Greater Taree City Council is looking at its position in regard to the possibility of oil and gas drilling being conducted off the Manning coastline and in the river catchment.
Crs David Keegan and Alan Tickle successfully moved a notice of motion at council’s latest meeting, requiring staff to prepare a report on a policy response to coal seam gas drilling in the catchment, and possible off-shore drilling.
The motion was passed five votes to four with the support of Crs Marks, Richardson and Hogan. Crs Bell, Jennison, West and Loftus voted against it.
Concern at the possibility of coal seam gas drilling being undertaken in the Manning area is growing, with several screenings of the controversial documentary ‘GasLand’ now taking place at Taree and Forster (see separate story).
The Greens candidate for the seat of Oxley at next month’s election, Jeremy Bradley, farms land west of Wauchope. This week he warned that coal seam gas companies could be mining on regional properties in the near future.
“I am particularly alarmed by the Nationals’ support for the coal seam gas industry at the expense of farming families and farming communities,” Mr Bradley said.
“Experience in Queensland and overseas is that coal seam gas presents significant environmental risks to water supplies and can have a devastating impact on productive farming lands.”
Nationals MP Kevin Humphries is reported in The Land Online (Heath Aston, Jan 3, 2011) as approaching Premier Kristina Kenneally on behalf of the ‘fledgling NSW coal seam gas industry’.
The Land article stated that ‘A letter obtained by The Sun-Herald shows Nationals MP Kevin Humphries requested an ‘urgent meeting with the Premier on behalf of Eastern Star.’ Eastern Star is a coal seam gas company headed by former Nationals leader John Anderson, Mr Bradley said.
The article also states that “Mr Humphries’ seat of Barwon - the second biggest in NSW - covers areas such as Gunnedah and Narrabri, where Eastern Star explores for, and drills for coal seam gas.” Eastern Star Gas donated $22,850 to the National Party in 2009 according to the Election Funding Authority.
Mr Bradley also expressed concern at reports that stock owners have been locked out of a travelling stock reserve by a lease held by mining company Nucoal which has purchased land in the Breeza area. Nucoal will run a total of three head on the reserve as required by the lease.
Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP in the Upper House said “The Department of Environment has no role in the approval processes for coal seam gas exploratory drilling. Meanwhile, Industry & Investment NSW is rubber-stamping dozens of drilling operations without enough expertise and understanding of the process, particularly the highly controversial process of fraccing.”
Mr Bradley is questioning where key Nationals leaders stand on the issue.
“Why are the Nationals supporting mining companies pursuing mining techniques that can damage our aquifers and valuable farming lands?” he asked.
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW this week welcomed the Coalition’s announcement of increased measures for securing agricultural land and water resources against mining impacts.
However, it remained concerned about whether the Strategic Regional Land Use policy goes far enough in protecting the state’s waterways, air quality and natural habitat from the growing impacts of mining activities.
“The Coalition’s period of ‘greater caution’ in mining and gas exploration licences provides a prime opportunity for finding the best way of protecting natural areas and human communities from the destructive impacts of the unprecedented expansion in coal and gas exploration and mining taking place across NSW,” Nature Conservation Council of NSW CEO Pepe Clarke said.
“Tighter controls of proposed mines and gas fields and active monitoring of waterways are all part of the solution, but they will only be effective if the groundwork is laid with strong strategic planning that avoids mining development in our water supply catchments and places of high conservation value.
“The next NSW government should identify water supplies and areas of high environmental or agricultural value that are particularly vulnerable to the threat of mining impacts and make them permanently off-limits to open cut and long wall mining and coal seam gas extraction.”
He said the NSW Environment Hotline received 1460 complaints in 2009-10 in the Hunter region alone about air, noise and water pollution incidents from mining operations.
“Closer scrutiny of existing mining and gas operations will ensure we can have confidence that human health and the environment is safe from harm,” he said.
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