Residents, farmers and businesses in northern NSW, and the councils that represent them, have told the NSW Parliamentary inquiry into coal seam gas (CSG) that they do not want gas mining encroaching on their communities.
The second day of the NSW Parliamentary inquiry into CSG saw the committee travel through towns in Northern NSW, visitng a Metgasco CSG site, meeting local communities, and holding the first of six public hearings.
The day started with a visit to a Metgasco CSG site. Greens MLC and committee deputy Jeremy Buckingham reported that Metgasco representatives revealed plans to drill for CSG around Grafton.
Parliamentary committee and media touring Metgasco CSG site.
Image via Jeremy Buckingham.
Next stop was Kyogle where the committee met with local farmers and residents. Buckingham said the community holds concerns about Metgasco’s local plans for 2500 CSG wells and a gas pipeline to Queensland.
Driving through Kyogle town centre the committee was greeted by a number of locals protesting against CSG in their community. Image via Jeremy Buckingham.
The inquiry committee minibus arrives at a homestead in Kyogle.
Image via Nimbin Enviro Centre.
The committee was welcomed by local community, farmers, and traditional owners. Image via Nimbin Enviro Centre.
Image via Nimbin Enviro Centre.
The day concluded with a public hearing to hear from a number of community, political, and business/organisation representatives about their experience and concerns regarding CSG. The hearing was held in Alstonville.
A sign advertising the inquiry hearing greets the committee as they arrive into Alstonville. Image via Jeremy Buckingham.
Inquiry hearing in Alstonville. Image via Coal Seam Gas News.
Keerrong Gas Squad present at the inquiry hearing in Alstonville. Image via Coal Seam Gas News.
Kyogle Group Against Gas present at the inquiry hearing in Alstonville. Image via Coal Seam Gas News.
The inquiry heard from a number of witnesses including Dr Wayne Somerville, a local property owner and clinical psychologist, who Buckingham said gave a “compelling and thought-provoking testimony foreshadowing the personal and social traumas that the arrival of the coal seam gas industry is likely to bring.”
“Dr Somerville drew parallels with the reaction to and protests against the Vietnam War. He warned they were moving as a community from the denial to a much more dangerous anger phase in in regards to the conflict,” said Buckingham.
Also testifying were Greg McNamara and Jeff Collingwood from Norco Co-operative, an Australian owned dairy cooperative operating for 116 years. Buckingham said the submission and testimony from Norco explained that the business employed 600 people directly at three major processing plants in Queensland and NSW and sources product from 165 member farms.
“Importantly they outlined the risk they believe coal seam gas posed to their branding, sustainability, and their capacity to farm efficiently,” said Buckingham, “They did not believe that CSG and modern dairy farming could coexist because of the disturbance to soils, the threat to water, and the impact on their livestock.”
Justin Field, policy advisor to Jeremy Buckingham, was also at the hearing and reported that the northern councils were “almost unanimous” in their calls for a moratorium on CSG. On the other hand, a member of the Nationals argued for CSG “on the basis it does no more damage than coal”. The community groups said they were concerned about not only the CSG wells but also the pipeline planned to carry gas from Casino to Ipswich.
The take home message from the Alstonville hearing, said Field, was that that “no one trusts the gas companies, this [inquiry] is the government’s chance – they will only get one”.
The next public hearing will be in Taree on October 31st, until then… see the parliamentary inquiry website for more details.
Informative article, though I would like to hear more of the submissions.
I’m looking forward to the submissions from scientists that show the likely C-footprint of CSG is no different from coal – the argument that CSG “does no more damage than coal” is specious and possibly the worst I had heard so far, apart from the spin and outright lies.
Then there are the reports that analogous mines in the US have failed to deliver on the promise of the industry – essentially making the methane gas mining market one more “bubble” waiting to burst and destroy not only investors this time, but all the land-owners and stake-holders along the way.
Keep up the good work, Kate.
Thanks for the comment, Clem. I’m currently reading my way through all of the published submissions (there are over 300 up online at the moment) and will publish excerpts of (what I reckon are) the most interesting bits soon!
And, in the meantime, if you’d like to take a look through some yourself, they’re available to view here: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/committee.nsf/V3ListSubmissions?open&ParentUNID=29AE48525CFAEA7CCA2578E3001ABD1C