Video footage of coal seam gas bubbling from the Condamine River close to CSG mining operations shows the need for a five year moratorium on this risky industry, despite the old parties voting against the Greens move to legislate for a moratorium in federal Parliament last night.
"Methane leaking into a river which supplies drinking water is a disaster - when will the old parties put the safety of communities and the environment ahead of mining giants?" Australian Greens spokesperson on mining, Senator Larissa Waters, said.
"This appears to be a leak from Origin's nearby CSG operations, given its scale and local knowledge that natural leaks have not occurred before.
"This sort of incident, likely created from links created between aquifers and coal seams when drilling CSG wells, is precisely why we need a moratorium on coal seam gas until we have a better understanding of its long term impact on our precious water resources and whether these impacts are in fact irreversible.
"The Greens moved an amendment in the federal Parliament last night for a five year moratorium to give the newly created CSG advisory committee time to complete its full research program before any more CSG approvals were issued - sadly, once again all the old parties voted it down, and backed the big miners over the community and the environment.
"Queenslanders worried about our land, water, climate and the Reef will be horrified at this latest CSG disaster, following the Springbok aquifer contamination in 2009, the release of CSG polluted wastewater during the 2011 floods, this year's gas well blow-out and drilling fluid leak near Chinchilla, and the recent spill disaster in NSW's Pilliga Forest.
"Premier Newman's reaction to this latest leak will show whether he meant what he said pre-election about acting on CSG, or whether his post-election statements to a mining journal - that he didn't want to change any CSG regulations, just better enforce them - are his real position," Senator Waters said.
