Showing posts with label environmental vandalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmental vandalism. Show all posts
Thursday 29 August 2019
Castillo Copper pays out $96k in enforceable undertaking after allegedly contravening NSW Mining Act during activity on its Clarence Valley exploration lease
The Daily Examiner, 28 August 2019, p.3:
The companies behind mining exploration at Cangai have had to pay more than $90,000 after breaching their license.
Total Minerals Pty. Ltd. and Total Iron Pty Ltd. put forward a $91,000 Mining Act enforceable undertaking which was accepted by the NSW Resources Regulator on Monday in relation to series of serious compliance issues back in November 2018.
The alleged breaches included unauthorised drilling, not disposing of drilling waste properly and failing to prevent erosion and chemical or fuel spillages, resulted in both companies being issued suspension notices.....
Resources Regulator Acting Director of Compliance Steve Orr said mining authorisations carried strict compliance responsibilities. “The community expects companies like Total Minerals and Total Iron to be aware of their legal and environmental obligations and have appropriate systems in place to ensure compliance,” Mr Orr said.....
It was also noted that both companies which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Castillo Copper Ltd. had taken steps to rehabilitate the affected sites at a cost of “about $300,000”.
An enforceable undertaking once agreed to avoids any potential prosecution for allegedly identified breaches of the conditions of a mining exploration licence.
A total of 16 offences were alleged by the Resources Regulator who included this notice to be published by the mining company as part of the enforceable undertaking accepted on 21 August 2019:
Wednesday 21 August 2019
Tweed Shire Council abandons its principled stand on foreign multinational Adani's proposed Galilee Basin coal mine
In which Tweed Shire Council decides Australia doesn't need the Great Barrier Reef or the Black-throated Finch......
Echo NetDaily, 19 August 2019:
The Tweed Shire Council has performed a political back-flip on a 2017 promise to avoid hiring building companies contracted to Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine in central Queensland.
Councillors voted for the ban two years ago, with Tweed Shire Deputy Mayor Chris Cherry (Independent) saying they ‘wished to represent the views of the community’. Cr Cherry said Adani didn’t have any approvals to mine in Carmichael at the time but people on the Tweed were concerned about potential environmental impacts of the project on the Great Barrier Reef.
Labor councillor flips anti-Adani ban in favour of jobs
Last week, Cr James Owen (Liberals) tabled a rescission on the 2017 vote and won majority support, meaning the ban no longer applies.
Cr Ron Cooper (Independent) was absent from the meeting and had originally supported an anti-Adani stance.
But a change of heart from Cr Reece Brynes (Labor) was enough to change council policy as he joined forces with Councillors Owen, Pryce Allsop (Independent) and Warren Polglase (Nationals).
Cr Byrnes told Echonetdaily although he initially voted for the ban and continues to share environmental impact concerns, state and federal government approvals of the Carmichael project mean the council has to ‘accept realities’.
‘My priority and Labor’s priority is always about creating more local jobs in the Tweed,’ he wrote in an email, ‘I make no apologies that Labor’s priority is always about creating jobs’.
The council had to ‘move away from a position of protest’ to one that wouldn’t ‘prohibit or hamper future projects and jobs for people in the tweed’, Cr Byrnes wrote.....
