Call for tougher CSG regulations

Protestors have ended a week-long vigil at Shannon Brook, west of Casino, where Metgasco is digging a new holding pond for produced water from its CSG operations.

Lock the Gate spokesman Ian Gaillard said the protestors would continue to monitor the site and the focus was now on getting the State Government to enforce regulation.

"We have a number of ongoing legal concerns in relation to the construction of this coal seam gas waste water pond...We are also investigating whether Metgasco has the required approvals from the Department of Primary Industries to use this pond for waste water disposal as referred to in Minister Hartcher's statement last week."

Mr Hartcher's statement said that if Metgasco "wish to use the dam for CSG activities, it will need further approval from the Division (of Resources and Energy)."

Mr Gaillard said the statement "highlights the inadequacies in the current system for regulating coal seam gas exploration in NSW."

"In particular, we are seeking clarification and detail from the government about the Water Management Plan that Metgasco is supposedly operating under," he said.

In the past three weeks Metgasco has been fined for failing to report waste water management activities, ordered to draw down the levels of ponds to accommodate high rainfall and cautioned by the EPA for illegally dumping more than a million litres of water at the Richmond Valley Council sewage treatment plant.

"There has been a long list of failures with waste water management by Metgasco over the last months and it is time the government stepped in and sorted out this mess," Mr Gaillard said. "This peaceful action has been successful in highlighting the failings of both government and industry as the coal seam gas industry rolls out rapidly across the Northern Rivers region."

Metgasco CEO Peter Henderson was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

In other CSG news this week, the State Government announced an end to the five-year royalty-free period for coal seam gas producers, the introduction of a new Land and Water Commissioner to oversee the regulation of invasive exploration on Strategic Regional Land, and standardised land access agreements to deliver greater consistency and fairness to landholders.

They also announced the introduction of a voluntary regional community fund.

"Under the proposed framework, coal seam gas producers may elect to contribute funding into a Regional Community Fund. The NSW Government will refund $1 for every $2 committed by industry, up to 10% of the royalty take," Nationals leader Andrew Stoner said.