About 160 people gathered at The Gap State High School on September 8 for a community forum on the potential impacts of the coal seam gas industry.
Gubbi Gubbi elder Nurdon Serico gave a welcome to country, saying he had seen what mining can do to country and community, and highlighting that this industry will lead to the destruction of sacred Aboriginal sites as well as farming land.
The audience heard from the national secretary of the Lock the Gate Alliance and director of the Queensland Murray Darling Committee, Sarah Moles, cotton and grain farmer Ruth Armstrong, Doctors for the Environment鈥檚 Dr Sandra Bayley and long-term wildlife conservationist and environmental activist Bob Irwin.
Moles and Armstrong outlined the environmental risks and impacts of the industry, and what it will mean for communities and farmers. They also spoke of the insufficient protection and management provided by government.
In particular, they highlighted the problem of the vast amounts of salt being extracted in the coal seam gas mining process, which, if it comes into contact with clay-rich soils such as those on the Darling Downs, will render the land useless.
They also described horizontal drilling and fracking (hydraulic fracturing), which allows companies to drill under land they cannot enter, including National Parks, and greatly increases the risks of accidents and contamination.
Bayley reminded the audience of the severity of health impacts associated with fracking chemicals. She said the BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) are of international concern. These chemicals were banned from use in fracking fluids in December 2010, but the ban this was not carried out until July this year.
Furthermore, BTEX chemicals can occur naturally in the coal seams where these companies are drilling, and can escape into the surrounding environment through these activities.
Irwin explained why this campaign, after all his years of conservation and fighting for wildlife, was the one that had driven him to take radical action. His recent arrest at a protest in Tara was his first, and he said he would do it again for this cause.
鈥淚n all my lifetime I鈥檝e never seen such a devastating industry,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t's going to affect every Australian, I don't care where you live.
鈥淢y own opinion is that being nice and being politically correct hasn't worked. I think it's time for some more direct action.鈥
Members of the newly formed provided information to attendees on how to join the campaign and get active. October 16 will be a national day of action against coal and coal seam gas, with a rally, march and concert event planned for Brisbane.