News

Bore blowout sparks gas concerns

Beef Central, 24/11/2014

A landholder group in Southern Queensland says an explosion at a water bore last week has highlighted why farmers and communities should remain concerned about coal seam gas, despite government and industry reassurances to the contrary.

The incident is currently being investigated by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines CSG Compliance Unit.

Shay Dougall of the Hopeland Community Sustainability Group said a water bore at Hopeland, near Chinchilla on the Western Downs let out a loud bang about 6.30 last Thursday, November 20.

She said a huge gush of water and gas spouted metres into the sky and continued to release water for another day.

“There is a thin white crust around the bore, the eerie sound of gas rushing out of it and a side-to-side movement to the casing,” she said.

Mrs Dougall said the bore, on the property of Paul and Nareen Gearon, had been disused but stable for at least 30 years.

The bore is in the Walloon coal measures on prime agricultural land.

The Gearon’s property is on an Arrow tenement but Origin operates the nearest coal seam gas field which is about 10 kilometres away.

“Bores are the lifeblood of farming out here to water stock and to supply an alternative water source to the farmer in times of drought,” she said.

“This reckless practice by mining companies must stop now or we’ll lose our livelihoods.”

In a radio interview today Queensland Minister for Natural Resrouces and Mines Andrew Cropps confirmed the Coal Seam Gas Compliance Unit (CSGCU) visited the property last Friday and is yet to determine the cause.

Minister Cripps would not be drawn to speculate about the cause, but indicated once the investigation is finalised and the cause determined, the appropriate actions would be taken.

A spokesperson for the Queensland Gasfield Commission told Beef Central today that the CSGCU was the appropriate body to investigate and determine the facts. “That process is underway and we await the results of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.

In a statement to media this morning Lock the Gate Alliance president, Drew Hutton, said the bore blow out should signal the end of underground water being drawn from the Walloon Coal Measures in the region.

Mr Hutton said the blow out was “undoubtedly the result of de-pressurisation in the gasfield” which then allows gas to be released across the area.

“Gas is being released from the coal seam as it is being de-pressurised with the removal of water from the coal seam aquifer and that gas is coming up across the Western Downs – inside and outside bore casings, through cracks in the ground and in the water itself,” he said.

“In 2008 we saw one water bore blow out at Hopeland, another in 2010 and in 2012 the Condamine River started bubbling.

“These events are occurring because of the coal seam gas activity in the area but all we hear from the companies and the government is spin.

“The companies are supposed to ‘make good’ for all bores that lose water but farmers on the Western Downs are reporting great difficulty in negotiating satisfactory outcomes.

“This is hardly surprising since the Walloons are being drained and there is almost no water left in the system to allocate to farmers.

“If farmers cannot get underground water to replace what they have lost, then they have no choice but to walk off their properties. This is a potential social disaster.”

Mr Hutton said the blow out reinforced the research findings from the Southern Cross University which found very high levels of methane across the gasfields in the area between Chinchilla and Tara and that the isotopic ‘fingerprint’ of this gas showed it came from the coal seam.

“Until the State Government is prepared to act to fully protect landowners, then every farm gate should be locked to coal seam gas,” he said.

Source: Lock the Gate Alliance

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Comments

  1. Helen Armstrong, 26/11/2014

    Confused. How does depressurising 10 KM away (that is leading to less pressure) cause pressure elsewhere? Surely to gas and or water would naturally go to the area of least pressure, it being pressure sensitive?

    Also, if taking water out leads to this calamity, then anyone removing water through their stock bores would also contribute to it.

    Finally, in naturally gassy country, it would be pretty normal for gas to come to the surface – I remember my Dad who was a drover speaking of bores it was well known you could not light a match or strike a spark near because it would blow up and burn. Long before any CSG or Fracking was around.

    Gas is natural.

  2. Victoria Hamilton, 25/11/2014

    Lets impose liability sentences for all and every government employee that includes the Prime Minister down, who accepts any form of gratuity from a mining or related company or overseas government representing a mining or related company.

  3. Kenrick Riley, 24/11/2014

    Dear Beef Central

    Thanks for the CSG news. This is no longer a political problem. In an arid country, any valuable water source that is poisoned — or lost altogether — makes farming or grazing impossible.

    This is now a food problem. And, I’m not sure many people really want their food supply threatened.

    Losing bore water is serious, so keep we farmers up to date on this. We’ve just seen our local Bentley gas well put on hold after our community protested seriously — so we’re very protective of the farm water we still have down here.

  4. nackers, 24/11/2014

    That’s all good except the greens want to ban live export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  5. Roger Brown, 24/11/2014

    Maybe the Bush will wake up to the LNP and labor parties , who are the ones getting Donations from the Gas/Coal/Oil Industries . They should try voting Greens Party for once and teach their party a lesson of not taking them for granted. You all know the Greens WON’T take donations from them.

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