A COAL seam gas miner could face prosecution after failing to alert authorities to a saline water leak in North West NSW last year.
It’s been revealed that 10,000 litres of saline water leaked in June 2011 at the Narrabri Coal Seam Gas Project, which was operated at the time by Eastern Star Gas.
The incident, south of Narrabri, was not reported by Eastern Star Gas, despite its obligation to do so under the conditions of its petroleum exploration licence.
Santos took over Eastern Star Gas in November, and a subsequent review of its records identified the pipeline failure. Santos brought the discharge to the attention of the NSW Department of Trade and Investment last week.
At the time of the incident, Eastern Star Gas was conducting coal seam gas exploration within the Pilliga East and Bibblewindi state forests.
The DTI is pursuing enforcement actions on the discharge, including possible prosecution, and continuing to work with the Environment Protection Authority to further investigate the incident.
Northern Daily Leader
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