For the 2nd year in a row community has been asked to respond at the busiest time of year to over 1,000 pages of documentation for the Narrabri Lateral Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This timing seems a deliberate tactic by Santos to decrease meaningful engagement and evade thorough scrutiny.
Quite frankly, after fifteen+ years of fighting to save the Pilliga Forest from both coal and coal seam gas extraction, people are awake to these tactics. Once again, Santos has stolen precious time from people’s lives and applied copious amounts of pressure in a last ditch attempt to get this project going.
The NSW Government and the Federal Environment Minister have erroneously allowed this project to continue to impact the community socially. Time lost that can never be recovered.
In late September, early October of 2025, Santos began to apply the public pressure mechanism via media upon politicians and the NSW Government in front of this EIS exhibition. Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) for gas deals were signed at flashy sporting events sponsored by the proponent.
The SA Premier weighed in, spreading gas industry misinformation and drawing Gomeroi fire, then NSW Premier Chris Minns threatened compulsory acquisition of the pipeline easement and finally the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added his two cents worth. The push was on to get the NSW Department of Planning to have this Exhibition before end of year. A rush job.
The exhibition period began on 20/11/2025.
Then in early December Santos pressured Gomeroi into signing an Independent Land Use Agreement (ILUA). This meeting occurred directly after the Gomeroi Nation and Santos were scheduled at the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT). One of three federal court judges who was to oversee an appeal on the determination was recused due to a conflict of interest, the court case was delayed from November 2025 until March 2026. The Nation Meeting went ahead regardless of this NNTT delay on the 6-7th December, in effect circumventing the outcome of the determination.
At the same time (early December) Environmental Justice Australia was in court on the Water Trigger, this was dismissed meaning the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline (major gas infrastructure) would proceed without proper assessment of its impacts on water.
Questions are coming hard and fast from Gomeroi Traditional Owners as to the validity of the vote just taken on the ILUA and as of today (Sunday 14th December) community have just four days left to respond to the EIS.
Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs)
As we began to write our objection to the NLP, we became aware that the documents on exhibition appear to be lacking in critical detail and do not appear, in some instances, to fulfill the SEARs.
Notably, adequate baseline data, cumulative impact documentation, blasting geotechnical, directional drilling geotechnical and the absence of sufficiently specific, detailed and accurate information on groundwater dependent ecosystems. The lack of geotechnical information prevents the public and decision-makers from understanding or scrutinising key impacts.
Cumulative Impact/Effect missing
- The Cumulative Impact chapter is seriously flawed and should be revisited
- Narrabri Underground Stage 3 is missing from assessment on unfounded claim that information is lacking
- Irreversible harm to biodiversity/groundwater/GDEs from Cumulative Impact
- An increase in traffic on existing traffic levels as a result of the project together with other relevant future and omitted projects drastically understated
- Cumulative Impact from dust, noise and vibration of the Narrabri Gas Project (NGP) and the pipeline should be detailed in their own technical studies and further detail provided.
Narrabri Underground Mine Stage 3 is missing from the EIS. We believe the impact from this project, which has a hard border with the NGP and also mines the same coal seam should be considered as a principal Cumulative Impact.
The reason given is: “Narrabri Underground Mine Stage 3 Extension Project – MOD 2 Bord and Pillar Mining Extension (SSD-10269) – the project is at the modification report preparation stage, and there is insufficient publicly available information to support a Cumulative Impact analysis.” Chapter 19. The problem for Santos is that there is too much information, the cumulative impact of both projects together would be catastrophic for the forest and surrounding farmland.
It is likely that the Cumulative Impacts of this project and other relevant and omitted future projects will result in significant impacts on dozens of threatened and vulnerable species including Swift Parrot and Glossy Black Cockatoo (both of which have been recorded in this area of the Pilliga in recent times), as well as Pilliga Mouse, Eastern Pygmy Possum and Corben’s Long-eared Bat. This alone must trigger the precautionary principle and assure that this Cumulative Impact assessment is revisited to become more comprehensive and reflective of the current state of play.
High pressure
With just a few days to go most people will still make a submission (see how to here), they will be forced to use submission guides and form submissions. In doing this they will attract comment that copy and paste submissions are not “real” submissions. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Narrabri Gas Project itself attracted a whopping 22,000+ objections; for every person that objects to this pipeline there will be five more who did not have the time available.