An open letter to Cr Peter Graham

Dear Councillor Graham,

Is it true that you have signed an agreement to allow Metgasco access to your property for the purposes of CSG exploration? Is it true that seismic testing is already underway?

As you will be aware, there are many in our community opposed to CSG mining in our region, including Lismore City Council, of which you are a councillor.

The fracking process used in CSG extraction does not provide adequate safeguards, and risks irreparable damage to our groundwater, rivers, farmland, atmosphere and country lifestyle. There are numerous credible sources demonstrating the dangers of CSG extraction, such as the ABC's investigative report Coal Seam Gas: By the Numbers, the American documentary Gasland and recent reports in The Australian revealing the toxic spill by Eastern Star in the Pilliga State Forest.

For someone who has come from a farming background, how can you risk the long-term agricultural importance of our region for short-term profit? When Australia's arable land is already shrinking, you are exacerbating this by allowing your property to be turned into an industrial intensive mining site.

How will your neighbours and the local fauna react to the thousands of heavy truck movements required over the life of a well? To the noise generated by the drilling process, diesel generators and high pressure pumps turning millions of litres of clean water into toxic "produced water" containing radionuclides and heavy metals? Where will the water be sourced from, and how will it be disposed of?

Will you sleep with a clean conscience at night, knowing that by allowing CSG mining, you are accelerating climate change through the "accidental" release and intentional burning of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases?

Councillor Graham, I urge you to rethink your decision and discontinue CSG mining activities on your property. Join the majority of people who seek sustainable and currently viable energy alternatives, and let us work together to create a region that is not only liveable for the next 10 years, but the next 100 years.

Adam Guise

Larnook