In the last few years there has been a surge of coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and production plans across NSW. These projects have been approved with little regard to the international experience that has shown coal seam gas mining to be socially and environmentally destructive to local communities.

The Upper Hunter is the target of many exploration and gas companies with no fewer than eight Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs) covering approximately 70-80% of the district.[1] 

Fuelled by a guaranteed five-year royalty holiday, these companies are moving quickly to take advantage of this ‘free’ resource at the expense of NSW taxpayers and the environment.

These companies are operating largely in stealth under the protection of the opaque exploration processes of the NSW Petroleum (Onshore) Act, which requires little more than a self-assessment environmental report before drilling.

CSG is not a clean green transition fuel, despite industry claims. Research from the US points to significant leakage of methane from gas wells. Motivated by a large public backlash, The US Environmental Protection Agency this year launched an investigation into the risks to drinking water from using hydraulic fracturing in the exploration and extraction of CSG.

There are profound social, economic and environmental risks that the government has failed to adequately address in the regulation of the CSG industry including:

• The pollution of creeks and rivers from contaminated ‘produced water’ through events such as floods or failures of holding dams.

• subsidence and fracturing of the surrounding rocks allowing intermingling of freshwater and saline aquifers contaminating groundwater, especially water used for local drinking and agricultural purposes.

• Significant reductions in productive agricultural land because of the roads and pipelines required to connect the hundreds of wells required in a gas field.

• Drawdown of water in aquifers used for domestic and stock purposes as water from these sources flows into the deeper aquifers to fill the void from gas extraction

• Massive economic loss and reduced food security from pollution of productive agricultural land.

I am committed to:

·       A moratorium on new CS approvals and further exploration until:

o   a sustainable land use strategy is developed for the Upper Hunter, Gloucester and Gunedah Basins to provide long-term certainty for the existing agricultural and tourism industries and to protect this region’s productive agricultural land, and

o   an investigation is conducted into the cumulative social, environmental and economic impacts of CSG mining across the Upper Hunter district.  

·       A prohibition on CSG mining on productive agricultural land

·       Fundamental changes to how exploration activities are assessed and approved to ensure:

o   Adequate environment assessment is conducted including involvement of the NSW Department of Environment and the NSW Office of Water.

o   Community consultation prior to exploration activities.

·       I support calls by Federal Member for Tamworth Tony Windsor for “regional assessments” of cumulative impacts of CSG activities on surface and groundwater

I also endorse in principle the:

·       Thoroughbred Breeders of the Hunter Valley: 10 Point Plan to restore balance, certainty and stability to the Hunter Valley

·       NSW Farmers Association’s: Framework for Sustainable Development Panning for Agricultural and Extractive Industries.

“The Coal Seam Gas industry represents a substantial risk productive agricultural land in NSW. A system that prioritises private profits for multinational gas companies over food supply and local sustainable industries needs to be changed now”

Policy Statement on Water

Water is the lifeblood of rural and regional NSW.  The protection of surface and underground water sources from over extraction and contamination is essential for maintaining the viability of regional communities.

•       People need drinking water and water for homes and businesses
•       Farmers need water for stock and irrigation
•       Industry needs water for its operations
•       The natural environment needs water to survive and preserve local biodiversity

Managing these competing needs is a vital role of government at all levels.

Despite increasing government and community involvement in the development of local water management plans and the very public community process to determine the future arrangements for the Murray Darling Basin, there has been a distinct failure to appropriately regulate mining activities in regards to water use and impacts.

There is a lack of detailed scientific study of the impact of mining and mineral exploration activities on water availability and quality. Decisions taken by the Department of Planning through part 3A planning processes are often made directly against the advice of the Office of Water, the Department of Environment and the concerns of local residents. Approvals to extract thousands of litres and inject chemicals into deep aquifers are granted to coal seam gas explorers by Industry and Investment NSW with no detailed study of linkages to town and other water supplies.

Petroleum exploration and mining activities can have the follow major impacts on water systems:

•       Extracting water from aquifers can reduce water availability for other uses as water tables drop or extraction from one area results in unexpected underground water movements

•    Dewatering coal seam aquifers to allow gas and coal production is likely to induce connection between fresh groundwater and ancient coal seam water that in many instances is polluted with sulphides and heavy metals.

•       Fracturing of the ground through subsidence changes surface flows impacting on downstream flows and the communities and ecosystems they support,
•       Subsidence can also cause unexpected changes to the movement of ground water reducing recharge of local aquifers and surface water with impacts on communities reliant on bores for domestic and stock usage and threatening groundwater dependent ecosystems.

•       Fracturing can creating unintentional linkages between fresh water aquifers and saline deeper aquifers that can result in pollution impacts from water movement and gas releases to the surface.

•       Runoff from mining activities or unintentional releases of contaminated mine waters impacting on local creeks and streams.

I am committed to:
•       Developing a sustainable land-use strategy to prioritise how water resources should be managed within water sharing communities.

•    Amending NSW legislation to require government assessment of potential impacts of new coal and gas developments requiring input from the community, local government and other water users.

•       Reforming NSW water related legislation to ensure mining activities are adequately regulated to protect natural water systems and other water users.

•       Protecting  groundwater by requiring all coal and gas activities impacting on aquifers to obtain an aquifer interference licence.

•       Increasing monitoring of licence conditions and increasing penalties for breaches of water legislation.

•       Supporting the proposal by Federal MP Tony Windsor for national legislation to require regional water assessments before further mineral exploration or mining proceeds.

Statement on the Murray Darling Basin Plan

•    The Murray Darling Basin Authority must pause to consider management and infrastructure options to avoid unnecessary impacts on regional communities.
•       The recent rain in the Murray Darling Catchment should not distract from the task of establishing the Murray Darling Basin plan to give certainty to all water users within the Basin.

 “Prior to any exploration or extraction licenses being issued, the onus must be on proponents to prove to the government that their activities will not damage natural water systems. It is simply not acceptable that any Minister should have the right to sign off on activities that will disrupt or pollute water”.

Case Study – Ashton Coal Bowman’s Creek Diversion

On Christmas Eve 2010, The NSW Department of Planning approved an extension of the Ashton Coal mine 14kms Northwest of Singleton. The extension approval explicitly allows for Ashton Coal to mine under Bowman’s creek. In order to minimise disruption to the creek from expected mine subsidence it was given approval to divert the creek around the proposed mining area.

The diversion was opposed by the Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Authority and the NSW Office of Water (NOW). NOW considered the diversion to be against the principles of the Water Management Act and contrary to the local water-sharing plan. Concerns were also raised about the expected half-meter drop in the water table and the result on the local stands of groundwater dependent River Red Gums.
The decision of the Department of Planning was taken despite the NSW Planning Assessment Commission making an earlier finding about the impact of a BHP proposal to mine under Dharawal State Conservation area finding:

“That at this time neither Approval conditions nor Extraction Plans should rely on remediation as a means of maintaining (or restoring) functionality of water dependent natural features that are potentially exposed to subsidence-related impacts (PAC Report p394)[1]

“Claims by the mining industry that there are tough environmental and water conditions placed on their activities must be viewed with scepticism in the face of recent approvals against the advice of the Office of Water and local water authorities”.