BRIEF BACKGROUND
Environmental Defenders Office Qld, Case Explainer: Adani’s North Galilee Water Scheme - Federal Judicial Review
Australian Conservation Foundation, Stop Adani's polluting coal mine
Lock the Gate, Coal Mining: Water Impacts of the Adani Coal Mine
Climate Council, Adani Mine Must Be Stopped
ABC News, What we know about Adani's Carmichael coal mine project
Labels:
Adani Group,
coal,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
Tweed Shire Council
Thursday 15 August 2019
Adani Group's problems continue to make news in 2019
“The commerciality of Adani’s Carmichael mine remains challenging given the significant capital spend and low-quality thermal coal product expected from the mine,” said Brent Spalding, a principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie." [Financial Review, 9 July 2019]
"Adani allowed stormwater discharges from the port in March 2017 (to the marine environment and to the Caley Valley Wetlands) and again in February 2019 (to the wetlands) in excess of licence limits.....In February 2019, Adani announced it had again discharged stormwater into the Caley Valley Wetlands in excess of its EA limit. Government investigations also confirmed the exceedance, and Adani paid an infringement fine of $13,055 for the breach." [Environmental Defenders Office Qld, 23 May 2019]
"....Abbot Point Bulkcoal Pty Ltd, an Adani subsidiary, for a substantial exceedance of a license to pollute the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area with coal dust when Cyclone Debbie made landfall in 2017, even though the license was granted specifically to account for possibly increased emissions resulting from the cyclone. During the course of this prosecution, the DEHP discovered that Abbot Point Bulkcoal Pty Ltd may have submitted an altered laboratory report showing reduced levels of pollution." [Environmental Justice Australia, March 2019]
ABC News, 13 August 2019:
The announcement by Suncorp that it will no longer insure new thermal coal projects, along with a similar announcement by QBE Insurance a few months earlier, brings Australia into line with Europe where most major insurers have broken with coal.
US firms have been a little slower to move, but Chubb announced a divestment policy in July, and Liberty has confirmed it will not insure Australia's Adani project.
Other big firms such as America's AIG are coming under increasing pressure.
Even more than divestment of coal shares by banks and managed funds, the withdrawal of insurance has the potential to make coal mining and coal-fired power generation businesses unsustainable.
As the chairman and founder of Adani Group, Gautam Adani, has shown in Queensland's Galilee Basin, a sufficiently rich developer can use its own resources to finance a coal mine that banks won't touch.
But without insurance, mines can't operate.
(Adani claims to have insurers for the Carmichael project, but has declined to reveal their names.)
By the nature of their business, insurers cannot afford to indulge the denialist fantasies still popular in some sectors of industry.
Damage caused by climate disasters is one of their biggest expenses, and insurers are fully aware that damage is set to rise over time......
Labels:
Adani Group,
climate change,
coal,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
multinationals
Friday 2 August 2019
Sydney Uni Business School Professor Sandra van der Laan: Adani Group's Australia operations effectively insolvent
Image: BBC, 29.11.18 |
The Adani Carmichael coal mine set to be built in Queensland’s Galilee Basin has courted controversy like no other project in recent memory.
Central and northern Queenslanders and MPs alike have lauded the jobs and economic stimulus the project promises to provide. Elsewhere, others scratched their heads as to why the country needed to build a brand new coal mine right next to the iconic Great Barrier Reef. At the same time that Australia tries to meet its Paris climate targets, no less.
Despite battling for eight years to be approved, receiving the final environmental green light last month, the project finally looked to be going ahead.
But now, a forensic accountant has warned that the divisive Adani Carmichael coal mine could be on the brink of collapse before it even begins operation.
University of Sydney Professor Sandra van der Laan has sounded the alarm on the project after analysing Adani’s financial standing.
Central and northern Queenslanders and MPs alike have lauded the jobs and economic stimulus the project promises to provide. Elsewhere, others scratched their heads as to why the country needed to build a brand new coal mine right next to the iconic Great Barrier Reef. At the same time that Australia tries to meet its Paris climate targets, no less.
KEY POINTS
Adani’s Australian operations could be on
the brink of collapse before its Carmichael coalmine is ever built, a
forensic accountant has claimed to the ABC.
Professor Sandra van der Laan examined the
limited publicly-available financial statements from the private
company and concluded that the company was in “a very fragile, even
perilous, financial position”.
Adani was quick to reject the claims,
slamming them as “false and misleading” and the latest in a
series of attacks aimed to destroy the Australian project.
The Adani Carmichael coal mine set to be
built in Queensland’s Galilee Basin has courted controversy like no
other project in recent memory.
Despite battling for eight years to be approved, receiving the final environmental green light last month, the project finally looked to be going ahead.
But now, a forensic accountant has warned that the divisive Adani Carmichael coal mine could be on the brink of collapse before it even begins operation.
University of Sydney Professor Sandra van der Laan has sounded the alarm on the project after analysing Adani’s financial standing.
“It looks to me like a corporate collapse waiting to happen,” she told the ABC. “It has all the hallmarks of the big corporate failures we’ve seen over the last 20 to 30 years.”
