Safety Made Easy in Chinchilla, Queensland | Occupational safety and health service

Safety Made Easy

Locality: Chinchilla, Queensland

Phone: +61 419 794 406

Address: 69B Heeney St 4413 Chinchilla, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.molliwell.com.au

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24.01.2022 The @QldGov is amending legislative framework re management of residual risks on former resource sites after environmental authority has been surrendered, incl. those risks remaining on private land where #petroleum & #gas activities occurred: bit.ly/EPOLA-2020 https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au//bill.fir/bill-2018-057

21.01.2022 'Coal seam gas water spills into farmland as Condamine River tributary Charleys Creek bubbles' https://countrycaller.com.au//exclusive-coal-seam-gas-wate This... is a new event and a new location from the well known case of gas bubbling out of the water at one point in the Condamine River downstream of the Chinchilla weir. The cause is the same, the gas companies to be able to extract the gas out of the Walloon Coal Measures have to depressurise the water (remove enough water to the surface) to enable the gas to travel up the gas wells, Except gas will travel up the easiest path. Up a natural fault as with the Condamine river bubbles; out of a farmers water bore as in the 3rd photo; or out of old abandoned exploration holes. In this instance (1st photo) found July this year out of 4 abandoned coal exploration holes bringing up salty water with the gas. The Country Caller article (linked above) will give you a good rundown of this latest event as well as this video that they compiled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRl5DwIsPrI The warnings have been there for a long time that these events will occur. In 2012 in the wider Dalby district, with near by gas wells a fire at a rubbish dump crept away in the grass to where an abandoned coal exploration well was and because of the escaping gas, it lit up. (2nd photo) https://www.farmonline.com.au//abandoned-csg-wells-time-bo In 2013 professional water driller Ian Hansen was that concerned from the knowledge he has acquired over many years that he tried to alert everyone to what will become more frequent with an ever increasing CSG industry. He revealed that it was not as if the Department should not be aware of the potential problem. "In 1994 I was at a drilling seminar in Dalby where a senior hydrologist with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines presented a paper on the Abandonment of Test Holes and Bores." https://www.beefcentral.com//gas-and-the-danger-of-open-ex " It has been estimated some 30,000 coal exploration bores have been drilled in the Surat Basin, with another 100,000 in the Bowen Basin" page 10 'Well Failure Mechanisms and Conceptualisation of Reservoir-Aquifer Failure Pathways' - October 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal https://www.researchgate.net//309434769_Well_Failure_Mecha Provided the above link to make clear the Basin Sustainability (BSA) used valid data when they quoted these same figures of how many old abandoned exploration wells are out there, in BSA's work in 2013, 2014 & onward. In this BSA media release they write: "BSA Chairman David Hamilton said there were estimated to be over 30,000 uncased and unsealed holes in the Surat Basin and over 100,000 in the Bowen Basin. There is no regulation requiring coal and mineral drillers to seal exploration holes, nor any regulation requiring drillers to log the location or details of these holes with government. Many of these holes date back 50-60 years when portable drilling rigs became more readily available. He said depressurisation of CSG wells would enable both gas and water to move through these unsealed pathways to aquifers, to the surface and into the subsurface. We are talking about the very real risk of opening up pathways which will allow concentrations of methane to vent into the atmosphere or cause water movement and aquifer interconnection which could result in contaminated underground water supplies, Mr Hamilton said." https://notatanycost.com.au/abandoned-mining-holes-spark-g/ We are yet to talk about how landowners fare, their property rights, how they are informed, compensated and exposure to future liabilities.

19.01.2022 "One more example how the landowner is not considered in the process. This forced relationship needs to change.' Shay Dougall in interview on Channel 10 The Pro...ject last night to questions about a major insurance company no longer providing public liability insurance to landowners with CSG infrastructure on their properties. View The Project story here: https://10play.com.au//shock-move-against-f/tpv200611opgtb Note, in 3 months time the video will be removed. Read the previous PRA post about this issue here: https://www.facebook.com/PropertyRightsAustralia/posts/2634031780172651

15.01.2022 NSW "Assoc. Professor of Environmental Engineering at RMIT Matthew Currell, has expressed concern about the operation in its current form. I’d be very nervous ...about seeing the green light given to the Narrabri Gas Project, he said. At least not without first doing really rigorous diligence on understanding those systems, and thinking carefully about [what the] long-term risks of the project would be. All of the inquiries that have happened around Australia highlighted this need to conduct vigorous baseline studies before going ahead with any fracking or other unconventional gas development. " See more

15.01.2022 Resources Safety & Health Queensland is here! We’re the new independent regulator putting the safety & health of Queensland resource sector workers first. Like our page to keep up to date with the latest information.

