CAN THE NSW GOVERNMENT BE TRUSTED TO KEEP THE NSW NORTHERN RIVERS GASFIELD FREE?

Late in 2015 the NSW Government reached agreement with gas-mining company Metgasco about a buy-back of its petroleum exploration licences in the Northern Rivers of NSW.  This followed years of community protests against coal seam gas and unconventional gas mining with major campaigns at Glenugie near Grafton, Doubtful Creek near Kyogle and which culminated in massive protest at Bentley close to Casino and Lismore.

The agreement with Metgasco effectively meant that the Northern Rivers became gasfield free.  This was what community groups like Gasfield Free Northern Rivers, Lock the Gate and the Knitting Nannas Against Gas had been aiming for in the Northern Rivers area.  And local National Party MPs like Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence, assured the community that the area indeed was and would continue to be gasfield free.

However, since then community members have learnt about a number of developments that cast considerable doubt on these assurances.

On February 9 2016 the Lismore-based paper The Northern Star published a story about NSW Mining Minister Anthony Roberts stating that the NSW Government intended to unlock new coal seam gas reserves "to local mining companies that will supply into local markets rather than export".

In support of this plan Minister Roberts claimed that NSW last year had come within a hair's breadth of "catastrophic" gas shortages because of a lack of a local supply.

This is a repetition of the spurious arguments that were used by the Government during the Northern Rivers community campaign to declare this part of the state gasfield free.  It completely ignored the fact that NSW had a very plentiful supply of gas from interstate and there was no danger of gas shortages, catastrophic or otherwise.

The next development which caused concern was the release of the NSW Department of Planning's Regional Plan.The Draft North Coast Regional Plan which was put on exhibition in March is the "proposed blueprint" for the next 20 years.  According to the foreword it "outlines a vision, goals and actions that focus on a sustainable future for the region as it grows that protects the environment, builds a prosperous community and offers attractive lifestyle choices for residents." 

The Draft Plan also states clearly that gas mining in the Clarence -Moreton Basin is still on the agenda.  "The North Coast also includes areas of the Clarence-Moreton Basin, which has potential coal seam gas resources that may be able to support the development and growth of new industries and provide economic benefits for the region..." It also states that the NSW Department of Industry is mapping coal and coal seam gas resources in the region.

If the two developments above were insufficient to cause community concern about the government's intentions, early in May the community learned of another indication of the government's desire to restart gas-mining in the region. Marketing material, prepared by NSW Trade and Investment bureaucrats, was presented in March to a mining conference in Toronto attended by thousands of mining investors from more than 100 countries.

Investors were told that a 16,000 sq km area of the Northern Rivers, the Clarence-Moreton Basin, "has very good petroleum potential" and that almost all the wells drilled have yielded gas or oil.

Was the marketing promotion a "bureaucratic error" as claimed by some local politicians? In the very unlikely event that it was, it indicates that the Government is performing very poorly in communicating its policies to the bureaucracy.  Presumably the inclusion of gas-mining in the Draft Regional Plan was also a "bureaucratic error".

The Northern Rivers community has good reason to be very suspicious of the Baird Government's commitment to a gasfield free Northern Rivers.

CALL FOR HALT TO GAS MINING IN NSW

The Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition has written to the local state Member of Parliament, Chris Gulaptis, calling on him to urge the NSW Government to halt CSG and unconventional gas mining in NSW.  The Grafton Loop of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas also wrote to Mr Gulaptis on this matter.  Below is the text of the CVCC letter. 

The Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition (CVCC) believes that CSG mining and unconventional gas mining pose an unacceptable risk to water supplies, farmland and the natural environment.  This has been very strongly highlighted by the contamination of an aquifer in the Pilliga.

We cannot afford to risk further toxic spills and contamination of water supplies anywhere in NSW.

The CVCC is concerned that the National Party MPs in our area are not effectively representing their constituents in protecting farmland, water and the natural environment from an invasive and polluting industry.

We call on you to urge your Government to put an immediate stop to all coal seam gas and unconventional gas mining in NSW.

