talkin' change: Fracked.

Right now we have a whole new environmental war spilling over onto our shores. State and Federal government have recently approved applications from major gas and energy companies, which enable these companies to have access to a vast amount of land, right across Australia, including thousands of properties, national parks, the lot. These lands are to be used for the development of the new goldmine for mining and energy, coal seam gas.

It is being pushed forward under the guise of being a new fix-all green energy, when in fact this statement could not be further from the truth. It is also marketed as being carbon-free, and therefore supposedly the way to reduce the effects that current fossil-fuel technologies are having in terms of global warming. Also a misleading statement. Though indeed carbon-free, the problem is merely replaced with another problem gas, methane, which is a byproduct released into the atmosphere in tremendous quantities during the process. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, equally as nasty as carbon dioxide.

This gas lies under a vast amount of land, deep below the earth. Several companies, such as QGC, AGL and Origin Energy, amongst others, share private ownership of these resources, which lay deep below the earth and rock. This in itself is a travesty, as all natural resources in our soils should be held in the public domain. In many, many cases, the gas lies directly beneath farms and communities.

Many farmers are being offered seemingly lucrative "compensation" packages by the companies to be allowed onto the privately owned properties and extract the gas below. Quite often the spokespeople of the companies offering said compensation, are doing so with a great deal of misinformation and non-disclosure of important information.Smoke and mirrors and persuasion.

The gas itself is mined by setting up a bore to dig a well deep down into the earth, where coal seams are located. The gas is extracted from the surrounding rock by pumping huge amounts of water in combination with, in a lot of instances, a combination of salt and chemicals specifically designed to fracture the rock, known as "fracking fluid", to shatter the rock below in order to release the gas.

A vast amount of water is required for the process. The project in Queensland alone will reqire the use of 45,000 gigalitres. That is 450,000,000,000 litres of fresh water. Four hundred and fifty billion litres. Only half of this water will be returned to the water cycle. This will lead to a MASSIVE drop in the water table, most notably in the Great Artesian Basin, which provides the vast majority of fresh drinking water for the people of Queensland. And we wonder why the water companies have recently annonced a planned hike in the price of drinking water. The other half of the water is permanently infused with the multitude of chemicals used in the fracking process. These chemicals do not break down naturally, and are highly poisonous.

These chemicals are used to dissolve and shatter rocks. They are terribly dangerous for humans and wildlife. Many of these chemicals are carcinogenic and present in high doses. The waste water, or as the industry has tagged it, "produced water", is pumped back into the earth, where it runs the very dangerous risk of intermingling with the groundwater and thus entering the natural water system. Needless to say this is potentially very very dangerous for the ecosystem, and people and communities in the areas affected. Quite often excess waste is dumped in fields and streams, which is even worse. It is all pretty horrifying stuff and I am not making this up.

In quite a few instances, the gas itself has been escaping through the water system. Some farmers, who's lands have been used as sites for the wells and gas pipelines, are able to actually set their tapwater alight as it comes out from the tap. The gas itself has various extreme health problems associated, such as cancer on the brain, amongst other things.None of this is disclosed to the public of course, and the companies are in a state of denial and inaccountability.

So how can all this be happening? It just shows how weak courts and governments are in comparison to big business. These companies have successfully forced new laws to be passed exempting themselves from normal standards regarding to drinking water standards and those regarding the environmental impact of the project. There are not regulated at all, and their chemicals are not up to any real scrutiny. They almost have complete impunity from the law or regulation, and do not recognise normal laws of disclosure. It is ugly and has to be stopped. Our whole backyard, beautiful Australia, stands to be raped beyond recognition, and our farmers are set to be pushed out of their livelihoods forever. Our health and way of life is at threat.The air we breathe and the water we drink will be poisoned.

There are plans for around 40,000 wells in Queensland alone, and a similar amount in New South Wales, indeed no state will be unaffected. A site is even proposed merely 20 kilometers from Warrigamba Dam, which is the prime water supply for Greater Sydney itself..

A couple of weeks ago, 4 Corners did an expose on the subject, which you can and should watch online HERE,
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110221/gas/default.htm

The indusrty is a carry over from the United States, where the industry has been going on across the nation for quite some time now. The situation over there is grim, and stands as a dire warning for what may be to come here, if the goldrush for Coal Seam Gas gains full flight here in Australia. There are some real lessons here that we simply cannot ignore.

The following movie shows how the Natural Gas battle is having some horrific effects on the people of rural America. It was even nominated for an Oscar, apparently. It's well made and is absolutely essential viewing. It's Called Gasland. You should watch it.