THE Environmental Defenders Office has foreshadowed court action to stop a coal seam gas pilot project near Fullerton Cove unless an Environmental Impact Statement is done.
Dart Energy received state and federal government approval to construct and operate two pilot gas wells at the site in June.
The pilot wells will target the prospective Borda and Medowie coal seams at depths of between 650 and 700 metres using horizontal well drilling technology.
The Environmental Defenders Office, which represents the Fullerton Cove Residents Action Group, wrote to the company this week to request that it refrain from doing any work on the site for two weeks.
‘‘We have asked them to give us an undertaking that they won’t start the work until they have done an Environmental Impact Statement, or in the alternative, give us two weeks to prepare our case to apply to the Land and Environment Court for a declaration that they need to do one,’’ Environmental Defenders Office solicitor Elaine Johnson said.
Dart Energy has not indicated if it will comply with the request.
Company spokesman Andrew Collins said the project had already been subject to a comprehensive environmental assessment over a nine-month period.
‘‘The project has been intensively scrutinised on environmental grounds and Dart believes the project is a sustainable one that will deliver a significant benefit to the local economy and the great majority of residents in the nearby community,’’ he said.
Newcastle Herald
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