MIDCOAST Water has denied claims it has accepted and treated water from Gloucester’s coal seam gas exploration and test wells, at its Dawson River sewerage treatment works.
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MidCoast Water general manager, Robert Loadsman, said on Wednesday the claims made by Manning Alliance were “absolutely false”, and that water which in recent weeks has been accepted at the Dawson River plant - from the Gloucester area - was “not anything produced at AGL”.
AGL Energy has a licence to explore for coal seam gas and to drill test wells on a property at Stratford, near Gloucester, which was the subject of a public blockade late last year. The AGL property adjoins one that is owned by another mining company, Gloucester Coal.
On Wednesday, Manning Alliance, which opposes coal seam gas mining, alleged a wastewater tanker had been seen “on many occasions” leaving the property which was subject to last year’s blockade, and that it had released its loads of water at MidCoast Water’s treatment works at Dawson River, near Cundletown.
The Alliance said it understood MidCoast Water was “treating and releasing liquids from AGL’s coal seam gas exploration and test wells from Gloucester into the Dawson River.”
It alleged a Nabiac company operating a wastewater tanker was contracted to remove water from the Gloucester property and take it to the Dawson River plant, and that the practice had continued for some time.
The tanker had been seen in Tiedmans Road, which leads to AGL’s property, the Alliance claimed.
Mr Loadsman denied the water was in any way connected to AGL’s test drilling sites, but agreed that MidCoast Water was accepting water from another Gloucester property, to its Dawson River plant.
It was very high quality fresh water from a dam on an adjoining property to AGL’s test drilling site, he said.
“It is coming from a dam on Gloucester Coal’s site, which adjoins the AGL property.
“This dam is higher than the AGL property, and AGL was concerned that overflow from the Gloucester Coal dam might get onto their property.
“They were very keen not to have water go onto their (AGL) site. It was only stormwater from the dam on the Gloucester Coal site.”
He agreed a Nabiac-based contractor with a tanker had been “working with Gloucester Coal in emptying the dam, and discharging it into (the) Dawson River (plant)”.
The project, he said, had been completed two weeks ago, and he understood two megalitres of water had been removed, from the total five megalitre storage capacity of the dam. He was unable to say how long the process had been continuing.
“It is now quite low, and (the process) may or may not start again, depending on weather conditions.
“It is definitely not produced water ... the quality is very high.”
