot explain to future generations that we pillaged there land poisoned the water and air because it was good for some shareholder

Dear Sirs,

Please do not approve the Narrabri Gas Project. We do not need CSG... There are other sustainable energy resources that do not poison the land and water and upset the water table. The produced water from CSG is full of toxic chemicals and it only takes one molecule of some of these chemicals to turn a pre-cancerous cell into a cancerous cell. Is this what you want to foist upon a resistant population for short term profits for a few? I hope you are willing to make a good decision against this proposal. Yours sincerely, Harriet Clutterbuck

I oppose this plan: ground water in Australia is too precious to ruin and pollute. So much life depends on it. The fracking will also result in more salinity and the company has no plans for dealing with this.

I support the local community, farmers and aboriginals who do not want this activity on their lands.

Profit for big business is not worth the cost to the people and the environment.

Stop ruining our beautiful natural environment!!!!!

CSG is not required for NSW. The threat it poses for both the environment and our farmers is far too high. We need to think long term and not destroy the land or water. The effect of toxic water will be devastating. We live in the lucky country, let's keep it that way and not destroy it for our children for short term financial gains.

This CSG gas project should not go ahead.

Australia's unbridled push (particularly along the east coast) to develop unconventional gas projects has occurred to date with little or even no concept or appreciation of the potential risks to the environment and local water quality. Gas wells have recently been shown to be leaking methane (a potent greenhouse gas) at alarmingly high rates and without regulatory consequence (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-28/methane-emissions-from-coal-seam-gas-climate-change/8310932).

Threats and risks posed by this and other CSG projects are unacceptably high to allow it to proceed at the current time.

Regards,
Dr Michael Short

The Pilliga MUST be protected !,you cannot fix the artesian basin if you fracture it , this is the life blood of Australia !
I cannot believe the GOUVERNMENT (who are supposed to represent THE PEOPLE ) can even suggest these coal seam gas projects are a good idea ! When petitions presented show that 95% of communities are against C.S.G. Just look at what has happened in America ! STUPID STUPID STUPID MINDLESS SELFISHNESS !
IT IS NOT FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR FANTASTIC COUNTRY .

CSG in the Pilliga or anywhere in Aust for that matter is WRONG. Get these sick Santos boys outta here.

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.


¹SoilFutures Consulting 2014, Great Artesian Basin Recharge Systems and Extent of Petroleum and Gas Leases. http://www.gabpg.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/GAB-Report1.pdf
²http://www.smh.com.au/environment/santos-coal-seam-gas-project-contaminates-aquifer-20140307-34csb.html
³BirdLife International (2017) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Pilliga http://www.birdlife.org
⁴Marion Carey Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), Air pollution from coal seam gas may put public health at risk The Conversation, November 20, 2012
⁵https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/21/siding-spring-observatory-threat-coal-seam-gas-light-pollution
⁶http://darksky.org/first-dark-sky-park-in-australia-designated/

Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing to request that no further CSG drilling occur in the Pilliaga Forest area, or indeed anywhere in NSW.
The ongoing value of the land for agricultural and grazing purposes cannot be overestimated. It is also home for many people, not to mention wildlife and their habitats. CSG mining will irreparably disrupt this, and damage the water of the Artesian Basin. We, as a nation, cannot afford to do this.
Community surveys in the area of and surrounding the Pillaga, have shown overwhelming opposition to the Santos project. Please listen to the people. This is a democracy.
Although I don't currently reside in the Pilliga region, I have done in the past, and feel very strongly about the threat of destruction to this part of the world.
Yours sincerely
Roslyn Hancock

I'm appealing to all Australian Government bodies to preserve our native bushland and to avoid coal seam gas production at all costs. We must not risk pollution of the Artesian Basin water, and ruination of native forests and wildlife. Some things are more important than money! Please use your authority to make WISE decisions in the interests of future Australians.

I am a 77 year old retired Sydney bank executive and then Commonwealth Public Servant who was born in the Bush and has an association with the Pilliga dating from 1963.

I am appalled by the proposal you are considering and ask you
to protect this unique ecosystem and environment by rejecting the proposal outright.

Others far better qualified than I will I am sure given you expert well documented reasons to support my stand and I've no wish to duplicate material presented to you.

With best wishes for your deliberations - may wisdom prevail as you work.

Many thanks,

Sincerely,

Maurice Jones.
Brunswick Heads, NSW. 1st March 2017

Objection to Santos' Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga

Please don't risk Australia's two most important sources of groundwater (Great Artesian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin) with the associated pollution seen in other areas of the world with coal seam gas - both the quality and quantity of those water sources is critical to the environmental values of Australia and the people of Australia.

The NSW Government are responsible for the welfare and fair representation of the NSW people - it is clearly evident that the vast majority of people don't want CSG and are extremely concerned about the project's impacts, this sentiment is not just held by environmentalists, but agriculturalists, city dwellers and many regional and rural communities. Pollies- you do the math!

This CSG project carries the threat of harming the survival of Australia's most iconic wildlife - the koala for which Australia is world renown for and is (for other reasons) already struggling with habitat destruction, road kill, disease and dog attacks. Several other threatened species could be negatively impacted from this project also- all on your watch? What a legacy to leave behind!

Bush fires kill, people, their homes, livestock, native wildlife and habitats. CSG would increase the risk of bush fires exponentially- no economic benefit could ever compensate for that.

Should this project go ahead it would be a real kick in the guts for the Gamilaraay Traditional owners. Their whole culture is based on country. Country, stories, cultural sites would be put in jeopardy from this project. It would be a total lack of respect to allow this project to proceed, especially how both Santos and the NSW Government know how opposed these traditional owners are to this project.

Please don't let money take priority over your morals. No amount of money could compensate for the damage this project will do to everything that is Australia. Say no to Santos!

The relatively short term financial gain of CSG mining will never justify the long term damage.

The long term damage to ecosystems is only the tip of the ice berg. Poison water affects humans, animals and so on. The long term absorption of poisoned water into soil can affect the ecosystem for generations

I consider any government who promotes or enables CSG mining to be irresponsible in the utmost, and unworthy of running this country.

It is with a sense of dread that I read that Santos plans to conduct its 'experiments for profit' not only in the Pilliga but in the Great Artesian Basin by way of the Pilliga. No doubt they will assure the world at large that no harm will come to either the Pilliga or the Great Artesian Basin as a result of their activities and that their subsequent remediation will make everything just fine and dandy again.
For the negative value of such assurances one only has to refer to the current Queensland experience with Link Energy. Please do NOT allow Santos to proceed in the Pilliga.