Information Kit given to Landowners from the People of the Plains Group.
Download these PDF and Membership form in Word.
Letter to Landowner
Ten Proven Reasons for you to Say No to CSG
Application for Membership of People for the Plains
Additional Supporting Points
Dear landowner
If you are like many people in the Narrabri Shire who are beginning to doubt all of what we are being told by the Coal Seam Gas industry and leaders of the Shire, State and Country, we trust this information pack may help you appreciate some of the risks you and your family face should CSG become the dominant industry across the Narrabri Shire.
Like you, most of us also seek objective information about CSG. Truth is very hard to find about some of the key claims made by the CSG industry, and its supporters.
That is why we as local people have put this info pack together for you.
Doubts you may have about CSG may include
- How will CSG affect our water supply and therefore my family’s health? And can we be absolutely certain that no ill affects will occur here as they have in Queensland, and other places where CSG has become fully established?
- How will the invisible and non-smelling Methane flowing out CSG infrastructure, and the toxic waters that come to the surface, impact your family’s health both in the short term and the long term? And can we be absolutely certain that no ill effects of this industrial development will ever affect our air, water and environment?
- Is it possible the CSG industry may have devastating affects on the long term quality of life and opportunities in our community in ways it has happened in similar towns in Queensland, and around the world?
- Is it possible that land values may slump here once the region is transformed to an industrial landscape (as the conceptual map attached demonstrates)?
- And who’s children will pay for the mess when the gas is depleted, and the company gone?
This information pack is put together by local people, for local people. Please take time to watch this DVD narrated by Jack Thompson. Take time to hear from Australians who are already wearing the direct impact of the CSG industry in their community. Understand what will happen across our landscape.
If you are like us, you will be absolutely shocked at what has happened right in front of our eyes. And we trust you may then understand why many people in the Narrabri Shire are already so strongly opposed to CSG in the first place. It is because we see this devastation about to happen here, we hope you will join with us and refuse to have the same mistakes repeated on our very doorsteps.
Feel free to talk to, or question us as local people. We have studied at the facts and have made up our minds. You may feel like joining with us in our local ‘People for the Plains’ group.
Best regards
Stuart Murray and Rohan Boehm
People for the Plains
Email people4plains@fastmail.com.au
Ten Proven Reasons for You to Say No to CSG
- You may be exposed to legal, financial and insurance risks :.
If a landholder invites a CSG company onto their property for the purposes of exploration /production, they need to be aware of the legal implications of this action. They have willingly joined the chain of responsibility, and may be deemed liable for damage to neighbouring aquifers and pollution as a result of the CSG extraction process. Would your public liability, workcover and other insurances remain valid?
- You, your family and your staff - and even your livestock - may be subjected to fumes and dust that could affect your health. :
Typical releases from gas wells include BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). All these substances affect the respiratory system. 25% are carcinogenic; 37% affect the endocrine system; 52% affect the nervous system and 40% affect the immune system. They can and do contaminate air, surface water and underground water systems. Heavy metals and other toxic compounds are also naturally present in coal seams and may be brought to the surface in waste water.
- You may lose control of your business :
Banks are already refusing business loans to owners of properties near gas fields. In Queensland, compensation is considered ‘off-farm income.'
- Your property value may fall :
Very few buyers are interested in property in, or close to, a gas field. Initial compensation agreements may seem fair and reasonable but may be changed without your knowledge or consent and with no discussion about increased payments. Any agreement you sign could bind all future owners of the property.
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- You may be subjected to unreasonable noise, dust and pollution from hundreds of vehicle movements and heavy machinery operating around the clock, 7 days a week :
Gas wells can be drilled 200m from a residential dwellingThese sites may be flood-lit at night. Many people find this makes it difficult or impossible to sleep. Together with the lack of respect for you, your family and your business, and the loss of privacy this can lead to a number of stress-related health conditions.
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- You may lose control of your day-to-day property management :
Some of your land will be taken out of production. Each gas well requires a 1 hectare pad plus an all-weather access road and pipes. You may also have a compressor, saline water storage or evaporation pond and other infrastructure on your farm with little or no say on exactly where they are placed. Precision cropping and controlled traffic farming systems cannot co-exist with CSG developments. Gas wells can be as close as 200m apart.
- Your most important asset - your soil - could be at risk of risk of permanent damage from salt or toxic chemicals:
If saline associated water contacts your soil it will become useless for agriculture.
- Your water will be at risk of contamination :
with toxic chemicals, regardless of whether or not you have a gas well on your property. This may be from the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, from the chemicals naturally present in coal seams, or even the gas itself. Some of these substances accumulate in the food chain. Whether you are a grain grower or livestock producer, the quality of your product will be at risk.
- Your groundwater supply through your domestic, stock and irrigation bores may diminished:
Aquifers adjacent to coal seams, and shallower, alluvial groundwater connected to coal seams may be drawn down as the coal seam is depressurized to allow the gas to flow.
- Your property could be at increased risk from the introduction of new weeds:
OH&S issues could prevent you from undertaking weed control at the optimal time. Weed hygiene may be a condition of access but many landholders have found it is often overlooked. This will add to your production costs.
Disclaimer:
Authorised by People for the Plains, PO Box 412, Narrabri NSW 2390
Any landholder seeking assistance in relation to mining or coal seam gas matters should legal advice. The material contained in this document does not constitute legal advice. The information provided is of a general nature only. The document is not the relied upon in substitution foe detailed legal advice. People for the Plains is not responsible for any action taken in reliance on any information contained in this document. Readers of this document should not act upon information contained in this document without consulting legal counsel.Copyright People for the Plains
ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING POINTS
Health
1.The use of BTEX by coal seam gas operators has been banned in both NSW and QLD, however the process of hydraulic fracturing can release naturally occurring BTEX so it remains a risk factor during coal seam gas operations even when regulation is in place to ban gas companies using it as an additive during drilling.
2.A 2012 study out of the United States examines links between health and gas drilling. It found that case studies “strongly implicate exposure to gas drilling operations in serious health effects on humans, companion animals, livestock, horses, and wildlife.” The report says that “rigorous scientific studies” are required to avoid the gas boom remaining an “uncontrolled health experiment”.
Water
1.A report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia said: "In addition to concerns over contamination of aquifers from the chemicals added to fracking fluid, issues have also been raised about contamination of water supplies from fugitive gas after fracking, and seismic activity and tremors associated with the drilling and fracking process".
2. The National Water Commission has said coal seam gas development represents “a substantial risk to sustainable water management”. It said that “extracting large volumes of low-quality water will impact on connected surface and groundwater systems” and noted risk factors associated with hydraulic fracturing and reinjection of treated water into other aquifers.\
3. The water extracted during coal seam gas operations is often referred to as “produced water”. This water is generally salty and can contain toxic and radioactive compounds and heavy metals.