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If you watch the news, read the newspaper or peruse the news online, you have undoubtedly heard some of the discussion regarding the whole Coal Seam Gas controversy and how it might affect people in Australia. In fact, this subject is a very real hot spot and should be of deep concern to anyone who cares about the environment and public health.
Let's begin with the basics.
 What is Coal Seam Gas?
Coal Seam Gas is any naturally occurring gas that is trapped in underground coal seams by water and ground pressure. Usually, the gas found trapped in coal seams is methane, which explains why the term Coal Bed Methane is sometimes used instead of Coal Seam Gas. Coal Seam Gas is also called Unconventional Gas. It is extracted from the coal deposit seams that are too far underground to be mined economically. The process used to extract the Coal Seam Gas is called “fracking.”
What is Fracking?
Simply put, fracking is a process that requires pumping millions of gallons of water, sand, and over 900 toxic chemicals thousands of feet underground for the purpose of releasing the very small pockets of gas trapped in coal seams. This is done by literally breaking up the rock where the gas is trapped. It is similar to exploding a pipe bomb deep underground. Fracking requires humongous amounts of fresh water, which is taken from nearby streams, ponds, and rivers, or trucked in if there is no close source of water.
Where Does All the Water Go Used in Fracking?
That's a good question. At this point, nobody knows what happens to the water or the chemicals. Proponents of fracking insist that these things don't find their way into underground aquifers. However, there is much evidence to the contrary as many cases of groundwater contamination conclusively prove that it definitely does. When the fractures creating by the fracking process intersect with existing cracks in the ground, for instance, chemicals and gas can hitchhike on underground streams, ending up in contaminating drinking water sources. In places affected by fracking, a lot of residents have become ill from dangerous levels of volatile organic compounds, chemicals, and methane gas in their drinking water. Not a very pleasant prospect, is it?
In less than 10 years, Coal Seam Gas has become a major industry in Australia. ABC has conducted extensive research on the subject. Here are some of the findings that might interest you. Straight from ABC:
- It is estimated there will be 40,000 coal seam gas wells in Australia.
- Conservative estimates suggest coal seam gas wells could draw 300 gigalitres of water from the ground each year?
- The industry could produce as much greenhouse gas as all the cars on the road in Australia?
- Modeling suggests the industry could produce 31 million tonnes of waste salt over the next 30 years?
- Over the next two decades, there are projected to be more than 40,000 wells in Queensland.
- By 2014, the Commonwealth will have spent nearly $150 million under the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative, capping bores and fixing pipes to conserve water.
- The coal seam gas industry is entitled to remove massive amounts of water from groundwater systems.
As you can see, Coal Seam Gas and fracking are certainly something we should all be concerned about!
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