Nationals MLC Duncan Gay has said that the NSW state government will support decisions made by the Sydney Catchment Authority in regards to protecting Sydney’s drinking water against coal seam gas exploration.
This question from Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham on Tuesday 11 October in the Legislative Council:
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Roads and Ports, representing the Minister for Primary Industries. The Sydney Catchment Authority board has expressed its concern about coal seam gas exploration approved for special catchment areas. The authority has requested that Apex Energy’s access be withdrawn. Given the special catchment areas supply drinking water to 4.3 million Australians, does the Government support coal seam gas mining in these special catchment areas?
[...]
The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: [...] Wherever there is proper concern in relation to agriculture and drinking water we will certainly make sure that we put in place every proper check and balance that we can. [...]
In short, the Sydney Catchment Authority has the role of protecting Sydney water. If it has a concern it is up to it to act. The Government will totally support decisions it has made.
I have cut Gay’s response to what include just what was directly relevant to the question, he spoke first against the Greens and Labor before coming to the point, however you can read the full text of the interaction between Buckingham and Gay on the day’s Hansard.
Buckingham asked a supplementary question:
The Hon. JEREMY BUCKINGHAM: Will the Government support the Sydney Catchment Authority in its call to have Apex Energy’s access withdrawn? [...]
The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: As I indicated earlier—because the honourable member is a slow learner I will say it again—the Sydney Catchment Authority has statutory responsibility for the protection of drinking water catchments that supply the Sydney, Blue Mountains, Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands communities. To ensure the ongoing protection of the water supply it actively participates in the planning process for gas and minerals exploration and any applications for extraction and development in the drinking water catchments.
So we see Duncan Gay say that the state government led by Barry O’Farrell will “totally support” decisions made by the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA). Gay than says that already the SCA plays an active participatory role in the planning process for applications such as Apex’s plans for CSG exploration.
In May the SCA published a statement on their website about their role in the coal seam gas planning process:
Coal seam gas activities are regulated by the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services. There is only one coal seam gas exploration project (Apex Energy) approved by the Minister for Planning under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act on lands managed by the SCA for water quality. The project involves 15 exploration bores of which seven are located on Special Area catchment land. The Minister’s approval requires Apex Energy to consult with the SCA in developing a Water Management Plan for the project.
Apex Energy are now seeking to amend the Part 3A approval to include an additional exploration bore, which it proposes to locate on SCA land. [...]
Special Area catchment lands are lands where access is controlled by the SCA for the protection of water quality under the Sydney Water Catchment Management Regulation 2008. To enable access to drill the proposed exploration bores the SCA requires the proponent to prepare an Environmental Management Plan in order to ensure the protection of water quality and the ecological values of the Special Areas.
Works cannot commence without approval of the Environmental Management Plan by the SCA.
Access to the Woronora Special Areas by the proponent in relation to the project will be contingent upon satisfactory completion of both the Part 3A approval process and access consent requirements imposed by the SCA.
The SCA applies the Neutral or Beneficial Effects (NorBE) test in its response to planning applications. Specifically, this test requires examination of the potential for impacts upon the catchment and water sources that might compromise the water quality within the catchment.
All proposed activities within the SCA lands are subject to this criteria and access is not granted unless this outcome can be satisfied.
The application from Apex for an additional exploration and gas monitoring borehole to be placed within SCA land is currently being assessed by the Department of Planning. The SCA provided its views on the Apex proposal in a submission to the applicaton, here is an excerpt:
The SCA also wishes to advise that in its capacity as the owner of the land on which the additional borehole is intended to be located, that it unlikely to consent to the location of that borehole on the SCA’s land.
If the SCA’s recommendation is not accepted and the application is to be approved, the SCA request further consultation with the SCA.
In short, for a whole range of reasons, the SCA recommends that the modification application from Apex for an additional borehole not be approved. You can read the SCA’s full submission here (pdf). You can also see the application and determination of the original Apex CSG exploration which was approved by the Planning department here.
So as we saw earlier, Duncan Gay said in the NSW Upper House that the government would “totally support” the SCA’s decisions. So now we’ll wait and see if the O’Farrell government will stand by its word on protecting drinking water from CSG exploration, as per the recommendation of the SCA.
Image by Michael Scott.
1 Comment
[...] special catchment areas given they supply drinking water to 4.3million Australians and given the Sydney Catchment Authority has expressed concern. Duncan Gay for the NSW Government responds in part, “In short, the Sydney Catchment [...]