CSG changes not enough: Alliance
The Stop Coal Seam Gas Mining Alliance has labeled the O’Farrell Government’s tightening of exploration regulations as “completely inadequate”.
Spokesperson Jess Moore said the changes, which apply only to new approvals, were a step in the right direction but did not go far enough.
“It is clear the Government is moving too slowly and that these measures fall far short given the threats posed by CSG,” she said. “This industry does not have a social licence to proceed.”
The NSW Government announced on July 21 changes to regulations of the CSG industry, including a moratorium on fracking until December 31; a ban on the use of evaporation ponds; a water licence to extract more than 3 million litres of groundwater a year; a ban on the use of BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) as additives during coal seam gas drilling; and an obligation to put the details of mining approvals and conditions online.
"If the government acknowledges the need for a moratorium on new fracking projects – given the risks it poses to water and agriculture – it should declare a moratorium on all fracking, because the same concerns apply,” Ms Moore said.
"The December 31 deadline is completely arbitrary. This industry cannot be adequately regulated until the full impacts of CSG mining are known. For that we need a full moratorium until the outcome of a Royal Commission.”
Heathcote MP Lee Evans said the government had responded to community concerns with “the strongest environmental checks and protections ever applied".
“Projects with the potential to affect agricultural resources will have to submit an Agriculture Impact Statement and stricter protocols for the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) process are also being developed,” Mr Evans said.
"If extraction licences are applied for in the future, applicants will have to prove beyond doubt that their proposed projects are safe and environmentally sound.”
