By its nature, any form of mining or underground exploration generates controversy from time to time.
The coal seam gas (CSG) industry, however, takes this to a new level. From tens of thousands marching through the streets of Sydney to local councils near Brisbane trying to impose moratoriums on new wells, the technology – which involves natural gas extraction from coal beds and has become an important source of energy in Canada, the US and elsewhere – raises public opposition and outcry to a new level.
Thus far, the industry’s record does not inspire confidence. A case earlier this year in which water samples near a coal seam gas leak in the Pilliga State Forest in New South Wales were found to contain a number of toxic chemicals in concentrations many times higher than safe drinking levels was a disaster for the industry’s image – not least because the spill was not reported by well owner Santos until a good six months after the leak occurred.
Now, activists may have found more evidence of CSG’s impact. In the latest development, investigators from anti-CSG group Lock the Gate discovered coal seam gas bubbling to the surface along a five-kilometer stretch of the Condamine River near Chinchilla.
The gas, Lock The Gate claims, is bubbling to the surface in at least four spots. A video the group posted on YouTube shows footage of the river bubbling like water in a spa and a hand-held gas detector going off when it was held near the surface of the water.
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