Sydney [AAP]
Farmer Ted Borowski spent a day between a truck and a hard place as part of a blockade of coal seam gas trucks in northwest NSW.
Mr Borowski used metal piping to attach himself to the underneath of a truck carrying mining equipment in the Pilliga Forest, forcing the vehicle and a number of trucks following it to standstill.
The 58-year-old, who owns a property north of Coonamble, spent more than six hours hooked up to the truck’s axle, and images showed the grazier lying on the hard ground beneath the vehicle, with just a swag for a pillow.
Police moved a group of Mr Borowski’s co-protesters from the scene before negotiating with the farmer over his removal.
‘Police rescue will be required to move him (Mr Borowski),’ a spokesman for the anti-CSG protest group, the Lock the Gate Alliance told AAP.
‘I expect he’ll be taken into custody after this action.’
Monday’s protest was launched amid concern among some locals over coal seam gas mining in the region.
It follows a series of similar protests against CSG mining in other parts of Australia.
Proponents claim CSG can help supply the nation with energy long into the future.
But opponents claim it has the potential to cause damaging pollution.
Santos is in the middle of a 16-well coal seam gas exploration project in the Pilliga Forest.
The trucks halted on Monday were working for the company.
A Santos spokesman raised concerns about the tactics being employed by CSG protesters.
‘It’s dangerous, often these people dive under moving vehicles and that puts their own lives at risk and the safety of drivers at risk,’ he said.
A coal seam gas project operated by energy company Santos in north-western NSW has contaminated a nearby aquifer, with uranium at levels 20 times higher than safe drinking water guidelines, an official investigation has found.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/santos-coal-seam-gas-project-contaminates-aquifer-20140307-34csb.html#ixzz2vSTExyKC
This is genocide.
I would like the name of the Santos Spokesman who said ” ‘It’s dangerous, often these people dive under moving vehicles and that puts their own lives at risk and the safety of drivers at risk,’ he said. i challenge Mr spokesperson to make it public just who these people are. What a load of rubbish. Oh and according to a Santos spokesperson my friend and I ran towards a moving truck and the driver had to break to avoid hitting us. Santos are desperate for something to say. They are more lies, lies lies..