She should know — van der Laan has a track record of picking corporate collapses. It was she and colleague Sue Newberry who warned in 2007 that ABC Learning, Australia’s biggest private childcare provider at the time and the world’s largest publically listed childcare company, was heading for disaster.....
“Adani Mining is in a very fragile, even perilous, financial position,” van der Laan told the ABC. “The gap between the current assets and liabilities is what’s really concerning.”
According to Adani’s most recent financial statements, provided to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in March this year, that gap is enormous. The ABC reports that the business’ liabilities exceed its assets by more than half a billion dollars.
Moreover, the ABC reports that the company will have $1.8 billion in liabilities come due over the next 12 months, compared with just $30 million in assets. Those liabilities are largely made up by an internal loan from parent company Adani Global on which the van der Laan says the Australian operation is reliant. That’s because the Australian mine was forced to self-fund after banks and wealth funds turned their back on it.
“Effectively on paper, they are insolvent,” van der Laan said. "I wouldn’t be trading with them, as simple as that. I wouldn’t have anything to do with them."....
She should know — van der Laan has a track record of picking corporate collapses. It was she and colleague Sue Newberry who warned in 2007 that ABC Learning, Australia’s biggest private childcare provider at the time and the world’s largest publically listed childcare company, was heading for disaster.....
“Adani Mining is in a very fragile, even perilous, financial position,” van der Laan told the ABC. “The gap between the current assets and liabilities is what’s really concerning.”
According to Adani’s most recent financial statements, provided to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in March this year, that gap is enormous. The ABC reports that the business’ liabilities exceed its assets by more than half a billion dollars.
Moreover, the ABC reports that the company will have $1.8 billion in liabilities come due over the next 12 months, compared with just $30 million in assets. Those liabilities are largely made up by an internal loan from parent company Adani Global on which the van der Laan says the Australian operation is reliant. That’s because the Australian mine was forced to self-fund after banks and wealth funds turned their back on it.
“Effectively on paper, they are insolvent,” van der Laan said. "I wouldn’t be trading with them, as simple as that. I wouldn’t have anything to do with them."....
Friday 26 July 2019
Land clearing law in New South Wales
Environmental
Defenders Office NSW (EDO), 17 July 2019:
It’s
been almost two years since the NSW Government introduced a new
scheme for regulating land clearing and biodiversity in NSW. While
the business of tree clearing has continued apace under self-assessed
codes and a new Vegetation SEPP, fundamentally important parts of the
scheme are still missing. This EDO NSW series of legal updates looks
at how the laws are being implemented and the regulatory gaps that
are putting our wildlife and healthy sustainable landscapes at risk.
Our
first
update looked at clearing in rural areas and outlined the
fundamentally important parts of the scheme that are still missing
even while tree clearing has continued apace under self-assessed
codes. The second
update looks at elements of the new scheme that are missing or
lack clarity for tree clearing in urban areas and e-zones. This third
update looks at compliance and enforcement of new clearing laws.
Read
the third update here.
Sunday 21 July 2019
Once more the Adani Group demonstrates that it acts in bad faith and cannot be trusted
ABC
News,
16 July 2019:
The
Queensland Government is prosecuting mining giant Adani for allegedly
providing false and misleading information to the Environment
Department over land clearing at the site of its proposed Carmichael
mine.
The
ABC understands the charge under the Environmental Protection Act
carries a fine that runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"The
prosecution relates to information contained in Adani's 2017/2018
annual return for its Carmichael mine," the department said in a
statement to the ABC.
"The annual return requires information about planned and actual disturbance of land at the mine.
"The
department alleges that Adani's annual return contained false and
misleading information about the disturbance already undertaken at
the mine during the annual return period."
Last
September, Adani notified the Department of "an administrative
paperwork error" in its annual return for the Carmichael mine.
The
company admitted that areas "that were disturbed during the
final three-and-a-half weeks of the annual return period should have
been included".
The
prosecution against Adani is listed for mention at the Brisbane
Magistrates Court on August 16......
Labels:
coal,
environmental vandalism,
foreign investment,
mining
Friday 19 July 2019
In the Kalang River forests of New South Wales......
