CSIRO’s gas bias evident in latest Narrabri social impact survey for SANTOS

Just as the SANTOS Board recommends $STO shareholders to accept the takeover offer from the Abu Dhabi Oil Company, reports have been circulating about SANTOS’ latest phone survey of public attitudes towards the Narrabri Gas Project. Participants report being pressed by the CSIRO’s phone research company Q & A Research to talk about their feelings towards uncertainty about the much-delayed commencement of SANTOS’s dogged Narrabri Gas Project.

This is blatantly a tactic to persuade governments of the need to green-light the ailing Narrabri Gas Project which is now 8 years behind schedule, on grounds that the delay is causing social anxiety within the town.

Narrabri residents report that the survey introduction did not mention the partnership between CSIRO and GISERA, the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance which is referenced in this Juice Media video. Ahead of questioning, to dispel any community concerns about the coal seam gas industry’s impacts on groundwater, the Q & A Researcher on behalf of CSIRO is understood to have specifically prefaced the phone survey with a statement that SANTOS does not intend to frack the wells, and any drilling will only be on consenting landholders’ land. 

When the social impact survey was last undertaken in 2017, it was found that potential impacts on water were a major concern among the Narrabri community and that local attitudes towards CSG development varied within the shire. CSIRO and GISERA admitted, “The Santos Narrabri Gas Project social impact assessments have revealed concerns about community wellbeing and the potential for negative social impacts. The assessments, including a 2017 baseline assessment by GISERA and ongoing monitoring studies, show mixed attitudes towards coal seam gas development, with some residents expressing concerns about community cohesion, social division, and potential risks to livelihoods and public health.”

The diversity of views ranged from those at one end of the spectrum who “reject” CSG development in the shire (30%) to those at the other end of the spectrum who “embrace” it (15%). The remaining respondents (55%) indicated they would either tolerate (27%), be ok with (15%), or approve of (13%) CSG development in the shire.  It is the categories of “tolerate” and “be OK with” that have attracted serious criticism from the community and social research experts alike, given that the two terms have identical meaning

Whatever the CSIRO concludes from the latest survey of Narrabri residents, it is well-known in Narrabri that there has long been a strong undercurrent of fear within the community about the 850-well project going ahead, whether it is on private land or not. People for the Plains, a locally based group of Narrabri Shire residents, analysed 8 sets of quantitative surveys and data from 2015-2019 and found high levels of opposition not reflected by the CSIRO’s flawed 2017 study.

See below, People for the Plains Inc report on “Quantitative Research results on Social Acceptability of CSG and Narrabri Gas Project” which shows very high opposition among the communities surveyed.

Here are the names, geographical study area and sample sizes of the 8 data sets considered in the People for the Plains study.

And here are the key questions asked in the 8 surveys, showing negative responses in the high to very high range.

To conclude, many thought the departure of former CSIRO chief and Silicon Valley Larry Marshall would lead to a recovery of the CSIRO’s scientific reputation which had suffered due to compromising partnerships such as the one with GISERA. However, the replay of its sub-standard 2017 social impact survey suggests otherwise. It seems that the once-noble scientific institution remains trapped in its alliance with the gas industry and is prepared to risk all by pursuing blatantly biased research.

The GISERA New South Wales Research Advisory Committee have not had a meeting for nearly three years.