Quest for coal
Underhanded tactics by a Korean coal mining enterprise has shocked a farm owner who thought he was selling to an agricultural company.
Underhanded tactics by a Korean coal mining enterprise has shocked a farm owner who thought he was selling to an agricultural company.
A lack of information about recent exploration for gas has landowners in the Mid West worried, and wanting answers.
Coal seam gas is a massive undertaking. It’s estimated there are now close to 4,000 wells in Queensland. That number will grow tenfold over the next 20 years. The plan is to take a lot of that gas to Curtis Island, off Gladstone in the World Heritage Area, where it will be processed and exported.
To service the huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers and expand its coal loading capacity, Gladstone Ports Corporation is now undertaking the biggest dredging operation ever attempted inshore from the Great Barrier Reef.
Mining companies have bought prime agricultural land near Sutton Forest south of Sydney to access key parcels of land without having to worry about landowners.
Now rehabilitation sounds great in theory, but farmers here say cropping is a precision science, as demonstrated by this re-levelling of cotton fields damaged in the last wet season.
BEN SULLIVAN: “I don’t see how you can take something out from lower down, that it’s not going to subside on the top and that’s going to change the way water flows and it’s going to make it near impossible to grow crops. And we’ve asked to take us somewhere and prove to us so we can feel safe in ourselves and our kids’ future to show us where this has been done, but I’m still waiting.”
Three of Australia’s top water scientists have told Lateline more research on the safety and environmental impact of coal seam gas mining is urgently needed.
A new poll has revealed that the vast majority of NSW supports a moratorium on coal seam gas.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer has launched a scathing attack on Australia’s coal seam gas industry, saying the technology is unproven and could have a devastating environmental impact.
Protesters have been arrested after they gatecrashed a mining conference in Sydney, calling for a halt on coal seam gas exploration.
“Why should our ratepayers be threatened with legal action, why should their lives be disrupted, why should our beautiful farming lands be ruined, and why should we have to put up with this because of government’s gross mismanagement?” Ms Humphries said.