Gladstone LNP plants = demand for CSG = more CSG water needing treatment and use ...
Brisbane Times:
Gladstone's liquified gas plans start to solidify
28 August 2009
Gladstone's potential liquified natural gas (LNG) industry, worth an estimated $40 billion, could create 18,000 jobs in the region over the next 10 years, the Premier says.
Anna Bligh today announced the next step for two project teams bidding for work in the region.
Several of the world's biggest natural gas producers have announced plans to generate liquified natural gas from coal seams in the nearby Surat and Bowen coal basins and pipe the gas to plants at Curtis Island at Gladstone.
Around 13,200 jobs could be created in the central Queensland cities of Mackay, Gladstone and Rockhampton, with 600 jobs in the southern coalfields around Roma and the Darling Downs.
Premier Bligh is under pressure to keep Queensland's rising unemployment rate at bay after promising to create 100,000 jobs over three years during the State election in March .
The draft terms of reference for the Australia Pacific LNG project - a 50:50 partnership between Origin Energy and ConcocoPhillips - were released today, outlining the background for the project.
Last week, the two joint partners released independent advice which showed their submission could create 10,300 jobs
The terms of reference for this project team outlines how it must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for their proposed LNG processing plant on Curtis Island.
Ms Bligh also announced the next step for a second team submitting a bid for a LNG plant near Gladstone, consisting BG (British Gas) Queensland Curtis Liquified Natural Gas.
She released their EIS this morning for seven weeks' public consultation.
"This LNG project has the potential to deliver thousands of jobs from the Darling Downs to Gladstone and millions of dollars in economic benefits," Ms Bligh said.
"The project could employ more than 4000 people during construction and around 1000 people during its operation," she said.
The two projects are among eight publicly announced for the east coast of Queensland. The first export of LNG could begin as early as 2012 with significant exports scheduled from 2014 onwards.
Santos/Petronas, Royal Dutch Shell and Arrow Energy have alslo announced plans for LNG projects in the region.
Santos/Petronas plan a 450 kilometre gas pipeline from Santos' gas fields in central Queensland to Gladstone.
Petronas is the largest LNG supplier in Asia and owns the world biggest fleet of LNG transport ships.
See - Brisbane Times - Gladstone's liquified gas plans start to solidify.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:02 AM
4 Comments:
The TRC is looking at this water but they will not let on because to do so would only concede the the people who fought against the sewage water were right and that their is a way that it can be used and that their is plenty of it to get rid of.
Time will tell and one day they will be proved right.
7:54 AM, August 30, 2009
U.S. finds water polluted near gas-drilling sites
PHILADELPHIA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. government scientists have for the first time found chemical contaminants in drinking water wells near natural gas drilling operations, fueling concern that a gas-extraction technique is endangering the health of people who live close to drilling rigs.
The Environmental Protection Agency found chemicals that researchers say may cause illnesses including cancer, kidney failure, anemia and fertility problems in water from 11 of 39 wells tested around the Wyoming town of Pavillion in March and May this year.
The report issued this month did not reach a conclusion about the cause of contamination but named gas drilling as a potential source.
Gas drilling companies say the gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," is safe, but opponents contend it pollutes groundwater with dangerous substances.
Evidence of a link between gas drilling and water contamination would set back development of a clean-burning fuel promoted by the Obama administration as crucial to the future of U.S. energy production.
Some experts believe the United States holds more than 100 years worth of natural gas reserves. The new findings may raise questions about the process companies such as EnCana Corp (ECA.TO), Halliburton Co (HAL.N) and others commonly use to pump the gas from deep geological formations. Encana, Canada's biggest energy company, is drilling in Pavillion.
"There may be an indication of groundwater contamination by oil and gas activities," said the 44-page report, which received little public attention when released on Aug. 11. "Many activities in gas well drilling (and) hydraulic fracturing ... involve injecting water and other fluids into the well and have the potential to create cross-contamination of aquifers."
Among the contaminants found in some of the wells was 2-butoyethanol, or 2-BE, a solvent used in natural gas extraction, which researchers say causes the breakdown of red blood cells, leading to blood in the urine and feces, and can damage the kidneys, liver, spleen and bone marrow.
Greg Oberley, an EPA scientist who has been testing the water samples, said the agency did not set out to prove that hydraulic fracturing caused groundwater contamination, but was responding to complaints from local residents that their well water had become discolored or foul-smelling or tasted bad.
The investigation was the EPA's first in response to claims that gas drilling is polluting water supplies, he said. Testing will continue.
LINK TO GAS INDUSTRY?
While the EPA team has not determined how the chemicals got into the water, many are associated with gas drilling, Oberley said in a telephone interview.
"The preponderance of those compounds in the area would be attributable to the oil and gas industry," he said.
In hydraulic fracturing, energy companies inject a mixture of water, sand and chemicals a mile (1.6 km) or more underground at high pressure, causing rock to fracture and release natural gas.
Drillers such as EnCana are not required to disclose the chemicals they use because of an exemption to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, granted to the oil and gas industry in 2005.
In the U.S. Congress, concern about the safety of fracking led to the introduction in June this year of a bill that would require disclosure of fracking chemicals.
Industry representatives say fracking chemicals are heavily diluted and are injected thousands of feet below drinking-water aquifers through steel and concrete shafts that prevent the escape of toxic substances into water supplies.
Randy Teeuwen, a spokesman for EnCana, said the substances found by the EPA had been "tentatively identified." He said many were naturally occurring and some are commonly found in household products and agricultural degreasers.
He said EnCana was working with the agency to identify possible sources of the contamination. "One of those sources could be oil and gas development," Teeuwen said.
10:37 AM, August 30, 2009
Teeuwen said EnCana, which operates 248 wells in the area, stopped using 2-BE in spring 2009 because of concerns about its health effects.
"It's a banned substance as far as EnCana is concerned," Teeuwen said.
John Fenton, a farmer in Pavillion, a rural community of about 150 people, said residents blame gas drilling for a range of illnesses including rare cancers, miscarriages and nervous system disorders.
Families with contaminated water wells have been advised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to drink the water, which in some cases was black and oily, with a petroleum-like sheen, and a smell of gas, Fenton said.
"The stress is incredible," Fenton told Reuters. "People have built their lives and businesses here. What's it all worth now?"
10:37 AM, August 30, 2009
But if you can clean the crap out of poo water and all the nasties from hospital waste etc, should be able to clean up the gas water. Don't put it back underground if there is a risk of mixing with the groundwater.
10:56 AM, August 30, 2009
Post a Comment
<< Home