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 … Read more
Santos’ contractors, Anderson Environmental & Planning (AEP) of Newcastle, have been conducting “scouting, sampling and survey” work inside the Pilliga Forest under a Forest Permit issued by NSW Forestry Corporation for the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline Survey. The permit—clearly visible on a contractor’s vehicle parked at Smithers Gate, the eastern entry to the forest—appears linked to … Read more
Santos and Narrabri Council have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the supply of coal seam gas. The Media Release from Santos is chock-a-block full of spin, codewords and obfuscations – we’ve decoded it in this series of graphics and asked some important questions. At the time this agreement was signed, Santos was … Read more
In March 2024, GasWatch monitors reported health symptoms near the Dewhurst 28 CSG well, linked to a break tank emitting toxic gases, including Hydrogen Sulphide. Despite complaints to the EPA and monitoring efforts, inadequate regulatory responses and transparency issues were exposed. Calls for continuous monitoring and better regulations have intensified.
Produced water from coal seam gas extraction at Arcadia and Fairview (in the Hallett State Forest) is gathered and directed to centralised water management facilities where it is stored for treatment and beneficial reuse. It is the structures that store this waste that are the focus of this Environmental Protection Order (EPO) placing Santos’ brine … Read more
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) conducted an Optical Gas Imaging inspection in the Pilliga Forest in June 2024. This inspection was an opportunity to follow up on the work done in eastern New South Wales and Queensland by Clean Air Task Force and ACF in 2023. Several pieces of equipment were found to be leaking … Read more
Santos retreat from their drilling ambitions in New South Wales A recent update from the desk of the Santos Narrabri Operations Team has confirmed rumours that the company is slowing down its operations in NSW. The update states “No further drilling activities in 2024”. NWPA recently went into the forest on one of our regular … Read more
During our March 2024 post-fire Pilliga forest inspection at Bohena South 1 NWPA observed numerous pieces of burnt irrigation equipment including fibreglass rods, polycrete blocks, tech screws, bolts and plastic HDPE pipes. The area around the well site Bohena South 1 was littered with the remnants of Santos’ equipment. It was clear that a half-baked … Read more
Following on from the aerial observations conducted over the Pilliga in January 2024, Northwest Protection Advocacy recently spent four days in the Pilliga Forest in an effort to observe and document the impact of the Duck Creek bushfire on the forest and Santos’ infrastructure. The days were very hot with extreme UV, with the forest … Read more
Santos engages a multitude of contractors, companies and suppliers across its Australian operations. This list mostly focuses on the east coast and is by no means exhaustive. Many of these companies are active in NSW. Please get in touch if you would like to contribute to this list. A Acil Allen Consulting Economics AEP Environmental … Read more