Activist and photographer Arkin Mackay provides some information on coal seam gas and ways you can have your say.
What is Coal Seam Gas?
Coal Seam Gas (CSG) is a natural gas consisting of around 98 per cent methane and is formed from the degradation of plant matter over millions of years. CSG is trapped by water and ground pressure against the surface of coal in underground coal seams and is also located within pores inside the coal. The spaces between the coal are known as fractures or cleats. Some of the fractures are interconnected and permeable which allows water and gas to move between the fractures. (source: No Gas Mining in Sydney)
Often referred to as Unconventional Gas, CSM (Coal Seam Methane) or CBM (Coal Bed Methane) and not to be confused with Natural Gas, it is methane gas found in coal seams. The coal seam normally acts as a water aquifer. The methane gas is trapped in the coal by the water. Methane gas has no smell, it will asphyxiate and is highly explosive, which is why coal miners are fearful of it. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas more than 20 times worse than CO?. When burnt, methane produces 40% less greenhouse gas than coal, however the process of removing it from the coal seam sees a large amount of fugitive methane escaping into the atmosphere, so any perceived benefit is nullified. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
How is Coal Seam Gas extracted?
CSG is extracted via CSG wells that are drilled into the coal seams to release the gas trapped within the coal. For economic extraction of CSG, coals seams in Australia are generally between 200metres – 1,000m metres deep. The CSG wells are cased with steel and cement to prevent loss of water from aquifers above the coal seam. An aquifer is a seam of permeable rock such as sandstone that holds water. In situations where coal seams are very deep and of low permeability, the use of hydraulic fracturing or ‘fraccing’ may be employed to increase permeability. This process involves pumping fluid comprising water, sand and other additives such as BTEX (BTEX is an acronym for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene compounds – also read Fraccing with BTEX chemicals banned: Hinchliffe ) at high pressure down the cased CSG well and into the coal seam. This action fractures the coal seam and provides a pathway to facilitate gas flow through the coal. source: (No Gas Mining in Sydney)
The gas companies say that the gas wells don’t leak
The Gas wells do leak. QLD Government have tested many wells and found many of them leaking – however they only report leaking wells against a standard known as LEL. LEL is shorthand for the ‘Lower Explosive Limit’, or point at which methane becomes explosive. A total of 58 wells were tested around the Tara region. Of those 24 leaked (some of those were found leaking on more than 1 testing occasion). (source: No Gas Mining in Sydney)
How could this affect me?
In a number of ways. You will discover that your legal rights are very limited, that the fossil fuel industry is determined to extract as much of the resource as there is under the ground and that our governments actively encourage the industry giving no regard for community welfare nor the health of the environment. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
Your neighbourhood - Coal seam gas mining is not limited to the middle of Australia, out of sight and out of mind… it’s happening in rural farming communities, close to towns, in people’s backyards, and there’s even plans for it in St Peter’s in Sydney!
Noise and infrastructure - Lots of heavy machinery is needed to drill gas wells. The cost of hiring drilling rigs makes it necessary for them to operate 24/7 where they can. Lots of trucks will come and go carrying equipment, delivering supplies and carting away toxic water. Pumps will operate. A large cement pad will be laid and a security fence installed at each well head. Lights will be on continuously. Pipelines will be laid down connecting each well head to a main gas pipeline which will flow to compressor stations. A compressor station is very large and noisy; apart from maintaining pressure in the gas pipeline it also separates out unwanted hydrocarbons from the gas which are then vented into the atmosphere. Many hydro-carbons cause cancer. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
Your health and safety - There are many hazards involved with CSM extraction. The water taken from the coal seam is toxic and must be handled with extreme care. After the water has been removed from the coal seam, the dynamics of the coal seam have been changed causing the methane to be freed up and migrate; the hope is that all the methane will find its way up to the well head, however rocks can and do have fault lines by which the methane can find alternate avenues to the surface. There are many instances of methane coming out of peoples taps. CSM wells and pipelines are fire hazards; over 50 per cent of wells tested in Queensland leak methane. CSM wells do sometimes catch fire and explode. Once the methane has been freed up from the coal, nothing will stop it flowing. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
From Tara, site of the Kenya gasfields, are stories of inexplicable nose and ear bleeds and other health problems in residents (adults and children) who have previously been fit and healthy. There is also evidence that the gas company there uses chemically-contaminated water (a by-product of the drilling and fracturing process) to settle dust on the dirt roads in the area. You can form your own conclusions…
Water tables - CSM mining poses a serious risk to fresh water aquifers. The huge volumes extracted from the coal seam can then lead to a major depletion of connected aquifers which would be used for drinking water, agriculture and fire fighting. The large assortment of chemicals used for drilling and fraccing cause serious contamination to fresh water aquifers and running groundwater streams and rivers. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
Food security - Often, this gas mining is in areas of largescale agriculture… the source of a lot of the food we take for granted. By depleting the groundwater, risking chemical contamination of it, and crisscrossing the land with gas pipes, the future of viable farming is very doubtful. This may lead to increases in food prices and scarcity of certain crops, food with high levels of toxic chemicals present; and an increased need to import food and crops from other regions.
