Santos ponds to treat CSG water

THE northern NSW region boomed on the back of the industry and became one of country’s largest cotton-producing districts.

NARRABRI locals compare the arrival of coal seam gas to the emergence of the cotton industry in the 1960s.

The northern NSW region boomed on the back of the industry and became one of country’s largest cotton-producing districts.

Miner Santos, which plans to install 850 wells in the Pilliga forest and on surrounding properties, is keen to keep the comparison going, employing locals and sponsoring sporting teams as a charm offensive to win over CSG sceptics continues.

The Main street of Narrabri: “There’s a buzz in the town”

Santos Water Management Leader, Glenn Toogood at the Tintsfield Pilot Well near Narrabri. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

Glenn Toogood in front of the Tintsfield Flare. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

“There’s a buzz in town,” Narrabri Chamber of Commerce president Russell Stewart, a supporter of CSG, said. However, some farmers — such as Sarah and Matthew Ciesiolka — are less keen on the proposed $2 billion CSG mine.

The couple, whose 1214ha property is 6km from the Santos project, believe the region’s groundwater may be affected.

The Daily Telegraph was a guest of Santos on a tour of its new Leewood Ponds facility that replaces the aged Bibblewindi ponds in the Pilliga, where elevated levels of naturally occurring elements including arsenic, lead and uranium were recently found in the groundwater, leading to a $1500 fine for Santos.

Two new ponds with three levels of protection and monitoring devices to ensure the water is safely stored have been built.