Activists keep giving a frack

The crowd at the protest about gas mining in Lismore on Saturday.

Around 300 people marched through the streets of Lismore on Saturday to protest against coal seam gas mining.

After meeting in front of Lismore MP Thomas George’s office, members of several local anti-gas groups and other concerned citizens marched around the CBD to Carrington Street, where speakers addressed the crowd.

Spokesperson for Keerrong Gas Squad Ian Gaillard said it was really important that people educated themselves about gas exploration and mining.

“We started looking at what it meant and what it meant for the water table,” Ian said. “Have a look at the Four Corners story from the 21st of February, have a look at 60 Minutes for the Australian context.

“Get active, get educated, because this involves all of us. Keep asking serious questions of mining companies, ask your local representative, ask your government, whoever it will be. They are the ones handing out leases,” he said. “There’s a story about multi-lateral studs, where you can drill down one well then go out that way 2km to multiple levels of coal seams. This is happening at Casino as we speak.

“The story is there is a hard sandstone cap which keeps the gas-filled poisonous water from coming up from below.

“Anyone who’s had anything to do with sandstone knows it’s a very porous material with a lot of cracks in it and water moves in between – and this is what’s not being told to us: the interconnection of our aquifers. And the pressure that can push the water from down here (in Lismore) to the top of Terania Creek, it’s aquifer fed, it goes in layers of million-year-old sandstone and the chief scientist of the water commission said it can take upwards of 10,000 years to recharge the system. And at the same time we’ve got the federal minister (for the environment) Tony Burke saying we can reinject the water into the aquifers, that’s how we’ll keep the pressure up, so there’s a lot to think about, but what I ask of you all is that you educate yourselves and get active because this involves us all.”

Protestors from Tara, in the Darling Downs, south-east Queensland, spoke about their troubles with coal seam gas and asked for people to join them in a protest action this week.

The event ended with Nimbin musician and activist Paul Joseph performing a special song he had written about the controversial process of fracking.