QLD:Bore water ban lifted after latest tests

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2010
QLD:Bore water ban lifted after latest tests

BRISBANE, Aug 11 AAP - Landholders near a Queensland underground gas project have been
told they can resume using bore water after new tests showed it was safe.

Residents within a 2km radius of Cougar Energy's trial underground coal gasification
plant near Kingaroy, north-west of Brisbane, were last month banned from using bore water.

The restriction, which was lifted on Wednesday, was imposed after tests found traces
of benzene and toluene in groundwater at the site and a neighbouring property.

Despite the latest tests showing there's no issue with water quality in local bores,
Cougar will not be allowed to resume burning underground coal until further notice, the
Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) said on Wednesday.

"While the latest tests show low levels of benzene and toluene at the Cougar Energy
plant itself, these are below Australian Drinking Water Guideline standards and only trace
levels of toluene can be detected at some neighbouring bores," the department's director-general
John Bradley said in a statement.

Mr Bradley said DERM scientists considered the groundwater quality at neighbouring
bores comparable to water quality shown in tests undertaken before the gas plant began
operations.

Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said the bans on Cougar's activities
would remain in place until an environmental evaluation was completed.

"We will be seeking advice from the expert scientific panel which is being established
to investigate underground coal gasification at all three trials across Queensland," Ms
Jones told reporters in Brisbane.

"My understanding is that we should have answers within a month to two months.

"I will not pre-empt the decision of the environmental evaluation. We are taking a
precautionary approach when it comes to making sure this technology is safe."

Biosecurity Queensland has also lifted precautions that had applied to cattle within
the 2km zone.

Landholders had previously been told to restrict cattle's access to groundwater for
48 hours prior to slaughter.

Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson said some landowners might still be hesitant
to use the water.

"Inevitably, some people will never be satisfied, and understandably, their confidence
has taken a hit over the last couple of months," Mr Robertson told reporters in Brisbane.

"But the reality is in some cases you can't always reach 100 per cent in terms of satisfaction
rates."

Meanwhile, Mr Bradley said water quality tests near another underground coal gasification
plant near Dalby showed there were no implications for stock watering.

He said the latest samples from Kogan Creek did not detect the presence of mercury,
and levels of heavy metals such as iron and aluminium and hydrocarbons did not exceed
stock watering standards.

"The results of water quality tests from Kogan Creek near Carbon Energy's underground
coal gasification plant near Dalby has not detected any contamination which could cause
a risk to humans, plants or animal," Mr Bradley said.

AAP djb/tnf/mp/de

KEYWORD: COUGAR WRAP

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