23 February, 2012
Santos report highlights urgent need for protection of natural areas from CSG pollution
Mining company Santos’ acknowledgment of more than a dozen pollution failures at coal seam gas exploration sites in the Pilliga Forest is a stark warning for the State government of the inherent risks of the CSG industry in NSW, according to the Nature Conservation Council of NSW. Many of the breaches of pollution laws were not reported to authorities.
“The report by Santos attempts to distance it from environmental breaches and problems but this simply is not credible. Santos was a joint venture partner with Eastern Star Gas during the time of these unlawful activities and breaches continue post-handover to the company,” Nature Conservation Council of NSW, CEO, Pepe Clarke said today.
“Across NSW we have hundreds of unmanned coal seam gas wells operating in the middle of sensitive natural areas, including high conservation value land. The Santos report raises serious doubts about whether self-reporting of pollution breaches by industry can keep our communities and environment safe from contaminated spills and leaks,” Nature Conservation Council of NSW, CEO, Pepe Clarke said today.
“We’ve seen unlawful clearing of native vegetation and contamination of waterways from exploration wells in the Pilliga. The move to full production with up 1100 wells in the state’s largest coal seam gas field will massively increase the likelihood of further breaches.
“Sensitive natural areas like the Pilliga are not suitable places for the destructive impacts of coal seam gas mining.
“The rapid expansion of the mining and gas industry is placing increasing pressure on public lands, including our national parks and nature reserves. These public lands have been set aside for their special environmental value for everyone in the community, not the exploitation and degradation of the mining industry.
“To date, we have not seen any clear proposals from the NSW government for protecting water resources and drinking water supplies from the impacts of mining and gas.
“The draft strategic regional land use plan for the region, due to be released soon, provides an opportunity for ending coal seam gas activities in the Pilliga forest and other local sensitive areas,” Mr Clarke said.
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Coal and gas
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