$16b Qld gas project gets minister's green light

Canberra Times
Saturday 23/10/2010 Page: 4

The Federal Government has approved Australia's first multibillion-dollar coal seam gas projects, in a move which has angered farmers and environmentalists but is set to provide a significant jobs boost to Queensland.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said in Canberra yesterday his department had given conditional environmental approvals for Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas a joint venture between Santos, Malaysia's Petronas and France's Total and BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG. "I have decided that these projects can go ahead without unacceptable impacts on matters protected under national environmental law", Mr Burke said, revealing he had placed 300 conditions on each of the projects. "We must protect the Great Artesian Basin" target="_blank">Great Artesian Basin, our threatened species, our waterways and the Great Barrier Reef".

The approvals were delayed earlier this year by Mr Burke's predecessor, Peter Garrett, who was concerned about the projects' potential impact on groundwater and the Great Barrier Reef. The $16 billion Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas project involves 2650 coal seam gas wells being drilled over 25 years in Queensland's Surat and Bowen Basins, a 435km steel pipeline from the Fairview gas fields to Gladstone, and an liquefied natural gas plant and export facility on Curtis Island.

The project is expected to create about 5000 construction jobs and 1000 permanent operational jobs from the start of shipments of liquefied natural gas in 2014. QGC, a BG Group business, received Queensland Government approval for the Queensland Curtis LNG project in June. The project involves coal seam gas operations in the Surat Basin, a 540km underground pipeline network and liquefied natural gas plant on Curtis Island. An estimated 5000 jobs will be created during construction with more than 700 during operation. Green groups and farmers have raised concerns about coal seam gas development.

This week four toxic chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were discovered in eight exploration wells owned by Australia Pacific LNG in the Surat Basin. The Queensland Government has dismissed calls for a moratorium on the industry, which environmentalists say poses a threat to marine life on the Great Barrier Reef and underground water, and could seriously degrade land. Mr Burke said one of the more critical conditions surrounded how to deal with the issue of water within coal seam gas.

Queensland Farmers Federation chief executive Dan Galligan said his members feared the rapid expansion of the gas industry was outpacing the science and planning, especially in terms of its impact on water. "The country needs these water resources for the long term to produce food, fibre and wealth long after the minerals and gas are extracted", he said. Australian Greens senator-elect Larissa Waters said the number of conditions showed the measure of the risks involved. Coal seam gas was no cleaner than coal. "By the time it gets extracted, transported and liquefied it's 98% as greenhouse gas intensive as coal", she said.