AGL has spent $100 000 secretly buying government approvals and legislative changes for its' Gloucester CSG project, against amassed expert advice, and the expressed wishes of the broader community.
Further, AGL plans to frack from Gloucester, three and a half hours north of Sydney, through the Blue Mountains to the suburbs, and right up to the homes of South-Western Sydney.
Sending all levels of government a strong message of zero-tolerance for corporate collusion, is in everyone's interest...
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| AGL FRACC FARM already very sad looking. |
Images @ Eminpee Fotography
CONTACT;
- Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia
>https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
- Mike Baird, Premier of New South Wales
>https://www.nsw.gov.au/your-government/contact-premier-new-south-wales
- Anthony Roberts, Minister for Resources and Energy
>http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/0/7E28286E85F7F13DCA256CFA00127F1C
LOOPHOLES THAT ALLOWED THIS FROM SMH to keep for posterity
The Baird government has proposed opening a loophole to allow fracking of coal seam gas wells within a few hundred metres of homes.
The government plans to modify the State Environmental Planning Policy in a way that may allow AGL to carry out hydraulic fracturing – usually referred to fracking – close to homes in the Gloucester area of the Hunter region without completing a full environmental impact study.
A similar large-scale drilling project planned for western Sydney was ruled out in 2013, partly as a result of its proximity to homes near Liverpool, Campbelltown and Camden.
Local opponents say fracking of existing wells, or the drilling of new ones nearby, can have unforeseen consequences on aquifers as the 1000-metre deep wells intersect with fault lines.
AdvertisementThey say the proposed amendment, open for public comment until July 16, appears specifically designed to enable AGL to do exploratory fracking at four gas wells near family homes without an EIS.
Under existing rules, since the proposed wells are within three kilometres of an existing one, they are deemed a state-significant development requiring an EIS. The rule change, however, will measure the three kilometres from the geometric centre of the new wells, not from the nearest one.
“The absurdity, if this goes ahead, is that you could design a set of wells in such a way that some of the wells you propose to frack could be within just a few metres of existing wells,” said John Watts, a spokesman for Groundswell Gloucester. “It is the closeness of the wells that could cause a problem, not the closeness to the centre point.”
Fracking involves the injection of a mix of sand and chemicals under high pressure to create small fractures in the rock, allowing natural gas to migrate to the well. The closeness of wells to homes in the Camden area was one reason the government curtailed AGL's CSG plans in south-west Sydney.
“The government considered the amendment to be minor,” a spokesman for Planning Minister Pru Goward said. “The amendment creates certainty for industry and the community” by removing “ambiguous” wording in the policy, he said.
“The Office of Coal Seam Gas has to still carry out an environmental assessment under Part 5 of the [Environmental Planning and Assessment] Act in connection with the wells,” he said.
Sue Higginson of the Environmental Defenders Office said such Part 5 reports – known as a review of environmental factors – had a poor track record in NSW. “Tragically and typically, they are not as comprehensive as environmental impact statements are.”
A spokeswoman for AGL said the company was reviewing the potential effect of the amendment.
“AGL has expressed to relevant government departments the need for clarification on this policy,” she said. “The Waukivory Pilot Program is an exploration activity in Gloucester for which an application supported by a Review of Environmental Factors ... has been lodged with the Office of Coal Seam Gas, and is currently awaiting approval.”
Stage 1 of the Gloucester Gas Project has already been through a full environmental assessment and received approval from the independent NSW Planning Assessment Commission, which was upheld by the Land and Environment Court, the spokeswoman said.
“The Gloucester gas project has the potential to supply more than 15 per cent of the state’s gas needs by 2018,” she said. “
Mr Watts said the group and the EDO had written to the government since November to point out the three-kilometre range would being breached by the proposed wells, changing the status of the pilot to a state significant development requiring an EIS.
The groups had not received a reply before the proposed amendment was advertised for comment last week.
“When it suits them, suddenly they change the law,” Mr Watts said. Locals were resentful that they tried to follow correct procedure but were “ignored or kicked in the teeth,” he said.
The proposed changes "amount to a breach of faith with the people of NSW and should not be permitted”, Nature Conservation Council of NSW chief executive Kate Smolski said.
“The community won a significant victory last year when the government created 2km exclusion zones around communities and critical farmland, zones where CSG development would not be allowed," she said.
“But now the Baird Government is picking at the edges of these protections, showing a willingness to put the interests of coal and gas companies ahead of communities when the opportunity presents.”
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