FROM unauthorised land access to overflowing sewerage, the state government LNG enforcement unit has investigated 337 landholder complaints since the group was formed in February.
Of the 337 inquiries received, 276 have been resolved and 61 are outstanding. LNG enforcement unit manager Andrew Brier said more than 80 percent of inquiries were resolved through providing information about CSG activities, regulation and legislation to landholders and providing mediation services between the complainant and the relevant coal seam gas company.
He said there were still vast differences in the levels of understanding of CSG industry protocols and legislation among landholders.
Of the 337 total complaints, 50 cases were identified as potential breaches of government legislation requiring further investigation by the unit, with 33 cases now resolved and 17 still under investigation.
The most common complaints requiring further investigation were:
Spills - Releases of CSG water during operations accounted for more than half (26) of the investigated complaints. These spills typically occurred during drilling activities or resulted from opened/faulty valves within pipework.
Sewage - There were six complaints involving sewage overflows from latrines at gas field temporary camps.
Discharge - There were four complaints involving the controlled or uncontrolled release of coal seam gas water or permeate to the environment.
Flooding - During the January 2011 floods, there were three complaints of CSG water storage dams breaching the dam banks.
Exceeding release limits - There were five complaints of the discharge limits set on environmental authorities being exceeded.
Noise - There were two landholder noise complaints from CSG activities. However, Mr Briar said conducted noise monitoring found the activities to be in acceptable levels.
Other - There were four other complaints involving vegetation clearing, pipeline construction, and Gladstone Harbour dredging.
So far, there were nine official warnings and one penalty infringement notice issued as a result of investigations, with 22 of these complaints warranting no further action and 17 cases are still being investigated because they have only been recently received or because they are more serious or complex in nature.
Speaking at the APPEA water conference at Dalby recently, Mr Brier said the unit hoped to increase transparency of their investigations through the creation of a "compliance portal" which would include details of the investigations, accessible online to landholders.
He warned that "extreme green" protestors were becoming increasingly prominent in the CSG debate and distracting landholders from issues impacting their own operations.
"I am greatly concerned the people who are likely to be impacted by the CSG industry, who have the CSG industry on their doorstep, are getting lost in some of the background noises," he said.
"Some of the noises coming out of south east Queensland - from some of the more extreme environmental groups - are asking questions that really aren't at the heart of the issue. Having to deal with this level of background noise is chewing up a lot of resources and I am concerned we are losing landholder opinions in this process."
He said public forums were often ineffective in providing relevant information to landholders. "Public forums, while good in imparting information to a range of people, are not always effective in changing that variable level of understanding," he said.
"People don't always get the chance to ask the questions burning in their soul."
Mr Briar said new communication strategies needed to be devised to better inform landholders about the CSG process.
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