Choir sings at dam protest

It's cold even though a bit of sun struggles through the cloud above the 50 protestors gathered in a paddock beside Pollocks Road about six kilometres west of Casino.

The choir of CSG - The Musical is gathered against the barbed wire fence that separates this paddock from the next, where a huge excavator and a bulldozer are digging a dam or pond (or whatever you want to call it) where Metgasco will store the toxic water waste from their CSG drilling.

The protestors have been camped here for a week, keeping vigil on this controversial action.

With the excavator moving huge piles of dirt less than two metres away, the choir sings What's in the Water? (a song from the show), their voices rising like their steaming breath above the excavation din.

"We want to support the vigil," choir director Peter Lehner tells The Echo. "I slept out here last night to support these people because there's been a man driving through here with guns and shooting them off up on the ridge. Anyone who has any info at all on CSG is against it."

CSG - The Musical's director Ollie Heathwood reckons it's good for the choir to have a look at what's happening on the ground before they do the show later this week.

"They'll be changed by being here with these heroes who are fighting to save the area from this toxic industry," she said. "And even the Metgasco blokes and security guards will know the songs soon," she laughs.

CSG - The Musical is on at the Lismore Workers Club tonight (Thursday, June 28), and Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30, at 7.30pm.

Tickets are $20 from Caddies Bean Shop in Lismore, Tom's Music Shop in Kyogle, Perceptio's in Nimbin, and Barebones Art Space in Bangalow.

All money raised goes to CSG Free Lismore.