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Attached are extracts from yesterday’s 7:30 Report on the Coal and Gas Mining issues in the Southern Highlands.
Come to our OUR LAND, OUR WATER, OUR FUTURE Rally in Corbett Gardens, Bowral on Saturday, November 19 at 11am to hear more about the way insidious mining practices are creeping across our beautiful country and could affect YOU in the Southern Highlands. Alan Jones will MC and we will have a raft of distinguished speakers from around the country.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-04/landowners-undermined-by-companies/3636798

“The inherent risks of coal mining to the environment are well known. Evidence now points to the high price that coal workers, their families and the communities they live in are paying in health costs, not to mention the government’s health budget. Nyema hermiston investigates…”

For the rest of the article please follow the link below.

Your Times 200911

An excellent analysis on CSG

http://tv.afr.com/video/170139?play=1

The board of the Sydney Catchment Authority is pushing to strengthen its powers to control coal seam gas exploration.

Documents obtained by the ABC reveal increasing concern among board members about the impact of coal seam gas wells on water quality in special protected catchment land in the Woronora and Illawarra areas.

The board has decided the full impact of coal seam gas projects needs to be spelled out before exploration can start.

The documents show it was only after Apex Energy’s exploration wells were approved by the state’s Planning Department that the authority’s board asked if access to protected drinking water catchments could be withdrawn.

The board has decided it will not approve access for a new well in protected land, which is about to be referred to the NSW Planning Assessment Commission.

Apex says the well is crucial for its $7 million project, and the company will appeal if it is refused.

Source: ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-15/catchment-authority-resists-coal-seam-gas/2900798

Let’s get the view Counter on the Youtube page to 50,000 by the end of this week.

They Want CSG. Australia needs Clean Water and Food.

Watch this very alarming video.

Dear SHCAG supporter,

Attached please find our submission to the NSW Legislative Council inquiry into Coal Seam Gas.

Many thanks

Tim

Submission NSW Leg Council Final 0609112 

Dear Members and Supporters,

You now have a very important opportunity to have your say on the threat to the Southern Highlands from Coal Seam Gas.

We’d like you to take the time to put in a submission, even if it is only a brief one, to the NSW Upper House Inquiry into coal seam gas.
Submissions have to be in by September the 7th.

Your submissions do not have to be long they will be just as effective if they are simple and personal stories relating to how you feel about the issues.

Here are some important points to consider when making your submission.

1. The potential damage and or pollution of ground water and surface water ( i.e. aquifers, rivers and dams) and also the issues related to the extraction and disposal of very large volumes of contaminated water from the coal seam. Note also water catchment for Sydney.

2. The environmental risks to our farmland, bushland and communities.

3. The surface impact from Coal Seam Gas infrastructure. Processing facilities, pipelines, compressor stations, roads, water management facilities.

4. Our inability to deny land access to a miner under NSW law. Divisions in communities where individual landholders have granted access without reference to neighbours and communities.

5. Impact on land values which have already been significant.

6. Protection of our productive agricultural land.

7. The need for all chemicals used in coal seam gas drilling or fracking to be assessed and approved by the chemical regulator.

8. The need for rigorous and independent assessment into the impacts of coal seam gas.

Please note:

You can also see details of the inquiry at:
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/29ae48525cfaea7cca2578e3001abd1c/$FILE/TOR%20Coal%20seam%20gas.pdf

To submit your concerns please follow the link below:

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/submissions.nsf/Submission?OpenForm&ParentUNID=3FE299721A425659CA2578E3001C1B61&House=LC

To put in writing please use this address

The Director
General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5
Parliament House
Macquarie St
Sydney NSW 2000
Fax: (02) 9230 2981