CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL'S VOTE ON COAL SEAM GAS

Clarence Valley Council's resolution on coal seam gas (CSG) mining at the full Council meeting on 18th March was welcomed by community members concerned about the impacts of this industry.

The resolution called for Council to write to local state and federal MPs as well as the relevant state and federal ministers calling for a halt of CSG mining activity until certain conditions were met.  The first step in this process was completion of a number of expert studies currently under way.  The next was assessment of the studies to determine if the community could be assured that there would be no adverse effects on water catchments and human health.

This is the third Council resolution on CSG in recent years but it is the first such resolution since the election of a new Council last September.  The previous Council's resolutions had broader support from Councillors.

The three councillors who voted against the motion on Tuesday appear to be supporters of CSG mining, although they did not state this in the debate.  Reasons given by these councillors for their opposition to the motion were that council had no power in this matter, that writing such letters would not produce the desired result and that the council was ill-qualified to assess the industry's impact.

Certainly Council does not have the power to stop CSG mining in its area.  However, like any individual or group of individuals, it does have the power to lobby other levels of government in the interests of its community. If Clarence councillors had been unaware of community concern, the Glenugie blockade of Metgasco's test drill site in January and all the publicity which resulted from it, demonstrated clearly that there was widespread concern.

Most other Northern Rivers councils (other than Richmond River Council which is based in Casino) have seen fit to support their local communities in calling for a halt to CSG activities.

Council's letters are unlikely of themselves to halt CSG mining.  However, they will make a significant contribution to the groundswell of concern that is bombarding politicians who hope to have CSG mining go ahead.  The more these politicians hear about community concerns, the more likely are they to act on them.  So far we have seen evidence from both the State and Federal Governments that they are finally getting the message about how opposed to CSG mining many people are.

Of course Council is not qualified to assess CSG's impact – and it isn't trying to.  It wants the experts given time to do this. And it wants a halt on CSG activities until the experts have delivered their findings.

Councillors Kingsley, Howe and Hughes are to be commended for bringing this motion to Council and for their eloquent support of it during debate.

           

 Leonie Blain

METGASCO MOVES ITS DRILL RIG TO GLENUGIE

Coal seam gas mining company Metgasco finally moved its drilling rig and other equipment onto the drill site at Glenugie on Monday 7^th January. 

Background to Events of 7^th January

Towards the end  of November last year Metgasco, which had negotiated an agreement with the landholder,  set up a drill pad on the property in the Avenue, at Glenugie, south-west of Grafton.  Local residents, concerned at the company's failure to provide them with information about their plans and concerned for the local environment, established a vigil outside the site. 

This vigil became a blockade on 4^th December when the company sent fencing equipment to the site.  Access to the site was blocked by protesters and local resident Deb Whitley locked herself onto one of the trucks.  Eventually the Police Rescue Squad arrived and freed Ms Whitley.  Then local police and members of the Riot Squad cleared access so that the vehicles were able to enter the site.  Two concentric internal fences were set up around the drill pad over the next few days.

Company trucks made a further attempt to access the site on 10^th December but were held up by protesters as they attempted to reach the site.  As there were only a few local police present, the Metgasco workers gave up and returned to Casino.

The vigil continued with anti-CSG campaigners expecting the imminent arrival of the drill rig and other equipment.  The weeks' long wait enabled the protesters to strengthen defences and also to broaden understanding of CSG as an issue in the local community.  The protest encampment along the road expanded.  Supporters from further afield visited the site, many of them staying for days and returning a number of times.

Drill Rig Day – 7^th January

Following notification that the Metgasco convoy had left Casino, protesters camping near the drill site started strengthening the blockade.  They were soon joined by locals from Grafton and and surrounding communities while others travelling from further afield arrived later.

Around 60 police - local officers, Riot Police from Sydney  and members of the Police Rescue Squad - were at the site very early.  The Riot Police blocked off the area in front of the access gate and, in a line,  started pushing forward towards the road to move some 30 or 40 protesters from this area .  When this was done, they started clearing protesters from the road in front of the gate.

Riot police moving protesters from in front of the property gate

 Protesters sitting on the road before Riot Police start pushing them back

Once the protesters had been shifted from the area close to the gate, the Police Rescue Squad moved in to remove the protester locked on at the top of the tripod near the gate.  This took some time as did the freeing of the man locked on just outside the gate.  At the same time, police were demolishing or shifting the barriers to vehicle access including a large log placed parallel to the road.

Police Rescue Squad officers on a cherrypicker prepare to cut free a protester locked on to a tripod

Filming the crowd

The police then announced that they were closing off the road and, some time later, stationed police cars at the beginning of the Avenue to the south and at the junction of the Avenue and Six Mile Lane.

