COMMUNITY concern over coal seam gas took centre stage in NSW parliament yesterday, when members from the North West Alliance presented a petition calling for change to the approvals process for coal and coal seam gas extraction.
“Mining in the north-west region simultaneously threatens our most productive farmland and most significant bush land,” the petition, with 11,000 signatures, said.
“If allowed to continue as planned it will permanently degrade both our productive and ecological base and forever change the nature of our rural communities.”
The petition stated there is not enough “unbiased scientific data available” for coal and CSG to proceed safely, with potential for damage to farmland and water resources.
Narrabri resident and North West Alliance member, Rohan Boehm, is concerned about the assessment process for the Santos Narrabri gas project in the Pilliga State Forest.
He said National Party politicians, who do not oppose the project outright, are not representative of the community.
“It is a blindspot in the National Party, which does not understand the depth of feeling in the local community,” he said.
“They keep trotting out platitudes about the science behind coal seam gas that we simply donate agree with.”
Speaking during the discussion on the petition in the lower house, Water Minister and Member for Barwon, Kevin Humphries said “water is the lifeblood of our State's diverse regional communities, industries and economies”.
“No government has done more than the Liberal-Nationals government to protect our water resources.
“In addition, the Land and Water Commissioner has been working closely with the Chief Scientist to develop a robust water monitoring framework and has been engaging local communities in the process.
Mr Humphries provided a detailed statement to The Land, which said:
"Both my staff and I have met with landholders, industry representatives and a range of community groups such as the North West Alliance on many occasions and I have heard a wide range of opinion on the Santos Narrabri Gas Project.
"The message I have most often heard is that people are not opposed to mining activity as long as it is done in a safe and sustainable way that will not damage the area’s water resources."
Read Mr Humphries’ full response to the petition here
The Gasfield Free initiative said it had surveyed thousands of residents over millions of hectares of land in North West NSW, over 90 per cent of whom responded against coal seam gas.
Mr Boehm said a commitment from the NSW government which forms a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Santos to make a determination on the Narrabri project by January 23, 2015, is a particular concern.
“The MoU that fast tracks the Narrabri gasfield put the chief scientist in the slot,” he said.
“The truth of the matter is NSW’s Chief Scientist (Mary O’Kane) said she can’t deliver that assessment and would be compromised by it.”
The MoU originally stated that Ms O’Kane would work with Santos to provide modelling for groundwater, a departure from her typical role of independent assessor.
Data on the potential impact of the Narrabri project on groundwater resources will now be assessed by seven independent experts, instead of the Chief Scientist.
The North West Alliance describes itself as an umbrella organisation of 30 community groups concerned about coal and gas mining in north-west NSW.