17 January, 2013
Government must rule out CSG drilling in Sydney basin
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has called on the NSW Government to categorically rule out CSG exploration and production in urban areas following revelations that Sydney is likely to become a hotspot for fracking.
In a draft letter obtained under freedom of information laws, the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane advised Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher that fracking was more likely to be used during coal seam gas drilling near Sydney than in many other gas fields around Australia. Professor O'Kane concluded that companies would probably start fracking in the Sydney basin once the high permeability coal seams, called ''sweet spots'', runs out.
“There are CSG exploration licences all across the Sydney basin, from the inner western suburbs to Campbelltown and Liverpool in the southwest and the lower Blue Mountains,” NCC Chief Executive Officer Pepe Clarke said.
“If these licences were developed using fracking, as the NSW Chief Scientist has warned is likely, it would expose thousands of people to the health risks and threaten our city’s rivers, streams and catchments.
“Taken together, the risks fracking poses to human health and water resources make the coal seam gas industry entirely inappropriate for the Sydney area, which has a population of 4.7 million people.
“The O’Farrell Government has an obligation to protect the state’s citizens and environment from the risks of CSG and mining and must place a moratorium on CSG exploration and development until the science is settled and regulations that minimise the risks are developed and tested.
“Documents obtained by the Greens under freedom of information laws show the government’s own Chief Scientist recommended a moratorium on CSG development and the need for further research before proceeding. [1]
“This government appears to have dismissed this advice and is allowing industry imperatives to drive the process.”
[1] Identification and review of standards for hydraulic fracturing, Prepared by Mine Safety Performance Branch, Industry and Investment NSW, November 2011
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Coal and gas
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