New South Wales CSG report welcomed by scientists, resources minister

The initial report on coal seam gas (CSG) activities across NSW, by the state’s Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane, has been welcomed by federal Resources Minister Gary Gray as well as biogeochemistry researchers at Southern Cross University (SCU).

Gray said the report demonstrates that the natural gas industry has a bright future in NSW, reflecting community concerns and being “an important step forward in the continued development of this resource”. He added that the report “shows that by ensuring best-practice across this industry, natural gas from coals seams should be developed in NSW”.

Gray said many regulatory improvements have been made by both the Commonwealth and state governments. For example, the Standing Council on Energy and Resources endorses the development of the Multi-Use Land Framework, which will provide best-practice principles to allow mining and agriculture to coexist, including consistent and clear advice for all land users.

He noted, “The National Harmonised Regulatory Framework on Natural Gas from Coal Seams provides 18 leading practices and focuses on the core areas of water management and monitoring, well integrity and aquifer protection, hydraulic fracturing and chemical use,” which will “assist jurisdictions to develop appropriate regulations to ensure the sustainable development of this resource.”

The federal government has also established the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining (IESC), said Gray, to provide scientific advice to decision-makers on the impact that coal seam gas and large coal mining developments may have on Australia’s water resources.

Meanwhile, SCU’s Dr Damien Maher, from the Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry Research, noted that the report highlights the need for comprehensive baseline data when it states that such data “helps to reduce concerns around an activity and helps with ‘social licences’ to operate by, potentially removing inferred links to environmental impacts such as groundwater quality and seismicity”.

Dr Maher said the report “vindicates our position that it is very difficult to assess the impact of any industry, if you don’t have baseline data to start with”. It therefore “endorses the need for research, and for that research to be independent so the public trusts the outcome”.

The report confirmed that the analytical equipment used by Dr Maher and his colleagues, in conducting research to inform the CSG debate, was useful for getting precise baseline data. The team showed in late 2012 that methane concentrations around the Tara gas fields in southern Queensland were significantly higher than surrounding areas where there was no CSG infrastructure. They have also published a paper in the journal Environmental Science & Technology which found a significant link between atmospheric concentrations of radon gas in southern Queensland CSG fields and the number of CSG wells nearby.

The chief scientist’s report is available at www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/coal-seam-gas-review/initial-report-july-2013.