The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, postponed until October 11 a decision granting environmental approval to the Gladstone and Curtis Island liquefied natural projects. A spokesman said the delay would allow Mr Garrett to obtain more information on the impact of the projects, which the Queensland government approved this year. The Basin Sustainability Alliance said Mr […]
Mr Hutcheon says it was wrong for the Queensland Government to conditionally approve the project in the first place.
“The Queensland Government gave provisional approval for these developments without knowing the answer to that question as to whether the Great Artesian Basin would be impacted,” he said.
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1052462 How’s this for a raw deal? A big company marches onto your land, sinks a well without your permission and then proceeds to threaten your livelihood. And it does it all with the consent and approval of the government. Now this would be bad enough if it was happening halfway across the world in […]
WHY do landholders appear to have so little power in negotiations with mining companies, when key sections of the Queensland Petroleum and Gas Act 2004 emphasise protection of landholder interests?
“The Minister has not set guidelines, so they (petroleum companies) have had a free run in how they consult with land-owners, if at all.”
“The Minister is giving the industry the exemption to do whatever it likes by failing to set guidelines.”
An article from the U.S. – but it could be talking about the Darling Downs in Qld.
“It all happened too quickly, Volz said. “What was the rush?” he asked rhetorically.
“You would have thought we would have learned our lesson,” he said, referring to the state’s legacy of pollution problems with coal and other minerals.”
A lot of farmers are worried about the long term impact of industrial development on prime farmland and on water supplies, and whether local and State authorities are really up to the task of managing those risks. Wayne Newton says no one can tell farmers what the impact will be after thousands of square kilometres of coal seams are dewatered.
A falsely ‘happy’ look at a booming csg industry – lots of jobs and money, but only for the very short-term – and will a “waterless wasteland” be left behind?
Ian Hayllor (Chairman of the Basin Sustainability Alliance) talks about the enormous amounts of water that the coal seam gas industry will extract, and asks why is the csg industry exempt from the government’s GAB Water Resource Plan? http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/ian-hayllor.mp3
This is an abc radio interview with Kelly Fraser-Parle and Drew Hutton, of Queensland. They talk of leaking gas wells, and the enormous environmental impact posed by the coal seam gas and mining industries. Drew Hutton talks about the threat to the GAB from coal seam gas – and he says this is the biggest single environmental threat to Qld.
Two amazing interviews on Queenlsand Country Hour on 8/4/10 – First a Dalby solicitor found that the government had failed to set any trigger levels for the impact of coal seam gas on the aquifers; then suddenly the Minister announced they had (six years late!) set the trigger levels! Listen to the audios, the reporter is excellent. . . .
Coal seam gas report points to chemicals ban