MEDIA RELEASE: 13TH MARCH 2012
Lock the Gate Northern Rivers has revealed today that coal seam gas company Metgasco may be carting water away from its holding ponds at the council owned quarry near Casino to avoid overflows from the site. This revelation comes on the back of public confirmation from Richmond Valley Council that these ponds are being operated illegally by the company.
“We were highly alarmed when Metgasco’s chief financial officer told a local resident in an email that ‘If our ponds approach their capacity we cart water away to be treated,’” said Ian Gaillard, co-ordinator for Lock the Gate Alliance Northern Rivers.
“As far as we can tell, Metgasco has no authority to be removing this toxic water from the ponds, as the consent conditions clearly state that ‘only clean and unpolluted waters are to leave the site.’”
“This raises a whole lot of questions about how much potentially hazardous wastewater is being carted away, where it is being disposed of, why the ponds are unable to contain the water volumes being dumped there and whether they may have overflowed in the past.”
“It also casts serious doubt on Metgasco’s ability to safely operate a gas field if they can’t even adequately manage a couple of ponds.”
“We are calling on Richmond Valley Council to investigate these issues and undertake a contaminated land investigation at the site, including the commissioning of comprehensive independent sampling of soils adjacent to the ponds where overflow may have occurred,” said Mr. Gaillard.
“Recent results from coal seam gas operations in northwest NSW and Queensland show that this wastewater can contain unsafe levels of harmful substances such as heavy metals, petrochemicals, hydrocarbons and ammonia.”
“We believe that council has a duty of care to adjacent landholders and the wider community to ensure that no pollution of surrounding lands and waterways has occurred as a result of these operations.”
Lock The Gate Alliance
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