While State Governments were in the past all too happy to grant prospecting licenses to coal seam gas exploration companies, no-one thought rural communities and the general public would care too much. Wrong.
The CSG story is built around insatiable demand for energy from China, India and South East Asia. New technology allows gas companies to tap into the coal seam methane reserves within coalfields. All that’s required is access to the land under which the CSG resides, drill rigs to reach the gas, somewhere to dump the saline waste water from the extraction process, and pipelines to transport the gas to the coast (where it is converted to LNG).
The anti-CSG lobby started quietly, with local media stories about farmers and communities concerned about the impact on water quality. Although CSG has been produced in Queensland in relatively small volumes from the Bowen Basin since 1997, public anxiety has grown with the intrusion of the industry into regional areas over the past five years, including productive agricultural areas and urban centres.
For example, a company operating a CSG plant near Kingaroy was recently taken to task for allegedly contaminating ground water near rich agricultural land famous for producing peanuts. That operation has been shut down and court appeals have failed.
“Lock the Gate”, a campaign backed by the Greens, has gained a full head of steam, fuelled by a US-made documentary Gasland. In an unusual alliance, greens have joined forces with farmers and ordinary people concerned about the quality of water that comes out of their taps. Farmers also became affronted to find that the law allows gas explorers access to their land without their permission.
Hotspotting.com.au
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