60 days not good enough: Greens want 12 months and inquiry into coal seam gas

The state government has announced a 60-day freeze on exploration licences for coal, oil and coal-seam gas, following growing community calls for a moratorium, and the recent rally in Murwillumbah attended by over 3,000 people.

Local councils in Lismore, Ballina, Kyogle, Tweed and Byron, along with Rous Water and the Northern Rivers Tourism, have all demanded some form of moratorium for coal-seam gas, along with environmental groups, farmers’ organisations, and politicians across the political spectrum.

Concerns have focused chiefly on ‘fracking’, which can involve pumping large amounts of water mixed with chemicals into drilling wells, in order to extract gas trapped in coal seams or other materials. 

Exploration rights cover 10,000 square kilometres

Companies exploring in the region have not ruled out using the controversial process here, and a spokesman for foreign-owned Arrow told The Echo last month it was likely fracking would be used if pilot drilling went ahead, potentially as early as next year.

Arrow is owned by two of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, Shell and PetroChina, and has exploration rights that cover more than 10,000 square kilometres from Byron across to the west of the mountains.

Revealing the 60-day freeze on new exploration licences, the Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard announced new rules that will require extraction projects be assessed for their impacts on agricultural land and water resources.

He said the aim was to ‘balance the need for investment certainty with conservation of high value strategic agricultural land.’

As part of the state’s changes, new regional plans will be developed.

‘These plans will provide local communities with far greater certainty about how their areas will change over time,’ the Minister said.

The state government’s moves were immediately attacked by the Greens upper house member Jeremy Buckingham, who described the freeze as a ‘Clayton’s moratorium’ and called for a special commission of inquiry into the safety of the coal-seam gas industry.

Mr Buckingham told The Echo he has seen firsthand how fracking operations in New South Wales could threaten water resources, including the Richmond River.

Politicians respond

Federal Labor MP Janelle Saffin said while she was pleased with news the region’s gas might offer an alternative to coal, she shared concerns about ‘fracking’ and its environmental impacts. Gas exploration and production is primarily regulated by the states, but Ms Saffin said she was exploring whether the National Water Commission could better protect water resources from the industry’s impacts. 

Fellow federal Labor MP Justine Elliot, the member for Richmond and parliamentary secretary for trade, has acknowledged community concerns but declined to support calls for a moratorium.

Don Page, state Minister for the North Coast, who’s expressed public concerns about fracking, said ‘we believe that agricultural land and other sensitive areas exist in NSW where mining and coal-seam gas extraction should not occur’.

In Byron Shire, councillor Ross Tucker told The Echo while he didn’t support Council’s recent call for a moratorium, he’s personally opposed to any type of mining in the Shire.

‘I wouldn’t like to see mining for gold, bauxite or coal-seam gas. These things are very disruptive and I don’t think anyone would be too keen on them.’

Debate is raging globally about the environmental impacts of fracking and the costs and benefits of gas production, with industry-wide projects worth over $200 billion being constructed or considered in Australia alone.

While the industry is working hard to present itself as the green alternative to coal, the United States Environmental Protection Agency last month announced changes in the way it calculates the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions – revising them upwards.