According to the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage the Milky Silkpod is found only within NSW, with scattered populations in the north coast region between Kendall and Woolgoolga.
This plant is currently listed as Vulnerable in NSW and has a Commonwealth conservation status of Endangered. Little is known of its reproductive biology.
However, this means little to the Forestry Corporation of NSW, its board of directors and workers or the Berejiklian Coalition Government.
The Belligen Shire Courier, 16 July 2019:
OEH-Milky Silkpod profile. Photo Shane Ruming |
A volunteer survey team that trekked
through the Upper Kalang forests on the weekend found dozens of
endangered plants damaged by Forestry Corporation's logging
preparations.
The
Milky Silkpod (Parsonia dorrigoensis) is listed as 'vulnerable' in
NSW and is a nationally endangered plant.
As
the name suggests, the forests of the Mid North Coast are a
stronghold for it, with most records found between Kendall and
Woolgoolga.
In
1999 it was estimated that there were less than 2000 individual
plants and the main threat to the survival of this species is low
numbers.
Official
government advice on how to manage the plant says that "searches
for the species should be conducted prior to any logging operations"
and known habitat should be "protect[ed] from clearing, high
levels of disturbance and development".
"Yet
once again Forestry Corporation has shown its disregard for the the
environment," survey team member Jonas Bellchambers said.
"Of
the 110 confirmed new records identified on the weekend, 39 specimens
were found that had already been damaged and are unlikely to recover.
"With
more logging and roading imminent it is highly likely to wipe out a
good part of this population.
"Like
for most species, it's a death of 1000 cuts, and before we know it
another plant has blinked out and has gone from our planet
completely. We are in the midst of a major extinction event. Here we
have a clear example of why. Because government and industry just
don't care....
Sunday 9 June 2019
Morrison Government's newly appointed “Special Envoy” for the Great Barrier Reef is in favour of large scale land clearing on the reef's doorstep
This is the
newly appointed “Special Envoy” for the Great Barrier Reef, Liberal MP for Leichhardt
Warren Entsch…..
The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2019:
Coalition MP Warren
Entsch has backed a plan to bulldoze 2000 hectares of pristine forest near the
Great Barrier Reef despite being appointed to a role championing the natural
marine wonder.
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison appointed the veteran Liberal MP, who represents the seat of
Leichhardt in north Queensland, as special envoy to the Great Barrier Reef in
last month’s ministerial reshuffle.
Mr Entsch once owned
Olive Vale station, a large Cape York farm north-west of Cairns, and has been a
vocal proponent of land clearing on farming properties in north Queensland.
Land clearing can create sediment and nutrient run-off and is the main driver
of serious water quality problems on the Great Barrier Reef.
Liberal MP Warren Entsch
is a strong advocate of land clearing, despite the possible effects on the
Great Barrier Reef's water quality.
In particular, Mr Entsch
lobbied his government on behalf of a highly contentious proposal to
clear 2000 hectares of forest at Kingvale
Station on Cape York Peninsula.
The land drains into two
rivers that run into the Great Barrier Reef 200 kilometres downstream.
Government-commissioned experts have warned that soil erosion from the work is
likely to damage the reef.
Mr Entsch told
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that despite his new
responsibilities, the Kingvale land-clearing proposal had his “total support”.
“It has absolutely
nothing to do with my role [as reef envoy],” he said…..
New Environment Minister
Sussan Ley will decide on the Kingvale plan, which is being assessed under
Commonwealth laws.
This is what Mr.
Entsch is determined to ignore……
The relationship between the position of Kingvale Station in a river catchment which discharges water into the Great Barrier Reef at a point where the reef is under stress from multiple coral bleaching events.
The relationship between the position of Kingvale Station in a river catchment which discharges water into the Great Barrier Reef at a point where the reef is under stress from multiple coral bleaching events.
Normanby Catchment in Far North Queensland |
Kingvale Station approximate position maked in red |
Map found at Great Barrier Reef Foundation |
Warren Entsch cannot be ignorant of this relationship, as Kingvale Station is in the federal electorate he has held for the last twenty-three years.
