An independent review of coal seam gas (CSG) activities in NSW has found that the industry can be sustainably managed but that government and gas companies need to be more transparent and upfront about their plans.
The final review, first commissioned in February 2013 and undertaken by the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, was handed down last night.
One of the key findings of the review was that ‘Lack of Trust’ was holding back development of the sector.
The report states: “CSG companies are viewed as untrustworthy by some members of the community in both urban and rural areas. This lack of trust seems to stem particularly from some CSG exploration companies: being perceived to be in violation of land access regulations;being perceived by some to bully vulnerable landholders; not managing sub-contractors appropriately; engaging in questionable environmental practices; and not reporting accidents to the regulator quickly enough.”
“…Government is perceived by some as favouring the CSG industry for allowing it to proceed in areas where there has been considerable community opposition…Government and industry information about CSG is perceived by some as lacking independence and, accordingly, is not trusted.
The review concluded that the technical challenges and risks posed by the CSG industry can in general be managed through:
- careful designation of areas appropriate in geological and land-use terms for CSG extraction
- high standards of engineering and professionalism in CSG companies
- creation of a State Whole-of-Environment Data Repository so that data from CSG industry operations can be interrogated as needed and in the context of the wider environment
- comprehensive monitoring of CSG operations with ongoing automatic scrutiny of the resulting data
- a well-trained and certified workforce, and application of new technological developments as they become available.
However the APPEA welcomed the Review’s findings saying, “(gave) the green light to the responsible development of the state’s natural gas resources.”
“The report states that the technical challenges and risks posed by the industry can be safely managed and notes the high standards of engineering and professionalism in natural gas companies.”
“NSW consumes around a quarter of the gas used in the eastern Australia gas market, yet supplies only about one per cent of the gas production for that market.”
“The state’s 1.3 million gas customers rely on interstate producers for 95 per cent of their supply, despite the state possessing very significant reserves and experienced gas companies being willing and able to produce local gas for local consumers.”
“New production depends upon successful exploration activity. And without new exploration and production in NSW, it will be very difficult to put downward pressure on NSW gas prices, which are increasing by more than 10 per cent this year.”
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