Dr Love is certainly well credentialed. I think he reviewed and...

Dr Love is certainly well credentialed. I think he reviewed and signed off on the design of LCK/NRZ's inlet and exit wells for the one and only gasifier drilled so far, didn't he?
The latest information from Qld shows that nine years after the 'pilot plant' was shutdown, toxic chemicals are still migrating outwards from Linc's underground gasifiers. Calls into question, possibly, the 'aquitard theory' of coal seams, don't you think?
Given that NRZ will be using very much the same underground technology as Linc, why would anyone expect a different result?
The original newspaper article [not included in the on-line version] states that Linc's ISG technology was originally developed in Uzbekistan. I don't know much about Uzbekistan, but my guess is Uzbekistan would not be a Tier 1 jurisdiction when it comes to environmental standards.
Now the next thing somebody is going to throw back at me is "don't worry, under Leigh Creek it's all a brackish aquifer". And in advance, I'll reply that to the Governmentt., it doesn't matter. If it's part of the natural environment and if you pollute it, outside your permits, then you've broken the law.
Who knows what future uses a salty aquifer might have? Already the hamlet of Leigh Creek obtains its potable water from desalination of an aquifer by reverse osmosis. Perhaps the cost of desalination might fall drastically in the near future, enabling the economic production of high quality water for stock and other uses.
In one case I know of, a salty aquifer is being tested to see if the lithium content is at economically recoverable levels.