A suspicious person might wonder if Mr. Entsch was one of the government MPs who allegedly 'lobbied' departmental staff on the matter of Kingvale Station land clearing consent in the past,
Such a mind might also ponder the proposition that he was made Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef in order to assist in subverting attempts to stop landclearing so close to this World Heritage listed marine area.
BACKGROUND
A suspicious person might wonder if Mr. Entsch was one of the government MPs who allegedly 'lobbied' departmental staff on the matter of Kingvale Station land clearing consent in the past,
Such a mind might also ponder the proposition that he was made Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef in order to assist in subverting attempts to stop landclearing so close to this World Heritage listed marine area.
BACKGROUND
ABC
News, 22 May
2018:
The Queensland
Government has launched legal action against the owner of a Cape York cattle
station at the centre of a land-clearing controversy for allegedly breaching an
obligation to care for Indigenous heritage.
The owner of Kingvale
Station on the Cape York Peninsula legally cleared 500 hectares of land before
the Federal Government intervened in 2016, over internal concerns about the
effect on sediment run-off into the Great Barrier Reef.
The traditional owners of
the land, the Olkola people, claim the owner of Kingvale Station went ahead
with the clearing without their knowledge and may have destroyed a burial site.
The ABC can reveal the
Queensland Department of Environment and Science is taking court action as a
result of an investigation which started as early as 2016, when the Olkola
people complained to the Government that they believed Kingvale Station may be
in breach of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
27 November 2018:
The Morrison government
has conceded it botched scrutiny of a plan to bulldoze 2000 hectares of
pristine Queensland forest near the Great Barrier Reef and has been forced back
to the drawing board following a legal challenge by conservationists.
The development comes as
confidential documents show government MPs lobbied environmental officials to
wave through the proposal, which would raze land almost three times the size of
the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne.
As
Fairfax Media reported in May, the Department of the Environment and Energy
in a draft report recommended that the government allow the mass vegetation
clearing at Kingvale Station on Cape York Peninsula.
The finding, which
prompted public outrage, came despite the department conceding the native
forest was likely to contain endangered species, and despite expert warnings
that runoff caused by the clearing may damage the Great Barrier Reef.
In a case demonstrating
the critical role community organisations play in holding elected officials to
account, the Federal Court has upheld a challenge by the Environment
Council of Central Queensland (ECOCeQ) – represented by EDO NSW – to a proposal
to clear 2,100 ha of native vegetation on Kingvale Station on the Cape
York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
Early in 2018, the
Federal Minister for the Environment decided that the proposed clearing could
undergo the least rigorous form of environmental assessment available under
Commonwealth environmental law. The Minister was required, among other
things, to be satisfied that the degree of public concern about the action is,
or is expected to be, ‘moderately low’.
The Minister has now
conceded that decision was not made lawfully.
ENVISAT satellite image
of the Great Barrier Reef alongside the York Peninsula.
“The Act deliberately
applies a strict test that must be satisfied before the Minister can opt for
the least rigorous assessment,” David Morris, CEO of EDO NSW, stated.
The Government’s own
experts found that the proposed clearing would have a significant impact on the
Great Barrier Reef and a number of threatened species.
The Minister must now go
back to the drawing board to decide afresh how the environmental impacts of the
proposal will be assessed. Steps that have been completed since the Minister
made the original assessment decision are now void, including the Secretary’s
draft recommendation report that was published online for comment in April
2018.
What follows next will
depend on the assessment methodology selected by the Minister. Whichever
approach is selected, there will be further opportunity for the public to
comment on the proposed clearing.
Christine Carlisle,
President of ECOCeQ, said ‘We hope the Minister rejects the tree clearing
proposal outright, since it will destroy habitat for threatened species, the
bulldozing of the forest will contribute to climate change, and there can be no
guarantee that sediment run-off from this huge area will not make its way into
Princess Charlotte Bay and then on to the Reef.’
‘We trust that the
Minister for the Environment will act in the best interest of the environment,
and not rubber stamp this dangerous proposal. The Minister received 6,000
public comments when this clearing was first proposed, and I hope the public
responds again to ensure this proposal is not approved at any level,’ she said.