Delegation Presenting Letters from the CVCC and the Knitting Nannas

NSW GOVERNMENT RECORD ON NATIONAL PARKS

Letter to Chris Gulaptis, State Member for Clarence

I am writing this letter to express my extreme disappointment in the present State Government's philosophy and actions in regard to our National Parks, Nature Reserves and State Conservation Areas.

Having been heavily involved in the battle to save the rainforests in the late 70s early 80s; being highly conscious of Australia's deplorable rate of extinctions of our fellow creatures; having been involved in the education of our children for 41 years and having taken groups of young people into our National Parks on Duke of Edinburgh Scheme bushwalks and being conscious of what a National Park really is .............  I am appalled that these protected areas are being opened up for recreational shooting and that logging is being considered.

I have been informed that the Forest Products Association is asking for over a million hectares of north-east NSW's National Parks, Nature Reserves and State Conservation Areas to be made available for logging.  It seems that they have identified over 100,000 hectares of specific reserves that they want revoked.

Our protected areas are a priceless asset for our fellow creatures.  They are a gift to the future, a stepping stone to preserving  all life on our planet.

For a government to consider allowing shooting and logging in these areas is an indication of its short-term, anthropocentric values which will ensure destruction of the invaluable concept of protection of natural ecosystems.

Our children's values will be influenced by the messages that these actions will generate, messages that will cry out loudly - "These areas are not really protected", or "We don't need to protect them".

What is your position on these issues?

If you oppose logging in National Parks are you prepared to publicly say so?

What do you think John Muir, the father of America's national parks, would think of these proposals?

    - Stan Mussared

KNITTING NANNAS AGAINST GAS LAUNCHED IN GRAFTON

On Friday 19^th October the Grafton Chapter of Knitting Nannas Against Gas was launched with a knit-in outside the office of the Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence in the NSW State Parliament.  Mr Gulaptis is a member of the National Party which is currently in a coalition government with the Liberal Party in NSW.

The Grafton Nannas, who were inspired by the original Knitting  Nannas in the Lismore district, were protesting against the State Government's support for the coal seam gas (CSG) industry.

A spokesperson for the group stated that they had decided that Grafton should have a similar group to supplement the work that other anti-CSG campaigners are doing in the Clarence Valley.

"In supporting this damaging industry the Government is ignoring  the genuine concerns of ordinary people about issues such as fracking, the threat to aquifers, declining property values and loss of productive agricultural land," she said.

"We are being told by the politicians that everything is O.K. because they have strong safeguards in place. This is simply not true.   

"None of the measures announced by the Government several weeks ago will address the serious social, economic and environmental problems associated with coal seam gas mining.

"We want our politicians, and in particular our local member Mr Gulaptis, to take the community's concerns seriously.  We don't want our grandchildren to live in an area devastated by gas mining."

The Nannas delivered  a letter outlining their concerns to Mr Gulaptis' office.  They are seeking a meeting with him to discuss their concerns in detail.

Cupcakes to Celebrate the Launch

MEETING WITH CHRIS GULAPTIS MP ABOUT COAL SEAM GAS MINING

On 26^th April representatives of the Clarence Alliance Against Coal Seam Gas met with State MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis to explain their concerns about coal seam gas (CSG) mining.  The representatives were John Edwards, Irene Daly and Lisa Hunter. Below is John Edwards' report on this meeting.

We started out with my reading a letter (see below) about our concerns about CSG mining.

In response to that Mr Gulaptis tried to reassure us that the Government was "considering" the CSG issue. He pointed also to State Upper House and Federal Inquiries, and that we should all wait for the outcomes of those deliberations. He assured us that the party room discussions on CSG were all about three things - protecting water, getting a better deal for landowners, and protecting our food production. We asked if the "better deal" gave landowners the option to say "no", which he said was a very good question. However, he avoided a direct reply to that saying that landowners need to be better compensated with stronger access agreements in favour of the landowner.

Later I asked if he could add climate change to the Governmen'ts list of priority concerns, but he clearly does not believe that climate change is happening, and stated that no tidal measurements had been taken over time to prove that sea levels were actually rising. I think evidence on this should be presented to him.

