Posts

Mine rehabilitation overhaul needed to avoid a massive toxic legacy

/0 Comments/in /by

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

MEDIA RELEASE

14 June 2016

Mine rehabilitation overhaul needed to avoid a massive toxic legacy

A new report highlights systemic and structural failures in the regulation of mine closure and rehabilitation in Australia and recommends the federal government set up a national inquiry to avoid the fading mining boom leaving behind a massive toxic legacy.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has today released two reports – a research report by the Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) examining the extent of the problem and a collection of stories about people whose communities have got a raw deal from mining.

The MPI report finds:

  • Most mine closures are unplanned and a result of economic and market factors
  •          A failure to reform the regulation of mine closures will result in long term pollution affecting communities, water, air and wildlife
  • While companies’ exposure to risk is usually protected by subsidiary entities and limited liability, governments and the community have limited protection against the social, environmental and financial risks when a project or company fails.

“This report reveals a looming disaster that urgently requires national action if we don’t want to have a string of off-limits toxic sites around the country and the public left to pay for their ongoing maintenance,” said ACF campaigns director Paul Sinclair.

“There are more than 50,000 abandoned mines in Australia and around 75 per cent of mines close unexpectedly or without proper site rehabilitation plans.

44Gallons of runoff

“Australia’s environmental laws are failing to protect our reefs, rivers, forests, wildlife and people from the legacy of abandoned mines.

“From Queensland Nickel’s Yabulu Refinery – which has a tailings dam only metres away from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – to the McArthur River mine, to the brown coal mines in the Latrobe Valley and the Russell Vale coal mine in Sydney’s drinking water catchment, there are serious risks of ongoing pollution.

“With the mining boom fading fast and multinational mining companies offloading their assets, this problem is about to get a whole lot worse.

“ACF calls on all parties to commit to set up an inquiry into mine closure and rehabilitation in the first 100 days of the next parliament so big mining companies are made to clean up their mess, not leave polluted water and land for generations to come.”

Contact: ACF senior media adviser Josh Meadows, 0439 342 992

Groundtruths report ACF MPI

Useful materials

  • The research report by the Mineral Policy Institute
  • The collection of stories about people whose communities have got a raw deal from mining https://www.acfonline.org.au/news-media/media-release/mine-rehabilitation-overhaul-needed-avoid-massive-toxic-legacy
  • Audio of interview with Kaye Osborn, who lives a block from the Russell Vale coal mine near Wollongong
  • Audio of interview with Wendy Farmer, who lives near the Hazelwood mine in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley
  • Below, the Mineral Policy Institute’s media release.

MINERAL POLICY INSTITUTE

MEDIA RELEASE

A big hole in Australia’s long-term budget

A new report, Ground truths: Taking responsibility for Australia’s mining legacies outlines the legacy of Australia’s mining boom and makes recommendations for limiting the impact of poor rehabilitation on communities and government finances.

“Failure to control mining legacies could leave a massive and recurring budget expense, equivalent to billions of dollars per year, in perpetuity, due to ongoing environmental and social impacts which need costly management,” said Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) Chair, Dr Gavin Mudd.

The report calls for a national inquiry, with seven recommendations addressing issues of financial liabilities and reporting, regulation, life of site impact assessment, national reporting and greater jurisdictional cooperation.

“A national inquiry, full impact and closure reporting and greater jurisdictional cooperation could avoid the transfer of liability we are seeing as mine sites are closed and companies go bankrupt – leaving the cost of rehabilitation to taxpayers and local environments and communities.”

The report demonstrates how industry has acknowledged the growing problem and financial liability of mining legacies for decades and the slow response from Australian regulators. A national inquiry would be able to put a clear dollar figure on the cost of cleaning up Australia’s mine sites and propose reasonable regulatory reform.

“The financial cost of fixing mining legacies is clearly enormous, but can be solved through an effective, cooperative response. The social, economic, environmental and physiological impacts of mining are made harder to address. Australia needs to act now before the problem gets any bigger,” said MPI Executive Director and report author, Charles Roche.

“The mining industry, including the International Council on Mining and Metals, have long recognised the potential costs of mining legacies, governments should support industry with effective regulatory changes.”

Contact MPI Chair: Dr Gavin Mudd, 0419 117 494; Report author: Charles Roche 0450 901 714, Charles.roche@mpi.org.au

 

 

Analysis of scientific papers is damming against unconventional gas development!

/0 Comments/in /by

Dr Jake Hays and Dr Seth Shonkoff reviewed the current scientific papers on shale gas between 2009 and 2015.

