News

June 2021 marks ten years since this pollution event happened in the forest, signifying a decade of community resistance against Santos and its predecessor Eastern Star Gas which Santos bought in 2011. It was 4am on the 25th June, 2011, when a pipe burst, a fail-safe switch failed and a conservatively estimated 10,000 litres of toxic coal seam gas waste went slowly flowing onto the ground in the Pilliga East State Forest. The Pilliga in its entirety is the largest temperate woodland in Eastern Australia and threatened by an 850-well coal seam gas…continue reading →

Following nearly a year of swirling allegations that Whitehaven Coal has been using its Maules Creek Coal Mine as an unofficial landfill to bury industrial tyres and waste oil, the Resource Assessments branch of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has approved two of Whitehaven’s other Namoi mines to bury off-the-road (OTR) tyres from mining vehicles. Feature Image: Example of the tyres being buried in their hundreds at Namoi Valley coal mines (Image supplied) A scandal concerning mass industrial tyre burials at Whitehaven Coal’s mines has embroiled three regulators, including the…continue reading →

The NSW Environment Protection Authority’s latest changes to Santos’ Environmental Protection Licence EPL 20350 include permission to transport and dispose of drill cuttings from the coal seam gas mining process, on site in the Pilliga State Forest which is a recharge zone of the Great Artesian Basin. This condition was approved in just 23 days and there is no available analysis of the chemical composition of the cuttings. The Licence changes will now free the way for Santos to dispose of this waste, which is known to be linked with elevated levels of…continue reading →

A landmark decision has been passed unanimously at the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the NSW Country Women’s Association calling on the NSW Government to cease the practice of offering Mineral Exploration Licences to $2 companies.The motion by White Cliffs Branch, which is part of the Darling River Group, refers to the practice of allowing companies with only $2 capitalisation to approach farmers to gain access to land for prospecting, placing the burden of risk and damage to their properties on landowners and not the mining companies. White Cliffs CWA members Penne Clarke,…continue reading →

A fresh report from IEEFA, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, has called the Vickery Extension Coal project a “folly” and a “stranded project”. The Institute states that Whitehaven Coal’s “wealth destruction is extreme and ongoing”. Vickery, an audacious 10 million tonnes per annum approval originally planned to include an open cut coal pit directly on the Namoi River, is located in the northern part of the Liverpool Plains between Gunnedah and Boggabri. “A decade on from the acquisition of the Vickery coal deposit, the strategic or economic merit of Whitehaven…continue reading →

The NSW Planning Secretary Jim Betts has appointed a controversial archaeological consultancy, Oz Ark Environment and Heritage, to the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Group for Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project. This, in the face of two previous Oz Ark reports in the Narrabri region receiving scathing criticism for inaccuracy and inadequate consultation, one of which – the Maules Creek Oral History  – was removed from the website of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment following complaints from the public. Condition B58 of the Narrabri Gas Project approval makes it clear under “Notes”…continue reading →

Tights Sands gas mining (unconventional gas) is once again on the agenda after the NSW Government quietly reopened the Preliminary Regional Issues Assessment (PRIA) for Western NSW. The original PRIA was announced in 2017 and covered an area half the size of the recent announcement. The NSW Government says “Preliminary Regional Issues Assessment is an initial assessment of social, environmental and economic matters relating to areas that could be released for petroleum exploration. It involves engaging with interested and potentially impacted stakeholders to identify issues for consideration as part of the Strategic Release…continue reading →