Greens MP and mining spokesperson Cate Faehrmann has welcomed an announcement from the NSW Government for a ‘Coal and Gas Strategy’, but questioned why this move could not be matched with a moratorium on the dangerous coal seam gas industry.

“The coal seam gas industry has proven to be dangerous for water supplies and productive farmlands. While this taskforce does its work, dozens of exploration sites and projects will continue to be approved without proper safeguards or any cumulative analysis of the risks involved,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“Once an aquifer is contaminated due to gas mining, no future strategy will be able to take that back. These agricultural and water resources are too precious to delay action.

“There is nothing in this announcement to give comfort to those communities currently under siege by coal seam gas companies. The government should impose a moratorium to protect farmlands and water supplies from this proven threat,” Ms Faehrmann.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Media releases, Water, Community, Ecological Sustainability, Mining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.