This case illustrates
yet again the value of the extended standing provisions in the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Without community groups like
ECoCeQ, and lawyers to represent them, this unlawful decision would have
proceeded without scrutiny and key safeguards for our environment ignored.
Thursday 30 May 2019
The weather is slowly getting colder, but before minds turn to the thought of glowing fire in the hearth remember this....
Sitting before a glowing fire on a cold winter's night is something many people have done at some point in their lives.
However, this has fast become a luxury we as a society can no longer afford.
Because now when we go firewood gathering, sadly we are often taking the last remaining homes in that locality of Australian hollow nesting native birds, small marsupials, reptiles, frogs & insects.
Other things to remember about firewood gathering.......
Fines apply
for removing fallen timber or trees from national
parks or nature reserves.
Collecting
wood from Travelling Stock Reserves
is illegal in New South Wales and you can be fined if caught.
If you'd like
to collect firewood for personal use from a state forest within NSW
you need to apply for a permit and any
timber taken must be paid for in advance.
Firewood
permits are available online from the Forestry Corporation of NSW at: www.forestrycorporation.com.au/about/permits.
These permits only allow the
collection of fallen timber and fines apply if rules are broken.
Removing
fallen timber from roadside reserves is prohibited by many councils, so please
check with your local council before considering collecting firewood from these
areas.
Clearing of native
vegetation on rural land is legislated by the Local Land
Services Act 2013 and
the Biodiversity
Conservation Act 2016.
Clearing of native
vegetation in urban areas and land zoned for environmental protection is
legislated by the NSW
Vegetation SEPP.
Please report suspected
unlawful native vegetation clearing to OEH.
You can contact
Environment Line on 131 555 or send
an email to info@environment.nsw.gov.au.
Illegal
activity can also be reported to Local
Land Services on 1300 795 299 or
by contacting your local police station.
Labels:
#standup4forests,
environmental vandalism,
forests,
national parks,
NSW,
trees
Wednesday 29 May 2019
Bad 4WD behaviour causing significant damage to the South Ballina Beach and its ecology
South Ballina Beach. Photo Ballina Beach Village in Echo NetDaily, 27 November 2018 |
The Northern Star, 25 May 2019, p.9:
Poor behaviour from some
4WD users have attracted the ire of Ballina Shire Council once again.
Councillor Sharon
Cadwallader brought a motion before Thursday’s general meeting to further
consult on what could be done to address the issue of some 4WDers putting
wildlife and the dunes at risk on South Ballina and Seven Mile Beaches.
Richard Gates, who spoke
to the council in support of the motion, said bad 4WD behaviour was causing
“significant damage to the beach and its ecology”, evident in declining pied
oystercatcher and pippie numbers. Cr Cadwallader welcomed extra patrols planned
for both beaches next financial year, but said that wasn’t enough and suggested
a permit system be added to South Ballina Beach, similar to the permit for
Seven Mile Beach.
Councillors agreed the
matter was complex in that the National Parks and Wildlife Service had care of
South Ballina’s beach, and that a co-ordinated approach would be needed with
the Richmond Valley Council to cover the entire beach to Evans Head.
“There’s got to be a
concerted effort,” Cr Cadwallader said.
“We’re not just going to
sit by and watch this beautiful beach of ours become desecrated.”
She showed her fellow
councillors photos, taken on the weekend, of the southern beach trashed with
rubbish including dumped tents and camping chairs.
Other images showed the
dunes at Seven Mile Beach riddled with tyre marks.
Cr Ben Smith said the
State Government was “very much aware” of the dilemma and pointed out it
“didn’t really get much traction” in the lead up to the March state election,
despite noise from the council.
Many councillors saw the
need for action and Cr Cadwallader’s motion was carried unanimously.
Labels:
Ballina,
beaches,
environmental vandalism
Tuesday 28 May 2019
Coal Seam Gas: Queensland supplies a timely lesson for the rest of Australia
ABC
News, 26 May
2016:
The risk of spreading
toxic groundwater from one of Queensland's worst environmental contaminations
has prompted a ban on coal seam gas drilling in an area where companies are
already extracting gas.
