LINDA GILL
COAL seam gas (CSG) mining looks unlikely to play any immediate part of Great Lakes' future following recent claims against the activity.
Great Lakes Council last week was set to hear a notice of motion by councillor Linda Gill on the subject of CSG, which included a proposal to publicly advertise the Great Lakes as a coal seam gas free environment.
Cr Gill, before withdrawing her motion to await further information, was to propose that the council erect advertising signs on the boundary of the Great Lakes local government area with the slogan "Great Lakes is a coal seam gas free local government area."
"Essentially what it is [the slogans] is just letting people know that the great lakes is coal seam gas free," Cr Gill said.
Her motivation for the idea was fuelled by damming research surrounding the effects of CSG on drinking water that apparently unearthed higher levels of heavy metals in water near a CSG site in the state's north west.
A report to the council said water tests were recently carried out on CSG operations in the Pilliga Forest which detected heavy metals up to 37 times higher than natural levels and five times acceptable drinking water standards.
It sparked questions in the council about the efficacy of the activity.
"Current and future Coal Seam Gas approvals should not be allowed to proceed in our area until the environmental risks, as well as social and economic impacts, have been rigorously assessed and
publicly reported at a local and regional level," a report to the council said.
The area's leading supplier of drinking water Mid Coast Water said in a statement on coal seam gas earlier this year that it too was sceptical about the activity, citing "it did not have confidence that CSG developments can be undertaken without causing unacceptable impacts on the community and the environment."
It is likely that Cr Gill's motion will now be re-visited in October.