This assessment was conducted using the PSE (Physicians, Scientists and Engineers) Database on Shale and Tight Gas Development which is available at: http://psehealthyenergy.org/site/view/1180

Over 685 papers on the impacts of unconventional gas development have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals between 2009 – 2015.  These have been grouped into topics relating to the gas development impacts such as air quality, climate, community, ecology, economics, general, health, regulation, seismicity, waste/fluids, water quality, and water usage.

Hays and Shonkoff looked at all these papers, choosing the ones that met their criteria – related to shale gas, new research etc.

papers chosen

 

Of the 61 publications in air quality, 46 met their criteria.

Of the 78 publications in health, 31 met their criteria.

Of the 114 publications in water quality, 58 met their criteria.

Hays and Shonkoff say “Our results indicate that 84% of public health studies contain findings that that indicate public health hazards, elevated risks, or adverse health outcomes.   69% of water quality studies contain findings that indicate potential, positive association, or actual incidence of water contamination.   And 87% of air quality studies contain findings that indicate elevated air pollutant emissions and/or atmospheric concentrations.”

Read the full study here.

Fracking causing earthquakes

/0 Comments/in /by

Science has determined that fracking causes earthquakes — now it’s trying to figure out what to do next

Business Insider Australia by Shane Ferro  Mar 5 2015,

Researchers are pretty sure at this point that the increase in earthquakes in the middle of the US in recent years have been caused by fracking.

The USGS put out a news release in February that starts with this:

Large areas of the United States that used to experience few or no earthquakes have, in recent years, experienced a remarkable increase in earthquake activity that has caused considerable public concern as well as damage to structures. This rise in seismic activity, especially in the central United States, is not the result of natural processes.

You can see in the chart at right that California, the light blue line, has a noisy but relatively stable number of earthquakes every year. Nothing about the dark blue line, earthquakes detected in Oklahoma, looks stable.

The question now is what to do about it.  Read more at http://www.businessinsider.com.au/fracking-earthquake-detection-2015-3

Chevron pulls out of unconventional gas in Cooper Basin

/0 Comments/in /by

Read these three articles on Chevron withdrawing from unconventional gas exploration in Cooper Basin.

Chevron pulls out of Aussie shale exploration

By Sara Stefanini

Posted 27 March 2015 13:16 GMT

Chevron has pulled out of Beach Energy’s unconventional gas acreage in central Australia, just two years after the United States major made a splash by joining the project in a $349 million deal.

Australian independent Beach Energy, which owns the majority stake in the acreage, announced on Friday that Chevron had chosen not to participate in the second stage of the Nappamerri Trough exploration programme in the Cooper Basin.

“Chevron informed us that extensive technical evaluation has confirmed a large gas resource and potential for further appraisal,” Beach said. “However, at this time the opportunity does not align itself strategically with Chevron’s global exploration and development portfolio.”

Chevron’s 30% stakes in petroleum exploration licences 33 to 49 in the South Australian (SA) section of the basin, and its 18% stake in authority to prospect licence 855 in the Queensland section, will therefore be returned to Beach. Beach will fully own the SA licences and share the Queensland permit with Icon Energy, which has a 35.1% share. Read more at http://interfaxenergy.com/gasdaily/article/15669/chevron-pulls-out-of-aussie-shale-exploration

 

Chevron exits Cooper basin unconventional gas project

MELBOURNE, Mar. 30 2015 By Rick Wilkinson

OGJ Correspondent

Chevron Corp. has pulled out of the Nappameri Trough unconventional gas project in the Cooper basin, leaving other joint venture partners Beach Energy Ltd. and Icon Energy Ltd. to go it alone.

Chevron’s move comes despite confirmation of a large gas resource strategically placed near the hub of the Australian east coast gas pipeline transmission network.

Chevron believes that the onshore Cooper basin no longer aligns strategically with the company’s global exploration and development portfolio, particularly as the exploration budget has been slashed for its worldwide operations.

There is some justification in that Chevron has access to trillions of cubic feet of natural gas offshore Western Australia in the North West Shelf, Gorgon-Jansz and Wheatstone projects from where it can easily target major international LNG buyers. The move comes hard on the heels of Chevron’s announcement to quit its 50% interest in the Caltex downstream holdings in Australia (OGJ Online, Mar. 27, 2015).  The exit means that Beach and Icon now must find a new partner, or go it alone. In any event there is likely to be a slowdown of the Nappamerri Trough work program to a level that better matches current market conditions. Beach now reverts to 100% interest in PRL’s 33-49 in South Australia and 64.9% in ATP 855 in Queensland with Icon holding the balance of 35.1% in that block.

