kccg sympathises with miles community

Hi guys

The KCCG is cashing in on the CSG BTEX contamination scare west of Miles

From the South Burnett Times Friday October 22, 2010, page 5.

LOCAL GROUP SYMPATHISES WITH MILES COMMUNITY

The Coolabunia landowners waiting to find out if Cougar Energy's underground coal gasification (UCG) plant will continue are not alone.

On Tuesday Australia Pacific LNG announced it had detected traces of the same cancer-causing chemicals benzene and toluene at its coal seam gas (CSG) project west of Miles in the Surat Basin.

Eight out of 17 exploration wells tested positive to BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, zylene) and the company, in a statement, said it was consultation with the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and landowners to "ensure there has been no impact on surrounding landowners bores".

Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group (KCCG) secretary John Dalton said he felt for the Miles community who were now going through the same process.

"Our thoughts are with them because we know from our experience they now have massive uncertainty and a lot of unanswered questions," Mr Dalton said. "It's a CSG project but there are similar threats with UCG; the process where water and residue comes to the surface is not good and raises suspicions about how clean and safe it is.

"It's a pilot plant and this happens; so how bad could it be in full production?"

He said the Cougar Energy project had taught the government how to respond to similar events.

"The companies now know DERM is onto them," he said.

"But I hope Australia Pacific LNG are more transparent than Cougar have been."

Climate Change and Sustainability minister Kate Jones is expected to announce the future of Cougar's UCG project in Kingaroy next month.