In response to the question of when the moratorium on fracking would be removed, he ventured the opinion that it would be extended, quoting party room 'feeling'.

Mr Gulaptis said he had viewed the DVDs given to him, and there were some things he disagreed with, but there wasn't time for him to enlarge on that other than the sea level rise matter.  However, he said he felt the North Coast would prove to be unviable for coal seam gas mining because of the small size of the average property. The miners would have to negotiate with too many landowners with potentially lengthy mediation and possibly court processes.

In terms of the issues raised in our statement, he agreed that most of the concerns were legitimate, but claimed he had seen no evidence that any aquifers had been damaged, but he would like to see that evidence if we can give it to him.

Irene spoke very strongly of her mistrust of the system, with which Mr. Gulaptis  disagreed, citing that in all the years as a surveyor in the development business he had not seen evidence of it. It would have been good to have had the time to discuss the issue of "vision impaired ecologists" that we exposed over the Shannon Creek dam EIS.

It was really good to have youth involved, in the person of Lisa, who made her concerns for the future clear.

Mr Gulaptis said he would appreciate us sending him any evidence relating to CSG. Again I asked if evidence of climate change would be helpful.

Ha also said he would be prepared to address a community meeting on the CSG issue, but he's booked out for about two months.

In conclusion I have to say that his responses were predictable, and not all that encouraging.

LETTER TO CHRIS GULAPTIS MP

John Edwards read this letter to Chris Gulaptis at the beginning of their meeting.  The letter was signed by John (on behalf of the Clarence Environment Centre), Irene Daly (on behalf of  the Gumbaynggirr Nation) and Lisa Hunter (on behalf of Clarence Alliance Against CSG)

We are concerned that the mining companies seeking to exploit coal seam gas and other forms of unconventional gas in the Clarence-Moreton Basin cannot guarantee that the following impacts will not occur:

• damage to groundwater resources, including the depletion of aquifers;
• methane leaks from wells during or after use, leading to increased fire hazards;
• emissions of volatile organic compounds that are detrimental to human health;
• escape of salty or toxic waste water into waterways;
• leakage of waste water or other pollutants into groundwater; and
• increased seismic activity resulting from the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

We are also concerned that the mining of coal seam and other forms of unconventional gas:

• will lead to the industrialisation of rural and  bushland environments; 
•   will degrade and destroy Aboriginal cultural sites;
• will cause massive fragmentation of native bushland and wildlife habitat, leading to detrimental impacts on threatened species and ecological communities;
• will impose unacceptable impacts on landowners and their neighbours through increased levels of noise, dust and smells, all leading to social disruption, and physical and psychological health impacts; 
• will create downward pressure on land prices, both in the short and long term;
• will disrupt and divide communities;
• will impact on roads and bridges, without paying any rates to councils to repair the damage to local roads;
• will, through increased traffic volumes, have negative road safety implications;
• will put significant pressure on public waste disposal facilities; and
• will not provide a single cent in royalties to the people of NSW in the first 5 years of a well's production and not pay full royalties until after 10 years of a well's production.

The burning of gas contributes to global warming through the emission of carbon dioxide. Fugitive emissions of unburnt methane during exploration, extraction, processing and transportation via lengthy pipelines also significantly contribute to global warming, as methane is potent greenhouse gas, with a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide (70 times greater when measured over a 20 year period). When these fugitive emissions are considered, burning unconventional gas for electricity is worse then burning coal.

The International Energy Agency has identified that, by continuing to extract and burn fossil fuels, the world is currently on track to be 6 degrees warmer by 2100 (IEA Outlook 2012), a catastrophic level of climate change. And yet the Australian and NSW Governments continue to support the expansion of the gas and coal industries, and fail to plan for a transition to a low carbon economy powered by renewable and zero emission sources of energy.

Given all of the above, we strongly believe that the mining of coal seam gas and other forms of unconventional gas cannot be justified under any circumstances and must be stopped.

We urge you to take this message to your colleagues in the NSW Government.