Read more at http://www.ogj.com/articles/2015/03/chevron-exits-cooper-basin-unconventional-gas-project.html

Chevron withdraws from ATP 855

Icon Energy Limited (ASX:ICN, “Icon”) wish to advise that Chevron Exploration Australia 1 Pty Ltd (“Chevron”) will not participate in Stage 2 in ATP 855 in Queensland.

The equity interests in ATP 855 following the Stage 2 decision will be, Icon 35.1% (unchanged) and Beach Energy 64.9% (Operator) (ASX:BPT, “Beach”).

Chevron advised Icon that extensive technical evaluation has confirmed a large gas resource and the potential for further appraisal and development, however, at this time the opportunity does not align strategically with Chevron’s global exploration and development portfolio. Stage 1 achieved all the exploration and technical objectives that were set by the Joint Venture partners.

Icon Energy Managing Director, Mr Ray James said, since the decline in oil prices the exploration industry has been operating in a capital constrained environment and I wish to thank Chevron and their unconventional natural gas group for their contribution to the Joint Venture in ATP 855.

 

Dubious claims don’t fool LCPA

/0 Comments/in /by

MINING companies like to tar everyone objecting to proposed unconventional gas developments in the Lower and Mid South East as “greenies and professional activists”, according to chairman of the Limestone Coast Protection Alliance Will Legoe.

But the sheep and cattle producer and grapegrower says the membership of his organisation – which held its first meeting in November with 11 members – tells a different story.

“We now have 270 members, with 50 per cent of them farmers,” he said.

“And it’s growing every day, mainly through word-of-mouth, although we did attend the (SE) field days.”

Legoe says when people ring him, all he can do is point them to the relevant websites and documentaries.

“People in the region are mostly very conservative – but not on this issue,” he said.

“And they come from all walks of life – a big cross-section.

“They become more educated about the issues and build their knowledge, and this has added to the groundswell of support (for LCPA).”

Legoe had attended Beach Energy information sessions and others organised independently to discuss the possible impacts of unconventional gas mining.

He became concerned and decided to become active in the debate after assessing the ‘evidence’ presented and possible ramifications of developments.

“I have to shake my head when Beach Energy says we are ignoring the science – there is plenty of science saying the opposite (to the company),” Legoe said.

“The possibility of water contamination is a primary cause of concern, but there would be huge lifestyle and social pressures.”

If the March state election had been 12 to 18 months later, Legoe believes the notice of motions carried by SELGA calling for a moratorium on unconventional gas mining would have had more sway on politicians.

“I certainly hope we can still have some influence (on SE politicians) as our numbers grow,” he said.

* Full report in Stock Journal, July 3, 2014 issue.

Overwhelming proof that fracking contaminates water

/0 Comments/in , /by

We’ve seen it before (like in Gasland Part II), scientific evidence proves that drilling and fracking contaminated ground water, but then the industry swoops in with their misinformation campaigns and pressure on regulatory agencies, and suddenly there’s a new set of “facts” to debate.

Our video of the week shows that the Lispky family is still living deep in Gasland, where fracking science denial déjà vu has unfortunately become the way of life.

Watch our Video – Scientists: Tests prove fracking to blame for flaming Parker County wells by News 8’s Brett Shipp

We reported on Steve and Shyla Lipsky’s case in Gasland Part II, and the industry responded with vicious and personal attacks against the facts and the Lipsky family.

In our Video, Brett Shipp reports that the science proves not only do the Lipsky’s have dangerous levels of methane in their water, but also that an isotopic analysis proves the gas in Lipsky’s well is an almost identical match to the gas being drilled for in the area.

The scientists interviewed say these tests prove that fracking is to blame for the contamination of the Lipsky’s water.

But the Texas Railroad Commission is refusing to look at the scientific evidence, rather claiming that it is inconclusive as to where the gas is coming from.

The industry is also desperately trying to deny the facts, claiming the Lipsky case is a fraud.

But as Julie Dermansky reports in this great piece on DeSmog Blog, the industry doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Help us share the science that proves fracking contaminates ground water

P.S. If you haven’t seen the Lipsky’s story yet, get your copy of Gasland Part II.

And if you haven’t seen Gasland Part I yet, click here

South East Councils push for caution and strict controls on gas developments!

/0 Comments/in /by

The South East Local Government Association (SELGA) moved several motions at its meeting on Friday, urging State and Federal governments to take note of community concerns over issues associated with exploration and production of unconventional gas.

Currently there is exploration activity in the South East for reserves of tight gas and shale gas to determine the potential for commercial extraction.
According to SELGA President, Mayor Richard Vickery, “While Local Government has no powers in relation to approval of unconventional gas projects, it is important we consider the issues involved and reflect any concerns to State and Federal ministers. In particular, SELGA can advocate for scientific investigations and decision making that takes into account the specific needs of the South East.”

