contamination story mentions cnx

On ABC QLD regional radio they are interviewing farmers etc re stories of contamination. Have little doubt it will feature in talk-back later today. From ABC website:


Farmers say they found dead turtles in Kogan Creek. (7pm TV News QLD)

There will be more tests at Kogan on Queensland's Darling Downs today where fresh claims have surfaced about water contamination.

Local farmers think a trial underground coal gasification (UCG) operation run by Carbon Energy may be linked to dead turtles and higher-than-normal mercury levels in nearby Kogan Creek, north-west of Dalby.

Independent tests by the landholders in the area showed mercury levels were higher than normal.

Landholders say they have stopped their livestock from accessing the creek.

But the Queensland Government says there is no evidence to support the new claims the UCG project is contaminating the water.

The company involved says no problems have been detected at the Kogan site.

Energy Minister Stephen Robertson says more tests are needed to determine the extent and source.

Earlier this month, a coal gasification plant near Kingaroy was shut down due to water contamination in nearby bores.


'Slow to act'

Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown has raised concerns the State Government failed to act in March when first alerted about water quality concerns at Kogan.

Councillor Brown says the concerns were passed onto the DERM in March but not acted on.

"We were informed back in March of this year that there was an incident of concern at Kogan - we immediately forwarded that on through the departments through to DERM," he said.

"Now we followed up on probably six occasions what was happening and we still have had no response to that initial concerns back in March.

"These products shouldn't be there - I don't care where they've come from - they shouldn't be there so we must find out where it is.

"To state that 'we'll take out a sample today' - this should have been acted on weeks ago, if not months ago, to find where these contaminants are coming from."

Local resident Rob Lohse also says concerns were raised months ago and the State Government has been too slow to act.

"We've got one paddock locked up and we need that - something's got to happen - we've sat back for a fair while," he said.

"We've knocked on a lot of doors and haven't got any answers and something's got to start happening."

Mr Lohse says he became worried when turtles started dying several months ago.

"This is only in its early stages - the stuff next door to us, they've just started and we've got chemical in our water," he said.

"Kogan water supply comes off this creek and we're on Kogan Creek - it's a big creek and it ends up in the Condamine.

"Chinchilla water supply comes out of the Condamine - it just goes on, so it is serious."


Transparency call

AgForce president John Cotter also says the State Government took some time to respond to the residents' concerns.

He says there needs to be more transparency surrounding the coal gasification pilot projects.

"I think the framework in which these gas businesses run and the exploration that goes forward needs to be far more transparent and needs to be more appropriate to the particular area," he said.

"To see that people are well informed and know exactly what the status quo is as far as the use of water and the effect of that water on either human consumption or livestock - that's the most critical part.

"If there is some disadvantage then that needs to be addressed as soon as possible."


More tests

Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) director-general John Bradley says further tests will be carried out today.

"Our officers will be on-site taking samples and we would hope to have those back early next week," he said.

"There is no evidence of exceedence of stock watering guidelines so we don't see exceedences in relation to benzene or toluene as was detected at Kingaroy.

"We don't see exceedences in relation to heavy metals - we see some hydrocarbons there - but it's not yet clear whether or not those hydrocarbons are explained by naturally occurring sources."

The Minister says the testing process cannot be rushed.

"To quicken things up may in fact impact on the integrity of those tests - now that's in nobody's interests," Mr Robertson said.

"The testing that has to be done has to be thorough and in accordance with guidelines.

"Rather than jumping to conclusions now as to why you would have hydrocarbons being expressed in waterways - a cold, hard and very sober look at what is natural background levels needs to be undertaken."

- Reporting by Sam Burgess, Tony Crisp, Francis Tapim and Emma Pollard