The State Government
quietly created a no-go zone for gas extraction 10 kilometres around the former Linc Energy site in the Southern Inland,
at Hopeland, burying the decision in an environmental approval issued to Arrow
Energy in December.
Despite the ban, Arrow
and QGC still have permission to extract gas within the zone.
On a separate, neighbouring
mining lease — approved in August — Arrow gained approval to ramp up six
existing "pilot" wells for commercial production.
Farmers said they were
alarmed by the revelation and want state officials to come clean about the
risks of groundwater contamination spreading under prime grazing and cropping
land.
The ban is the first
public admission that a burgeoning CSG industry could aggravate the Linc
contamination, where toxic gases were released into groundwater by a
now-illegal process called underground coal gasification.
Cotton grower Brian
Bender's Hopeland property is split by the two Arrow tenements — where CSG
extraction is banned on one side but not the other.
"I think it's a bit
of a joke, really — there are no lines underground," Mr Bender said….
The ABC understands
tests on groundwater contamination were being examined by a trio of experts who
would be called as state witnesses in a criminal prosecution of five former
Linc executives next month.
The failed company
was convicted and fined a record $4.5 million last May for
causing serious environmental harm through its underground coal gasification (UCG) plant.
The District Court heard
in that trial that it could take up to 20 years for groundwater to recover from
Linc's attempts at the now-illegal UCG process, which allowed toxic gases to
escape through fractured rock.
At the time, the state's
then-environment minister described the contamination as "the biggest
pollution event probably in Queensland's history".
A week before Christmas,
Arrow gained approval for 70 wells on a gas tenement to the north-east of the
former Linc site.
It is part of its $10
billion Surat Gas Project, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk promoted in a
February media release as Queensland's "biggest resources project since
2011".
Ms Palaszczuk's release
made no mention of the gas extraction no-go zone.
But the state's
Department of Environment and Science approval said Arrow "must not locate
any [CSG] production wells within 10 kilometres [of the Linc site]".
"The extraction of
groundwater as part of the petroleum activity(ies) from underground aquifers
must not directly or indirectly influence the mobilisation of existing
groundwater contamination on [the Linc site]," the environmental authority
said.
It said the department
may force Arrow to model CSG impacts on "groundwater contamination around
[the Linc site] at any time" and present its findings within a month.
But there were no such
conditions for gas drilling in the neighbouring Arrow tenement that surrounds
the former Linc site, where six wells were approved in August…..
But will the Morrison federal government or the remaining seven state and territory governments learn from Queensland's disasterous mistakes?
Apparently not.........
But will the Morrison federal government or the remaining seven state and territory governments learn from Queensland's disasterous mistakes?
Apparently not.........
2GB
Radio, 24 May
2019:
The Minister for
Resources is urging the New South Wales government to approve the state’s
biggest gas project.
Santos Narrabri Gas
Project is aiming to develop gas reserves in northwest New South Wales that
could supply half of the state’s gas needs.
The Resources Minister
Matt Canavan tells Ray Hadley almost all of NSW’s gas comes from other states.
“The problem with that
is, of course, it costs a lot of money to transport gas long distances, so that
has pushed the price up for Sydney based users of gas.
“Things have changed and
we need to reflect that.”
The
Canberra Times,
18 April 2019:
Federal Resources and
Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan was in Darwin on April 17 to publicise
an April 2 federal budget announcement of $8.4 million in funding to fast-track
development of gas reserves in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin.
"We want to get on
with the job. We want to get the gas up out of the ground and into people's
homes and businesses as quickly as we can," Senator Canavan said in a
statement….
The Beetaloo Basin is
about 500km south-east of Darwin in the Sturt Plateau region between the towns
of Katherine and Elliott and includes pastoral land and indigenous communities.
Around 70 per cent of the Territory's shale gas resources are estimated to lie
in the Beetaloo Basin, reserves that could potentially raise Australia's global
ranking of gas resources from seventh to sixth. Farmers, businesses and
industry are divided over whether fracking should be permitted because of the
risk of pollution to rivers and bores. Pro-fracking advocates argue it will be
a boon for jobs and economic growth.
Labels:
Coal Seam Gas,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
Queensland
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)