There’s an action we can all take this week in the campaign to block the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga forest.
Santos still needs approval for the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline to link the gas wells and infrastructure in the forest to the Hunter Gas Pipeline. Without the Lateral Pipeline there can be no industrial gasfield in the precious Pilliga forest.
Santos recently submitted their Environmental Impact Statement on the Narrabri Lateral Pipeline to the NSW Department of Planning. They will take submissions until Thursday 18 December, which gives us a good opportunity to show the government that community opposition to the project remains strong.
This is an important time for city people to raise their voices against the pipeline and Santos gas mining – adding weight to the objections of Gomeroi people, farmers, unions and environmentalists in the north-west of NSW.
Your ever-helpful Nannas have made a guide to help you make a submission:
Narrabri Lateral Pipeline Submission Guide – Have your say.
Our friends at Lock the Gate also have a guide, so take your pick:
Background and status of the Narrabri Gas project
Currently Santos’ gas infrastructure includes around 40 coal seam gas wells, pipelines, vents, compressors, flares, two large water treatment plants at Bibblewindi in the Pilliga State Forest, and another at Leewood. Santos supplies gas to the Wilga Park gas power station. Leewood and Wilga Park are on private land.
Santos has approval to build 850 new gas wells, but construction of gas infrastructure cannot commence until pipelines are approved to transport gas to the east coast.
Pipelines
Santos needs not one but two pipeline licences before the Narrabri Gas Project can proceed and they need to have identified a 30m easement for the pipelines to have a valid application.
In 2022 Santos acquired the 413km Hunter Gas Pipeline (HGP), approved in 2009 but not built at that time. The pipeline passes through the Liverpool Plains where Santos plans to expand their operation. Farms along the proposed route produce cattle, grains, vegetables and fruit.
Santos has used aggressive and underhand tactics to obtain Voluntary Access Agreements from landholders along the route of the pipeline. Over sixty percent of landholders have refused to engage with Santos about putting the pipeline through their land.
The Narrabri Lateral Pipeline links the Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga forest to the Hunter Gas Pipeline. A 30m wide, approximately 55km long corridor plus access tracks, turnaround points, and hardstands for materials will be cleared through Pilliga State forests and farmlands. Biodiversity and native species known access to food, water and breeding will be destroyed. This pipeline is currently going through the full assessment process, before a licence is granted.
Submission Guide – Have your Say
Coal Seam Gas – The process and why it is so bad
Gasbusting – How harmful is gas to your health?
Why is the Hunter Gas Pipeline a bad idea?