10.01.2022 https://environment.des.qld.gov.au//transfer-infrastructure

10.01.2022 Article: Origin Water and Gas Incident - Farmland and Condamine Catchment While water and methane coming to the surface provide a very visible flag of the looming problem, what about the even greater uncertainties for landowners that these abandoned exploration holes together with gas industry depressurisation of one strata, provide pathways for water, methane and anything else to travel to other aquifers important for food production that could result in a myriad of problems. https://www.molliwell.com.au/origin-gas-and-water-incident/

06.01.2022 shared via Property Rights Australia For the Great Artesian Basin across a vast area under Qld, NT, NSW & SA this Management Plan is nationally agreed strategie...s and frameworks for the next 15 years. The reporting presumably based on a press release paints a calm enough picture with some small misgivings. " A major theme from public consultation in the development of the plan highlighted concerns relating to equity between water users and transparency relating to water use. This included in particular the quantity of water taken by extractive industries and their potential impact on water quality, including stock and domestic water supplies. Among the concerns is that is water take for different industries is managed under different legislation within the same State and not all water take in the Basin is fully accounted for in a consistent manner. There is a desire for all water users to be accountable in order to contribute to maintaining the long-term sustainability of the Basin, the plan states." https://www.beefcentral.com//new-15-year-great-artesian-ba *** The largest area of the GAB is under Qld & 3 years ago in 2017 when Qld finalised their plan called Great Artesian Basin and Other Regional Aquifers (GABORA), there was a little less rosy outlook. https://www.beefcentral.com//gas-impacted-groundwater-pla/ " (GABORA) plan will see most groundwater still available given to coal seam gas or mining projects and very little to agriculture, including future feedlot or other intensive livestock industry development, including cell grazing. Scrutiny of the draft water plan by the Basin Sustainability Alliance has identified the extent to which the growing groundwater take by the coal seam gas industry, which has grown from a standing start a decade ago to having more than 6000 wells in the Surat CMA today [2017], threatens to stifle future agricultural development in the region. The CSG industry now draws some 65,000 megalitres (ML) of groundwater to the surface each year in the region, according to the 2016 Surat CMA Underground Water Impact Report. The grazing and feedlot industries take a combined 54,738 ML of Great Artesian Basin water in the Surat CMA. It is estimated that, over the next three years, CSG water extraction will grow to an annual take of 110,000 ML per year, before easing back over time to an average annual extraction rate of 70,000 ML per year through to 2060."

06.01.2022 The Narrabri Gas Project has been a significant issue facing members over recent months. We have now formalised our opposition to the project, based on the unac...ceptable risk it poses to water resources, soil and air quality. Concerns around the project's potential impact on the environment and on regional communities have been expressed in the Independent Planning Commission hearings, where we have urged the NSW Government not to approve the project. See more

04.01.2022 This is about all infrastructure installed by the gas industry not just dams.It does make sense that when the gas industry is finished any beneficial infrastruc...ture should not have to be pulled up if the landowner wants to retain it. But any change of regulation should not weaken the gas companies responsibilities & allow them to abandon gas infrastructure that is a nuisance for a farming operation and not clean up all contamination. As for dams, they are not structures usually built at an ideal point to catch overland flow. They are ring tanks to hold water brought up out of gas wells to depressurise the coal measures & allow the gas to flow. They have often a large surface area & not deep & therefore do evaporate water allowing a buildup of whatever else comes up with the water. The gas industry, the government & others acknowledge a large amount of salt is in the water. In any hand over back to the landowner the gas company should have to remove any silt or soil to a depth that contain any contaminates.

04.01.2022 Origin is to lose 90 jobs in areas including strategic planning and land access by the end of the month. Global major Shell last month advised it would cut between 7000 and 9000 jobs worldwide over the next two years but hasn't yet advised how many of those would be in Australia. https://www.afr.com//woodside-axes-300-jobs-20201013-p564nw...Continue reading

03.01.2022 Chinchilla News 20/10/20 SHELL QGC - one of the Western Downs’ largest employers - is poised for a potential major company restructure, as industry sources tip that job losses are coming to southwest Queensland’s workforce. In July, the international energy company had to cut their long-term gas and oil price outlook after they suffered an $11 billion loss in writedowns, which mostly concerned their gas business with LNG.... A well-connected source within the resource sector, who has asked to remain anonymous, said there will be job cuts within the Western Downs. When asked whether job cuts were on the horizon for workers on the Western Downs, a Shell QGC spokeswoman said the company is in the process of reviewing their organisational structure, to ensure it continues to best meet the needs of QGC’s ongoing operations, noting the asset is no longer in the project phase of its development. Transitions of this nature are not uncommon in the industry and will help maximise the competitiveness of Shell’s QGC business into the future, she said. The uncertainty caused by the current macro conditions is expected to persist for some time, and financial resilience is fundamental to our ability to sustainably weather those pressures. The QGC spokeswoman said no decisions have been made yet. Anything that pre-empts the outcome of this process is simply speculation, she said. Any decisions that impact people are not ones we take lightly, and we will be engaging closely with our workforce throughout this process to ensure people are supported through the transition. Despite the current downturn in the energy sector, Shell recently partnered with PetroChina, and Arrow Energy on a $10 billion coal seam gas project in the Surat Basin. Set to commence in 2021, the project will see up to 600 wells drilled, and the creation of 800 jobs. https://www.chinchillanews.com.au//impending-job/4122225/

02.01.2022 potentially scarily prophetic for Australia...

01.01.2022 Spring is here and everything is about to grow! This is great news, for the most part. But it's important to keep an eye out for the harmful weeds too. We rece...ntly worked with Craig Hunter from Biosecurity Queensland to remove small infestations of 'Giant Rats Tail' grass, and this video shows what to look out for. The weed is uncommon in our region, but a threat to natural grasslands and productive agricultural lands nonetheless. For land managers, it is important to know what to look for to have ample opportunity to eradicate the weed early and avoid long-term infestations and damage to landscapes. It can be difficult to determine a proper ID for this grass too, so we recommend sending any suspects to the Queensland Herbarium for analysis. This project is supported by the National Landcare Program.