MAYOR of Greater Taree City, Cr Paul Hogan said coal seam gas mining could have "a terrible effect" on the environment, and should not be permitted in any area where water supplies might be affected.
As a delegate to MidCoast Water, he was horrified to learn that MidCoast had not been included in the consultation or preliminary design stage which led to the State government's approval of the initial 110 gas wells earlier this month.
Gloucester Shire Council, Great Lakes Council and the NSW Office of Water were invited to a planning focus meeting at which the development was discussed, but potential impacts on drinking water in downstream catchments were not raised, he said.
He described MidCoast Water's omission from the discussions as "like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted".
MidCoast Water general manager Neil Hanington said yesterday the anomaly has now been rectified and MidCoast Water has been assured it will be included in future consultation, taking on a monitoring and reporting role on water quality issues in future stages of the development.
The issue will be discussed at today's MidCoast Water meeting in Taree, where the council's quality and environmental impact manager Anna Kaliska will outline the impacts of coal seam gas drilling on groundwater and surface water.
"The (coal seam gas) industry has experienced reputation loss in relation to operations elsewhere in Australia and in the US, due to poor environmental practice," Ms Kaliska says.
She outlines a key concern as the risk of extraction of gas impacting on surface and groundwater from the following activities:
o Pumping of high salinity water from deep aquifers as a by-product of gas extraction
o Accidental creation of inter-connectivity between deep high salinity aquifers and shallow beneficial aquifers
o Use of toxic chemicals in the hydraulic 'fraccing' process
The hydraulic fraccing process involves a cocktail of chemicals dissolved in water being forced underground to release gas in the coal seam.
Some of the chemicals are toxic or carcinogenic, although the NSW planning department has in this instance banned the use of the most toxic - benzene, tolulene, ethylbenzene and xylene (a combination known as BTEX).
Ms Kaliska says the current development involves a large quantity of high salinity groundwater being extracted with the gas from deep aquifers, stored in lined holding ponds before being processed.
"The treatment also involves salt brine which will be evaporated and removed from the site. Treated water will be re-used by irrigation," she says.
"During periods of high rainfall and when the treated water storage ponds are at capacity, there would be a requirement to discharge to the Avon River."
MCW general manager Mr Hanington sees this as a possible threat to the Manning's water supply, as the Avon River is a tributary to the Manning.
"The Department of Planning has admitted it didn't think of the Manning catchment" when considering AGL's application, Mr Hanington said.
"There has to be more community consultation on this issue," he said. "So far we can't get to the bottom of what chemicals are to be used. The worst ones are not to be used but we need to know what exactly is being used so that an effect on the environment can be determined."
He fears that in subsequent developments, more of the smaller tributaries to the Manning River will be affected.
He added "There is no guarantee that the fraccing process to be used won't fracture the rock" (and in doing so fracture the aquifers).
The NSW Government on Friday gazetted Gloucester Shire Council's water and sewerage operations to come under MidCoast Water's jurisdiction from July this year. This will bring the total customer base for MidCoast Water to almost 40,000 in the Manning, Great Lakes and Gloucester region.
"While we have until now been a fair way removed, we will now have direct input," Mr Hanington said.
Barrington-Gloucest er-Stroud Preservation Alliance spokesperson Graeme Healy encourages members of all communities that may be affected by AGL's development to attend next week's forum in Gloucester.
"People from other communities that are facing the prospect of coal seam gas development are most welcome to attend," he said.
"The reality is that any mining that happens in Gloucester has a big footprint.
"Our rivers run northward. The Gloucester, the Barrington, the Avon rivers all run down into the Manning River and affect Taree.
"South of the valley where mining is happening they run down through the Karuah into Port Stephens. Mining here has a big footprint."
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