“The report into CSG operations at Gunnedah and Pilliga was the result of an audit of the coal seam gas industry conducted by the EPA in May 2013 which was to have been released publicly to ‘build the profile of the EPA as the new lead regulator for the industry ... and to increase community confidence’ in the regulation of the industry according to the EPA's own internal documents,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.
“The EPA drew up a media plan to communicate the steps and results of the audit program - which included ‘state-wide media releases’ – but then refused to release the report's details. It was only after a protracted freedom of information process by The Sun-Herald and the Greens that some information has come to be publicly released.”
The newspaper claimed that some of the findings covered questionable safety procedures, leaking ponds, inadequate monitoring and unreliable analytical methods at the Santos-operated projects around Narrabri.
“The documents show that the EPA gave Santos several days warning of the upcoming audit – a move the EPA knew would be of ‘interest to the media’ according to internal EPA documents,” the newspaper reported.
“The reason stated was the remote location of the sites.”
However, a lot of the issues with the two projects were self-identified by Santos after it gained control of the permits following its acquisition of Eastern Star Gas in 2011.
While Santos has not received the report from the EPA and could not comment on it, a spokeswoman said that the company worked closely with regulators to identify and correct previous practices and reporting processes since it acquired existing infrastructure in and around the Pilliga state forest.
“Through self-reporting, we submitted a detailed report to the NSW Government, which identified the previous owner’s failures in reporting,” she said.
“We have spent about $17 million on upgrading the sites and rehabilitating land, including the impacted land at Bibblewindi [Gunnedah project]. In addition, we have removed and rehabilitated more than 20 ponds, sumps and pits as well as decommissioning some wells and upgrading others.
“We have also completed the construction of new state-of-the-art double-lined ponds at Leewood, outside the Pilliga. All legacy brine is now located there.”
Yet Greens MP and spokesman for mining Jeremy Buckingham remained critical of the EPA’s methods.
"Giving prior notice of an important audit is ridiculous and inappropriate and allows a company to cover up any non-compliances," Buckingham reportedly said.
"The EPA needs to show much greater independence and rigour if it is to regain public trust now that the government has appointed it as the lead regulator of the coal seam gas industry."