While the activity around the site was taking place,  the drill rig and a number of other trucks approached the site along the Avenue from Ulmarra to the north.  These vehicles pulled up three to four kilometres from the site to wait for the police to clear the road of protesters.  While they were parked, a woman locked herself on to one of the trucks.  So, when the Police Rescue Squad had finished its work near the drill site, they drove to these vehicles and released the locked-on woman. A further delay occurred when another woman locked herself onto a car parked partially on the road near Six Mile Lane.

After this woman was released and arrested, the  drill rig and accompanying trucks moved to the drill site, arriving there at around 3 p.m.

The drill rig, protected by Riot Squad police, moves past Six Mile Lane to the drill site.

While it was a peaceful protest, there were a number of incidents.  Eighteen protesters, including the "lock-ons", were arrested.  It was interesting that one of these, a  prominent Northern Rivers ant-CSG campaigner, was arrested because he threw a bottle of water to one of the locked-on protesters near the drill site. 

There were reports of excessive force being used by police and these incidents are likely to be pursued by the anti-CSG campaigners.

Six of  those arrested appeared in Grafton Court the next day.  The other 12 had been released on bail the evening before after being charged.  Those who remained in custody overnight did so because they refused to accept one of the bail conditions imposed - namely that they stay at least 3 kilometres away from the drill site until their charges  were decided on in court.  This effectively meant that they were being denied the opportunity to protest peacefully outside the site for more than a month.  The magistrate accepted their contention that this was not fair.  In four cases he removed the restriction completely but warned those charged that they would need to be of good behaviour and not breach their bail in the period before the hearing on 11th February.  The other two only sought the right to return to collect property left in the vicinity of the protest.  They were granted two hours after their release to do this.

It will be interesting  to learn just how much the police operation around the 7th January has cost the public purse - assuming the State Government informs the community of this cost.  The Government will certainly be asked the question.

UPDATE ON GLENUGIE CSG PROTEST 10-12-12

The number of community members outside  Metgasco's Glenugie drill site increased this morning because of the expected arrival of the drill rig. The crowd continued to grow throughout the day.

During the morning a truck carrying equipment and a number of other smaller vehicles approached the site.  These were delayed for some time because of an accident with a bicycle and traffic congestion near the site.

Community members entered into the spirit of the season singing carols around a Christmas tree which had been placed in front of the entrance to the drill site.  The crowd  effectively blocked the entrance so that around 4 pm the Metgasco convoy left the site.

It is expected that they will return tomorrow - presumably with an increased police presence.

GLENUGIE BLOCKADE ON DECEMBER 4

On Tuesday 4^th December the vigil outside Metgasco's  coal seam gas well site at Glenugie became a blockade when trucks carrying fencing arrived.  The number of protesters grew as the news spread.  Six local police were in attendance to clear a passage so that the trucks and other vehicles could enter the site.  Waiting on the site for the equipment was one Metgasco employee – reported as being Stuart George, former Richmond River Councillor and son of Thomas George, Member for Lismore.

Metgasco convoy

 The first major impediment to Metgasco was a campervan  parked on the side of the road and blocking access to the site gate.  Having misplaced her vehicle's keys, the owner was unable to comply with a police order to move it out of the way.  Eventually a recovery truck arrived from Grafton.  The camper was winched onto its tilt tray and driven out of the way.

Protesters blocking access

Once the access was clear, protesters moved in, milling around and blocking the way.  The leading utility moved forward steadily, pushing the protesters back.  While this was happening, local resident Deb Whitley locked herself on under the second truck which was some distance down the hill and away from the police.

Deb Whitley locked on.

Releasing Ms Whitley took some time. The police were unable to cut her free; an ambulance attended for a short time and then a Police Rescue unit arrived and managed to release her.  The arrival of about eight riot police in a van saw additional pressure put on the protesters to move out of the way.  After some discussion, they did so and the Metgasco convoy drove onto the site at around 4.15 pm after  being delayed some hours.

Since then a vigil has been maintained at the site.  The drilling rig is expected to arrive within the next few days.

KNITTING NANNAS AT GLENUGIE COAL SEAM GAS PROTEST SITE

The Grafton chapter of Knitting Nannas Against Gas (KNAG) held a knit-in at the Glenugie anti-CSG protest site on Monday 26th November.  Protesters have been at the drill site on Avenue Road south of Grafton in the Clarence Valley since coal seam gas company Metgasco commenced clearing and construction activities in the previous week.

 

"The Nannas wanted to express their support for the protest at Glenugie," said spokesperson Leonie Blain.

"At this particular site there are serious concerns about the impact the drilling will have on the Coldstream River, a tributary of the Clarence River,  and the rural properties surrounding the drill site. "

"The Nannas are also concerned that Metgasco, despite its promises, has failed to keep the local community informed about its activities."

"We will be putting our concerns about Glenugie to local State Parliament member Chris Gulaptis when we meet with him this week," Ms Blain said.

Knitting Nannas from Lismore have also visited the site on a number of occasions to support the protesters.