Environment - The pollution of water tables and rivers leads to the mass death of all types of living creatures and plants. The installation of full scale industrial machinery scares away wildlife. The uncontrolled venting of fugitive methane emissions poisons the atmosphere. (source: CSM Fact Sheet)
What sort of chemicals get used in the fraccing process?
There’s simply too many to list here… but the list includes chemicals known to cause respiratory illness, brain and nervous system dysfunction, birth defects, developmental defects, and cancer. These chemicals are pumped into the ground, and mining companies have admitted to only being able to recapture 30-70 per cent of them. This leave an unacceptable amount of uncontrolled chemicals in the ground, freely able to move into groundwater.
Won’t extracting Coal Seam Gas make energy generation cheaper for me, and provide Australians with cheap gas for years to come?
No! The Australian Industry Group expects to install infrastructure to export our gas overseas. Other countries get our gas, the international mining conglomerates get all the money – we get left with a damaged environment. (source: No Gas Mining in Sydney)
What can you do?
For the instant gratification:
- Lobby GetUp to take on a national campaign against coal seam gas mining and voting in their Campaign Ideas Forum.
- Sign the Queensland Parliament Petition calling for caution in allowing the development of the coal seam gas industry (closes 20-5-11)
These two are easy!! Just a few mouseclicks and you’re already making a difference! Now, read on…
For the financially secure:
- Donate to fund the campaign against coal seam gas mining. There are a number of regions around Australia facing this threat, but Tara in Qld is one particular hotspot. You can help the residents and campaigners out there by visiting the Western Downs Alliance website to make a donation – small or large, it all helps. Campaigning on a large national issue such as this is expensive and time-consuming, so your support to the key campaign groups is hugely appreciated.
For the literary:
- Write letters of objection on coal seam gas mining to key politicians (state members, state premiers, federal environment minister, etc)… request a moratorium on the coal seam gas exploration and mining until all the health and environmental risks have been fully explored. Ask them to ensure the protection of productive farmland, food security, protection of waterways and the great artesian basin from chemical contamination, amongst many other issues. Check out the Lock the Gate fact sheets for some information to base your letter on.
For the politically persuasive:
- Get in touch with your local, state and federal parliamentary members, ask their personal and party position on coal seam gas mining, and if you don’t agree with it, make it clear that you think it is a political issue, and that their stance may guide your voting choice at election time.
For the social networkers:
- Join the Lock the Gate Alliance group on Facebook then share videos, news articles, posts & images with your Facebook friends. Spreading the word is a huge contribution!
For the frontline activists:
- Get yourselves out to Tara (near Dalby, Qld) ASAP to join a committed crew of front-liners blocking the expansion of the Kenya gas fields into neighbouring properties. Visit Western Downs Alliance for more info and to contact the camp coordinators.
For the news hungry:
- Set up a Google news feed about the issue, so you never miss a headline. Go to google alerts for coal seam gas, add your email address to the online form and you’ll get the latest coal seam gas news from the major media sources direct to your email inbox.
- Whenever you see a coal seam gas article in the media, comment on it (or phone in, if it’s talkback radio)… doing this sends a message to the media and governments that the issue in gaining momentum and public objection!
- Join the Friends of the Earth mailing list.
For the community-minded movie buff:
- Organise a local screening of the coal seam gas exposé film ‘Gasland‘ in your community, to raise awareness and grow support and how to arrange a screening.
For the Easter campers:
- Join the Tara 2011 Festival and Lock the Gate Convergence from April 29 to May 3 at Tara in Qld. A three-day event, including displays, forums, entertainment, camping, workshops and direct action.
For the dog walkers:
- Print off some copies of a coal seam gas fact sheet and pop them in random letter boxes while you’re out walking… you never know how much interest this may spark.
For the ethically invested:
- Check your share portfolio and rethink any investment in coal seam gas mining – it’s not the clean green industry they’d like you to think it is!
Films and documentaries
Check out these films, doco’s and news items for some background -
- 60 Minutes story ‘Undermined‘ http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/undermined/xslwxn0
- ‘Lock the Gate‘ – Ian Mackay & I hit the road and head to the Darling Downs to check out the coal seam gas mining threats in Queensland.
- ‘Gasland’ – the coal gas threat in the USA, and a chilling preview of what could happen here, if we let it.
- 6 Degrees ‘Coal Seam Gas documentary trailer‘
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Great Information here. I am helping put together the Caldera Environment Centres Newsletter and was hoping I could use this if its okay. Especially the how to do your bit section. Fracking is just hitting Northern NSW.