AMID increasing calls for a moratorium on coal seam gas projects, MidCoast Water has made a local breakthrough and secured representation on a community consultative committee working with the company which wants to mine gas in the Gloucester and Manning River catchment.
MidCoast Water staff met with representatives of AGL Upstream Infrastructure Investments Pty Ltd to discuss the Gloucester natural coal seam gas project.
AGL and its associates have planned a joint venture, already holding the petroleum exploration licence for the Gloucester basin.
It involves the development of coal seam gas including installation of a large number of gas wells, construction of a central processing facility and a high pressure pipeline to transport the gas, via Hexham, to metropolitan consumers.
MidCoast Water, which harvests water from the Manning River for distribution to the Manning and Great Lakes region (and from July 1 also to Gloucester) was not included in initial community consultation on the gas mining proposals for the Gloucester area (including some tributaries of the Manning).
However it was assured by the NSW Department of Planning that it would be consulted in the current stage of the project's development.
As a result of last week's meeting with AGL, MidCoast Water has been invited to have two representatives on the 15-person community consultative committee, made up of community and local government representatives. Gloucester and Great Lakes Councils both have a councillor and staff member on the committee.
MidCoast Water has now nominated its manager quality and environmental impacts Ms Anna Kaliska and one of its three Greater Taree City Council delegates, to sit on the consultative committee. The Greater Taree City councillor would therefore represent both MCW's and GTCC's interests.
As well, a working group comprising technical staff from both AGL and MCW will be formed to discuss the water management issues of gas mining in more detail.
A timetable was agreed upon for discussion and review of results of studies and trials undertaken by AGL in relation to groundwater and surface water management.
This will include groundwater monitoring results, irrigation trials, soil testing, fraccing chemicals composition, detailed analysis of production water, storage requirements, water treatment pilots etc.
Initial discussion was held on the possibility of co-operation between AGL and MCW in development of the Avon River catchment management plan.
"In order to guide the sustainable development of the coal mining and coal seam gas industry and minimise the adverse health, environment and socio-economic impacts of the industry, a Coal and Gas Strategy for NSW is now being development by the Department of Planning," Ms Kaliska told MidCoast Water's meeting at Forster.
MCW will lodge a submission to the initial round of discussions, which involves a scoping paper.
Meantime a series of public forums continues to be held across the Hunter, to discuss the coal gas seam "rush" and the looming battle over Hunter landholdings. Speakers from industry, environment and rural groups this week attended the latest of a series of Politics in the Pub meetings to put their cases.
Most of the Hunter - like the Gloucester basin - is already covered by gas exploration licences. The industry maintains coal seam gas is a clean alternative to coal, but green groups are continuing to question this and have called for a moratorium on new licences, while rural communities are concerned extraction processes pollute waterways.
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