Lock the Gate Alliance president Drew Hutton
AN anti-coal-seam gas mining campaigner will visit Colac to shed light on the dangers of coal-seam gas exploration.
President of Lock the Gate Alliance Drew Hutton will speak about the need for scrutiny on the CSG industry at Colac RSL on Tuesday.
Friends of the Earth have planned similar meetings at Warrnambool, Ballarat, Geelong and Melbourne.
Mr Hutton has raised concerns about the viability of coal-seam gas as a clean energy source and its impact on the environment.
“What’s happening in Queensland and to a certain extent in New South Wales is that approval has been given to coal-seam gas companies to move ahead without proper consultation,” Mr Hutton said.
“Not enough has been done to consider the impact on groundwater and what to do with the large amount of water that comes to the surface through the process.
“Its impact on agricultural land and the health impact of coal-seam gas with more and more information coming all the time.
“We’ve been calling for a moratorium on all coal-seam gas exploration until it can be shown to be safe to the environment and human health.”
Mr Hutton said the meeting had two main aims.
“One, they need to learn as much about this industry as possible and the potential impacts of it, and two we want people to lock their gates.
“They need to refuse to negotiate access by these companies to their land until the community as a whole is satisfied all the proper precautions have been taken.”
Beeac dairy farmer Pat Breen said the meeting was a good idea because there was a general lack of awareness about the dangers of coal-seam gas mining.
“There’s not enough known about what’s going to happen,” he said.
“It’s important to inform the farmers and the people at large it’s going to affect all the community, not just the farmers.”
