Narrabri Gas

Dear Sir
I oppose the gasfield because It risks our clean water.
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.

I rarely fight a cause, but please don't allow the mining of CSG in NSW (or anywhere really). I can understand the short term benefits, but it's like giving a child lollies to keep them quiet, in the long term, you really are harming your child, and hence yourself.

Please by a responsible government. The evidence to me seems obvious. More methane, strains on climate, environment - it is a silly short term move.

Thank you for listening

Re Narrabri Gas Project

I object to the project because the short term benefits do not warrant the grave long term effects on the environment ie the Artesian basin, ecology of the region, effluent runoff, environmental runoff, contamination.

I object to Santos, or anyone else searching for, developing or extracting gas by 'unconventional' means. Whilst there may be an arguement for gas as an interim or peaking fuel in the transition to clean(er) energy it is by no means certain that fugitive emissions from gas containing structures or the extraction process can be understood, let alone managed to the level required for comfort. Externalising the cost of these pollutants is not a responsible way forward.
Interference with the ground water systems is a second matter in which the uncertainty of impact dictates No. The current 'she'll be right,' despite realms of specialist hydrological data is not adequate. We don't know the impact on our groundwater systems.
I have no comment on the above ground impact on the local flora and fauna. I have not considered these matters as I believe my first 2 points are sufficient to cease this activity. It may be simply politics (or even gas economics) at this stage but let us look to Victoria for a lead. Cease unconventional gas extraction in NSW too.

Here are 5 reasons to oppose the Pilliga CSG project:

1. It is safehaven 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.

2. 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.

3. It risks our clean water
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.

4. 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.

5. Bushfire risk will rise
Methane flare stacks up to 50m high would be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. The Pilliga is already prone to severe bushfires, this project will increase the risk of ignition.

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.

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.

To whom it may concern:

My concerns about the proposed CSG wells to be dug in the Pilliga Forest are:
1. It is safehaven 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.
2. 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.
3. It risks our clean water
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.
4. 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.
5. Bushfire risk will rise
Methane flare stacks up to 50m high would be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. The Pilliga is already prone to severe bushfires, this project will increase the risk of ignition.
Thank you for your attention to these issues.

Whatever benefit current generations may obtain from natural gas, high quality water resources will continue to be vital for very many generations in the future. We are already passing too many difficult problems on to future generations, we can add this one.

I object to the proposal as the short term gain for a few companies does not justify the longterm damage and debt for the general company this project causes. Coalseam gas project increase the uncontrolled gasses coming out of the ground, making it riskier for bushfires and adding to the climate change. The risk of water contamination is too high and will have to be shouldered by the public longterm as the company gaining from the project will not be liable after a few years of closing down the project. It has also been shown in similar projects that the seismic activity damages the stability of the surrounding land.

I strongly object to the Santos proposal. Victoria has just announced that it has totally banned CSG in the state. Why can't NSW follow its lead and protect such precious forest and cultural land?

The Santos' EIS is very short on detail. It does not provide maps indicating where the 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 number of jobs the project will support once the construction is over is just 145. Weighed against damage to the land, and the Great Artesian Basin, this makes no sense.

We need sustainable jobs, not plunder for profit.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Light pollution from flares, compressor stations and the water treatment plant will ruin the dark sky needed by the internationally renowned Siding Spring Observatory. Additionally, the methane flare stacks will be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. This is criminally negligent in an area already prone to severe bushfires.

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've just suffered through a horror summer and another heat record breaking year. Please don't allow further this to go ahead and contribute to further climate change.

Thank you.

I oppose this on the grounds that existing and emerging evidence strongly suggests that we remain ignorant about the full environmental implications of developments such as this, that it displaces and damages the natural ecology of the area involved, and that such developments are robbing Australians of our productive land. The short term gains in in economic benefits comes at a huge cost to our current and future generations. These initiatives are ill-informed, and solely for the purpose of development for development's sake and favour the large corporations and greedy governments rather than Australian 'everyday' citizens.

It risks our clean water and risks the safehaven for threatened wildlife
Coal seam gas fuels dangerous climate change

This CSG project should not proceed.

The country and the planet does not need any more fossil fuels burnt, as it will only worsen global warming.

The financial gains will only be short-term. Australia has the technical ability to provide clean fuels.

The threat to water quality is real, and irreversible.

The record of mining companies in cleaning up their environmental damage is woefully poor.

It is necessary that this country becomes serious and professional about clean energy, and becomes proactive in the transition from dirty fuels and clean fuels. Fossil fuels WILL RUN OUT, we will have to transfer to clean fuels sooner or later.

BETTER TO JUMP THAN BE PUSHED!!!

I oppose the Pilliga CSG Project on the following grounds:

1. It is safehaven 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.

2. 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.

3. It risks our clean water
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.

4. 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.

5. Bushfire risk will rise
Methane flare stacks up to 50m high would be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. The Pilliga is already prone to severe bushfires, this project will increase the risk of ignition.

I'm opposed to csg mining, due to risks associated with ground water pollution and risk of gas release through surface water bodies and potential resulting fires. Further, mining in such a significant conservation area is completely unacceptable, not just due to the above risks, but also the potential damage to native vegetation and noise/visual impacts upon people who use these areas for recreation.

Please reconsider the long term implications of the csg industry, our Earth needs leaders with insight and vision. Clean energy and medical marijuana industries alone with proper assignment and purpose would create a stable economy and work for families.... please reconsider or think of alternatives. Csg and coal harm our planet clean energy sustains it. Ourr children's unborn children deserve this now.

I writing to urge the government to stop the proposed Pilliga CSG project from proceeding. These are the reasons why:

1. It is safehaven 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.

2. 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.

3. It risks our clean water
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.

4. 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.

5. Bushfire risk will rise
Methane flare stacks up to 50m high would be running day and night, even on total fire ban days. The Pilliga is already prone to severe bushfires, this project will increase the risk of ignition.

This is a shortsighted proposal that glibly ignores community welfare and long term environmental consequences. A 'NO' decision will send a clear message to the electorate that government is putting the Australian community as a whole before big business . I urge you to say NO and put community first.

Yours Sincerely,

Sandra Marshall

i am totally opposed to any mining in the forest. i request that permission be denied

I am opposed to the mining of Coal Seam Gas in the Pilliga Forest because the gas is damaging to the environment and such
mining and attendant works will seriously damage the Forest itself.
All Australian Governments should be applying greater efforts and funds to the development of renewable energy.

I particularly object to the sale overseas of CSG at prices that increase the cost of gas to Australian residents.

Stop this project.....................