North West News

WOMAN LOCKS ON TO TRUCK FOR FIVE HOURS AT SANTOS SITE

A 54 year old Tweed Heads woman locked herself onto a truck for more than five hours today, protesting Santos’ Leewood water treatment facility near Narrabri.

Mina Hunt and a number of other protesters arrived at the site just before 7 o’clock, claiming ground water was being poisoned by the gas company.

“I’m just an ordinary Aussie mum standing with another Aussie mum from Narrabri, you know, people just really need to wake up and realise how serious this is.”

Police attended the site mid morning and Ms Hunt unlocked herself from the vehicle around midday.

Santos General Manager Peter Mitchely says while he supports the right to peacefully protest, the company has all approvals necessary to carry out the work.

[VISION WITH AUDIO]

 

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5 Comments

  1. Santos should be allowed to get on and build that facility to treat all that toxic waste water in all those ponds. These ponds are an environmental disaster just waiting to happen. Surely these Aussie Mums realise that by hindering Santos they are in fact leaving this toxic waste water in ponds with the clock ticking for a disaster.

  2. Doesn’t make sense to create another problem to solve an existing one. The Reverse Osmosis Plant is not a solution anyway. Treating water this way does not remove the very smallest particles including BTEX and radioactive isotopes among about 30 known compounds all up are not removed by this process. Currently Santos have NO PLAN to deal with ‘brine salts’. The whole thing is a disaster for our water waiting to happen.

  3. Every Australian should be concerned about the approval of this risky and filthy extraction of another finite fossil fuel. Are those in favour of CSG aware of the disaster unfolding in California right now? Actually it is not just California, though that is by far the biggest environmental disaster rivaling even the BP Deepwater Horizon spill. There are thousands of people struggling with the effects of this industry which cannot be undone. Why are our politicians allowing this? Santos feel they have a right because they are working within the current guidelines but I feel that ordinary people should have the right to stop this madness. The government agencies are there as a ticking the box mechanism and big business doesn’t give a shit what happens. The share price is their only concern. If you can go out and support these protesters go. Now. They need help and if you are concerned you should get up and shout it because that is the only way you will be heard by those in charge.

  4. Not that building a treatment plant will remove the ponds! If this project goes ahead, the ponds will be continually in use.

  5. The Treatment Plant is certainly not the answer as can been seen from the Queensland Fairview CSG Gas Fields which I have toured extensively and where Santos has constantly broadcasted a blend of treated & untreated Produced Water on the Dirt Roads virtually turning them white with the salt content and also had to acquire a very controversial permit when the RVO Produced Water Treatment Plant broke down up in these Gas Fields which they do regulary as the maintenance required to keep them going is very exhaustive. To release untreated Produced Water into the Hutton Creek which runs into the Dawson River which in turn flows into the Fitzroy River the water catchment for the city of Rockhampton . The only answer to this problem is to cease all CSG Gas Mining Operations & Immediately Remediate the existing CSG Wells . There are no required statutes of Produced Water Standards as well as no legitimate solutions to the vast Salt Pollution this Industry will create ! As David Paull rightly points out if the Industry continues so do the ponds as in Queensland & the RVO Produced Water Plant will not facilitate a water product that is suitable to release into the Environment and this is backed up by a Recognised Commercial Chemical Testing Laboratory who has tested this Produced Water

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