Hi guys, here is the lastest letter from a concerned local...

Hi guys, here is the lastest letter from a concerned local citizen.

South Burnett Times Friday 21st January 2011 - page 2 - YOUR SAY

(You can have your say - SMS 0428 154 233, post a letter to PO BOX 312 Kingaroy 4610 or email [email protected]


COUGAR URGED TO CHECK FACTS

I refer to the letter from Mr Brad Glynne from Cougar Energy which appeared in the SBT on January 4th 2011.

Mr Glynne says that there has not been any detection of BTEX chemicals in any of the landholder bores in a radius of two kilometre of the Cougar Energy site.

Mr Glynnes' claim is only true if you discount Tarong Energy (and the people of Queensland) as the landholder of the Cougar Energy site.

He seems to assume that contamination on the Cougar Energy site itself is not within a two kilometre radius of the plant, or that Tarong Energy is not a landowner in the true sense of the word.

The detection of BTEX chemicals at or above the allowable limits has occurred from the time of the operational failure of the process in March/April 2010, until today.

On January 7, Cougar Energy announced that benzene was still being detected in one of its new bores some distance from the gasification chamber and in the upper (60m) aquifer that feeds the local landholder bores in the area.

This despite 1000 mm rain having fallen since the trial was stopped, that nine months has elapsed for the volatile substance to dissipate, only a tiny trial was completed, and above 200m of soil separates the bore from the gasification chamber.

The "pollute, dilute and hope-like-hell' technology seems to be failing Cougar Energy.

Since Mr Glynne is interested in correcting misleading statements, I would be pleased if he could check and confirm the following facts in the SBT next week:

. Cougar's submission to DERM suggests that the plant failure was most likely caused by an underground explosion or a cave-in of the gasification chamber soon after ignition, which caused a sudden influx of water onto the hot burning coal, and a massive jump in pressure caused by the steam.

. This source of energy caused bore casing to lift out of the ground a couple of times: for cement to fail and finish up in unexpected places; for pipe works above the ground to fail; and for benzene and toluene (both carcinogenic chemicals) to escape into bores 260m from the gasification chamber.

. The only cattle showing traces of benzene in Queensland are in the paddock across the road from the Cougar Energy site, and that the prevailing winds during the plant failure were fron the SE, which is over that very paddock in question, and into the direction of the town of Kingaroy.

You have not published any plan on how you plan to rehabilitate the underground aquifers on the Cougar Energy site.

The Queensland Government will most likely look at the volume of tangible scientific evidence that this failed UCG trial has generated and conclude that it made a big mistake in approving it in the first place, and that ending it permanently will relieve the Government of its embarrassment and the local community of its number one source of anxiety.

BOB STEPHENS
Kingaroy