At the SELGA meeting in Naracoorte, delegates resolved to seek scientific information from the Federal Government’s “Independent Expert Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Mining Development” on the possible impact of tight gas and shale gas exploration and development on the vital water resources of the Limestone Coast.

SELGA delegates also called on the Federal Government to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to include “tight gas” and “shale gas” under the definition of mining activities where water resources are deemed to be “of national environmental significance”.
In addition, SELGA voted to have the State Government require shale gas, tight gas and geothermal developers obtain a water allocation before extracting water from underground aquifers, to ensure consistency for all water-using industries in the region.

Further, the delegates called for legislative changes by the State Government to require exclusion zones around towns, tourism regions and private dwellings for gas and geothermal developments, and to require landholder approval before entering land for gas or geothermal exploration and production.

To ensure an ongoing dialogue on the issue, SELGA resolved to establish a State and Local Government taskforce to examine all relevant research, community engagement and legislative matters relating to the impact of mining activity in the South East.
Finally the meeting supported a moratorium on unconventional gas extraction in the region until such time as independent analysis is undertaken, and the requests made to the State and Federal Governments have been addressed.

“The debate on these issues was complex and spirited,” said Mayor Vickery, “but I believe we’ve covered the main issues raised by the community and arrived at some sensible resolutions to guide industry and governments.”

 

Click here to read full SELGA Media Release on Unconventional Gas 140614

 

Watch the Channel 7 news article video

Protecting our Foodbowl, water and tourism from mining – Rally 2nd August 2014

/2 Comments/in /by

Meet 9:45am at Parliament House and then 10am march to Victoria Square.

StepsofParliament

South Australia has only 4.6% agricultural land outside of pastoral areas. Our farming production areas are being invaded by shale gas exploration in the South East of SA, mineral exploration and proposed mining for iron ore, copper and other minerals on Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula. Plus oil and gas exploration licences are off shore near Kangaroo Island, only around 10 km off our SA coastline.

These exploration and proposed projects are a major threat to our groundwater aquifers, surface water, soil and air. We want to maintain our clean, green food bowl, water and tourism which should be held in trust for generations to come. Currently, land owners in South Australia have virtually NO rights to say NO to mining and petroleum exploration on their properties, even if they don’t want it. This is unfair! We want the laws changed to protect our food bowl.

On Saturday, 2nd August, a rally and march will be held in Adelaide to help support and protect our agricultural, viticultural and ocean communities. We strongly urge everyone in rural areas as well as city areas to come and join us.

9.45 a.m. we will be meeting on the steps of Parliament House. Some short speeches will commence at 10 a.m. followed by a march to Victoria Square. Some short speeches will take place also at Victoria Square.   People are encouraged to stay for a picnic lunch or purchase food from nearby.

Please Note: Adelaide City Council CAN NOT park farm vehicles over 8 tonnes.  Please bring placards instead.

There are buses organised to take people from the South East up to Adelaide for the day.
 
 

Find out more about the Rally by clicking here to go to facebook

Contact Anne Daw for more information annedaw@bigpond.com

saveourfoodbowlrally

Mount Gambier council adopts anti-fracking stance

/1 Comment/in /by

Mount Gambier city councillors have unanimously supported a motion opposing unconventional gas exploration in south-east South Australia.

The council is calling on the State Government to impose at least a two-year moratorium on fracking.

It also wants the South-East Local Government Association to adopt a clear stance on the matter.

Limestone Coast Protection Alliance member Anne Daw says the city council now joins the Robe and Wattle Range councils, which have previously voiced their concerns.

“It is very, very good that the council are putting their voice out there,” she said.

“This is showing support from the community.

“It is not only the general community that have concerns but people on the council that are elected by the people and this also sends a clear message to our State Government.

“Our concerns will always be there as long as these projects are allowed.

“I really wanted to see the laws changed. We certainly are taking away their social licence in the south-east and sending a message to the petroleum companies that we do not want them down there.”

Fracking our Future

/0 Comments/in /by

The Australia Institute has written a paper that busts the gas industry’s myths about coal seam gas (CSG).

The gas industry has been prolific in putting out exaggerated claims about CSG’s economic benefits while at the same time staying almost completely silent on the health and environmental risks. This paper looks at both the economic claims and the health and environmental risks and will show that, while the economic benefits are likely to be relatively small, a lot more work needs to be done to assess the health and environmental risks.

There is little for Australia to gain by rushing into an expansion of CSG operations.

Click here to download the full document outlining all these myths

stop fracking the limestone coast