According to the Greens Party the federal Labor government and state governments are ignoring the impact coal seam gas (CSG) mining will have on the environment and need to immediately undertake a study before it’s too late.
A study into the impact CSG mining would have on the Great Artesian Basin, for instance, would cost as little as $10 million and prevent an environmental disaster, according to the Queensland Greens.
The party wants the Queensland government to put CSG projects on hold until a comprehensive study is conducted into the effect the mining will have on one of the world’s largest artesian groundwater basins.
The Great Artesian Basin stores a huge volume of water, enough to fill Sydney Harbour 130,000 times.
It covers about one-fifth of the Australian mainland including prime Queensland farming territory in the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane.
Greens’ spokeswoman Dr Libby Connors said the government had done no research into the impact it would have on acquifers, despite disastrous results the industry had had in other countries such as the US.
“We want a moratorium so a study can be undertaken,” Dr Connors told AAP.
“We have talked to hydraulists that explained it’s possible to do a geophysical survey that can show exactly where the underground acquifers are connected.”
She said the study would cost about $10 million and take only 18 months to identify where CSG mining could take place without causing “unacceptable damage” to the basin.
Many farmers and landowners depend on the basin for their livelihoods and fear the growing CSG industry in the Surat Basin, which includes the Darling Downs, will poison the water supply, damage the environment and threaten people’s health.
Dr Connors said the impact would trickle all the way down to city consumers if farming land and their water source were damaged.
The industry uses a process called hydraulic fracturing to crack the coal seams to release the gas.
The Greens’ candidate for the state seat of Ashgrove, Dr Sandra Bayley, and Dr Connors unveiled the plan on Monday at the Ashgrove municipal library.
Ashgrove is the same seat Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Campbell Newman hopes to win at the next state election.
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