The company behind a major Queensland gas project is making its groundwater testing results public. Gas giant Santos has announced it will publish water quality test results online to allay community concerns over coal seam gas mining and environmental impacts. Like cleaning products, chemicals used in the process can taint precious waterways.
The results of water testing near a major Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project at Gladstone in Queensland will be made public.
In what has been hailed an Australian-first, resources giant Santos has launched an online portal (http://www.santoswaterportal.com.au) showing Surat and Bowen Basin water testing results.
“From today, all members of the community will be able to access the results of all our water quality and bore level testing thoughout our CST operations in the Surat and Bowen Basins,” Santos GLNG president Mark Macfarlane said.
The coal seam gas industry has been plagued by concern over the possible contamination of underground water aquifers as a result of the mining technique, known as fracking. Critics claim the process of forcing water, sand and chemicals into rock seams to force out trapped methane is not eco-friendly. Industrial liquid waste management is a key issue as is the contamination of water supplies from the non-environmentally friendly liquid fracking cocktail.
Mr Macfarlane said the new online water results portal brought a new level of accountability to coal seam gas mining.
“We have done this because we want to be completely open and accountable with the community in relation to the impact of CSG activities on water quality and groundwater levels,” he said.
“We are confident these results will show that our work is not adversely impacting the aquifers from where farmers draw their water. We believe it will demonstrate that CSG can proceed in a sustainable way, in a manner that will have no impact on the viability of the Great Artesian Basin, as extensive scientific research has concluded.”
Gladstone LNG project
The Gladstone project will convert the methane from coal seam gas mining into LNG, which has become a major export for Australia.
The first cargoes of LNG from the project are earmarked for 2015. The project is a partnership between Australia’s largest domestic gas producer, Santos, Malaysian LNG producer Petronas, French oil and gas company Total and major LNG buyer Kogas.
The project is predicted to produce between 7.8 and 10 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
The industry claims LNG has less environmental impacts than other fossil fuels, producing substantially less greenhouse gas emissions.
The green revolution movement has rejected this, claiming CSG mining (and its related non-eco-friendly liquid products) and LNG conversion, storage and transport carry enormous environmental risks.
Concern over long-term impacts of toxic chemicals has been a major motivator for leading Australian environmental cleaning products company Envirosafe Solution. The Perth-based supplier has an Extreme Green range including rust remover, radiator coolant and rubber remover. For information on eco-friendly mining products contact Envirosafe Solutions’ on 1300 88 90 70 or email info@evss.com.au.
Sources:
http://www.santoswaterportal.com.au/
http://www.glng.com.au/Content.aspx?p=55
http://www.glng.com.au/library/Santos%20GLNG%20Water%20Portal%20Media%20Release.pdf
