AGL unable to monitor Gloucester fracking chemicals The Baird government has been accused by Labor of trashing environmental safeguards by granting AGL permission to frack coal seam gas wells even before the companys monitoring for pollutants had been approved. AGL began hydraulic fracturing of four CSG wells at its pilot Waukivory project near Gloucester in late October. According its licence, the company must sample and analyse the concentration of certain pollutants. One of those pollutants is a biocide used to kill bacteria in the well, hydroxymethylnasulfate, also known as THPS or by its brand name Tolcide. In its December report, AGL said samples had been collected in anticipation of the approved method to analyse for Tolcide and concentration levels were not available. This exposes as a lie claims by AGL and the NSW Government that the coal seam gas industry is highly and competently regulated, said John Watts from Groundswell Gloucester. It seems that no testing for Tolcide was done during and after the fracking to measure whether this toxic chemical might have been escaping into the groundwater, creeks and rivers. Details of the THPS monitoring gap comes days after the NSW Environment Protection Authority said it was investigating the source of another fracking chemical, monoethanolamine borate, identified near the pilot project. Under its licence, both THPS and borate levels are required to be not detectable. Under their lax oversight, the coal seam gas industry is accelerating like a runaway train and basic environmental safeguards are being trashed, Labor leader Luke Foley said. The parties should not be allowed to fudge their way out of their monitoring obligations, Mr Foley said, adding that if elected at the March polls, Labor will implement a moratorium on coal seam gas activity across the state – including Gloucester. Tolcide is considered by water authorities to be extremely toxic to aquatic organisms found in wastewater plants. In a table provided to Hunter Water in November 2013, AGL said the water used in its fracking for the four wells – known as flowback water – would contain 450 litres of Tolcide. theland.au/news/agriculture/general/news/agl-unable-to-monitor-gloucester-fracking-chemicals/2721434.aspx
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:32:21 +0000
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