According to the report of a study by researchers at
Southern Cross University, testing inside the Tara gas field, near Condamine on
Queensland's Western Downs, found some greenhouse gas levels over three times
higher than nearby districts.
This concerns Australia
Contrary claims
made by the gas industry, led by the Australian Petroleum Production and
Exploration Association are undercut with this revelation.
The study has
potential national consequences. A recent energy white paper in Canberra
In NSW, the
Planning Assessment Commission is currently considering a proposal by AGL to
drill 66 new coal seam gas wells in western Sydney. "The concentrations
here are higher than any measured in gas fields anywhere else that I can think
of, including in Russia," said Damien Maher, a biochemist who helped
conduct the tests. "The extent of these enriched concentrations is
significant."
The coal seam
gas industry has previously maintained that gas leakage in Australia is
"negligible", and the default assumption has been that about 0.12% of
gas leaks out of wells during production. Uncontrolled leaks up through rock
fissures and soil, of the type measured by the Southern Cross University team,
were assumed to be nil, and are unaccounted for under the federal emissions
trading scheme.
The results of
the study back up the position of people who have been battling coal seam fracking,
who have all along held that the evidence available shows significant cracking
of the rock structure, leakages and changing of the soil.
All projects
for new fields must be stopped and fields in operation closed down, so long as
they continue to pose a threat to land and people.
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