derm said cougar wasn't at fault!

Hey all, is this old or new news? I found it as listed yesterday. I think I hear the Gov saying "cash or cheque".

PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has confirmed that contaminants found in water samples at Kingaroy were most likely from farming practices, and not from the coal gasification site owned by ASX-listed Cougar Energy.

DERM banned Cougar from performing any operations at its Kingaroy project, other than rehabilitation and monitoring, in July, which led to the miner launching a A$34-million lawsuit against the state and three of its employees.

Queensland Environment Minister Vicky Darling said overnight that DERM had conducted an investigation after formaldehyde and thiocyanate were detected during routine water sampling at landholder properties and from groundwater bores in Kingaroy.

“DERM’s investigation has determined the most likely source of the contaminants was the result of recent or historical agricultural practices,” Darling said.

“The department took water and soil samples from multiple locations on the property and the nearby Cougar Energy site. Low levels of the contaminates were detected in a widespread area on the property, suggesting the most likely source is agricultural products and not the Cougar Energy site.”

“It is also important to note this incident has no connection with coal seam gas or BTEX chemical compounds,” she added.

Darling said both chemicals were common components in a range of agricultural products.

http://www.livepr.in/qld-says-contaminated-water-at-cougar-project-likely-from-agriculture/

Bigdig