The Lock the Gate Alliance, a national alliance of more than 105 community, industry and environmental groups concerned with the damage caused by coal and coal seam gas mining, released the statement below on September 6.
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The Lock the Gate Alliance believes the seemingly innocuous amendments to [Queensland’s] Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 currently being introduced into the state parliament are designed to further entrench the ineffective and inadequate policy framework the government is building around the coal seam gas (CSG) industry.
President of the Lock the Gate Alliance, Drew Hutton, said Clause 329GA of the Bill supports the sanctioning of emergency releases of CSG recycled water to the rivers and streams of the Queensland section of the Murray Darling Basin.
“We understand the government’s Healthy Headwaters study into the effects of CSG water on aquatic life has not yet been finalised and so we can only conclude that the community is being presented with another fait accompli by the Bligh government,” Hutton said.
The Bill also allows for emergency releases of CSG water into waterways for up to 12 months.
“The Bligh government has been trumpeting for months that the conditions it has imposed on the coal seam gas industry will protect the public and the environment against potential impacts and yet here we have legislation that effectively removes responsibility for adhering to these conditions for up to twelve months,” Hutton said.
“The CSG industry does not know what to do with all the water it is extracting and the Bligh government is introducing this legislation to allow it to get around the existing regulations.”