100 PROTESTORS RETURN, ACCUSING GOVERNMENT OF 'WORD GAMES' ON TOXIC CSG PONDS
More than 100 protestors have returned this morning to the site where a coal seam gas wastewater pond is being constructed by Metgasco, west of Casino in northern NSW.
The protestors have brought shovels and say they are prepared to fill in the ugly hole that the NSW Government has allowed Metgasco to dig on the edge of the Casino floodplain.
Yesterday 70 protestors attended the site and stopped work for the day, with one a man attaching himself to a bulldozer that was constructing the pond. He was taken to Casino police station and later charged with trespass and failure to comply with a police direction.
""The response from the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, to our concerns yesterday was an abysmal attempt to pass the buck to the local council" said Boudicca Cerese, spokesperson for Lock the Gate Northern Rivers.
"The Minister tried to split hairs about the difference between an evaporation pond and a holding pond, but no-one is buying it - a toxic pond is a toxic pond and we don't want them.
"The community is not going to stand by and see wastewater ponds proliferating rapidly across our region while the NSW Government plays word games to justify their inaction.
"Management of coal seam gas wastewater in the region is a ticking time bomb that represents a real risk to our floodplains, waterways and farmland.
"It is clear from the Ministers' statement yesterday that the NSW Government intends to allow widespread use of wastewater 'holding ponds' across NSW and the Northern Rivers.
"We have returned here today to send a message that we consider such an outcome unacceptable and we feel the NSW Government has misled the community on its policies by constantly spruiking their so-called 'ban' on evaporation ponds.
"The protest which has occurred this week is the historic beginning of peaceful direct action in our region against a coal seam gas industry which has no social licence to operate.
"If the NSW Government continues with its weak and misleading policies on coal seam gas then they can expect a lot more of this type of action" she said.
Information or comment: Boudicca Cerese 0431 513 546 Ian Gaillard 0431 108 784
No comments:
Post a Comment