Sydney Nannas have called for an independent assessment of all Santos infrastructure after the Duck Creek fire swept through their gas fields in the Pilliga Forest in December 2023.
Santos monthly update at the end of January says, “As a precautionary measure, our operations were shut in during the fire event. Our equipment is designed to Australian standards to withstand the intensity of fires, and as expected there was no damage to our major infrastructure.”
“Inspections were conducted after permission was granted by the authorities to enter the forest area to undertake these essential works. After conducting integrity checks and verifications, all gas infrastructure is now back online.”
Feature image Bibblewindi Dam. All aerial images courtesy Wando Conservation and Cultural Centre Inc.
The horrific bushfire caused extreme damage to parts of the Pilliga forest occupied by Santos so Nannas are questioning whether the authorities and community should simply accept the Santos assessment. We are worried because we know for certain there will be more bushfires in the Pilliga, potentially as Santos pushes ahead with building gas pipelines and 850 gas wells through the forest.
The public need to know the effects of the fire on Santos’ current wells, around 40, and if gas infrastructure determined the nature of the fire and the efforts to stop it.
We are calling on the government for an independent inquiry to report on the damage to gas infrastructure from the fire and the process of rectification after the fire. In the meantime we would like to know
- When the following entered the gas fields after the fire?
- Rural Fire Service (RFS)
- Santos employees or contractors
- Inspectors from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) the regulatory authority
- When was the last time independent thermal imaging was conducted to check for methane leaks? Currently this is required annually but is this enough?
An independent inquiry should
- Require Santos to publicly disclose operational maintenance works both before and after the Duck Creek Pilliga Forest fire. Santos has had time to rectify damage before it could be independently assessed. This was due to Christmas holidays and limited access to the fireground for safety.
- Make the full safety audit report available to the public with no hiding behind commercial in confidence because no one else wants to build a gas field in NSW.
- Reveal if water offered by Santos was used to fight the fire and if so from what source.
- Disclose the costs of aircraft and personnel in fighting the fire and how a gas field impacted their normal operation.
- Divulge Santos’ contribution towards these costs.
The Pilliga is known as “Big Fire Country” and this fire burnt around 138 hectares. According to one local, hundreds of trees were cut down by a contract arborist employed by Roads and Maritime Services, adding to the fire damage. These trees, many being old hollow bearing trees, were in the middle of the fireground, posed no threat of starting more fires and most were hardly touched by the fire.
Many firefighters and aircraft were engaged to fight the fire. Patches of green, seen from the air after the fire, are where the water bombing was successful.
The smoke haze extended to Sydney and when people in fire prone areas asked if a plane had been up to check where the smoke was coming from, they were told that all aircraft were in the Pilliga. Luckily no other fire threatened houses during this time.
One thing is certain – there will be more fires in the Pilliga. Next time there may be more gas infrastructure there and at the same time other fires could be threatening residential areas in other parts of the state. Therefore, the community needs to know what was damaged and if the industrialisation of the Pilliga impacted the fire’s behaviour.