AGL Energy Limited a supplier of gas & coal based electricity is behaving badly yet again

AGL Energy Limited (AGL) sells and markets gas and electricity. It owns a number thermal stations, has an operational gas plant in the Camden area and approvals for exploration and production of coal seam gas in the Gloucester district in New South Wales. 

On 11 May 2015 Smart Company reported that:

The Australian Energy Regulator has penalised energy retailer AGL for disconnecting customers in hardship or on payment plans, with AGL South Australia and AGL Sales both receiving a $20,000 fine from the regulator.

Energy retailers are prohibited from disconnecting customers under certain circumstances, including when they are participating in a hardship program or a payment plan.

However the Australian Energy Regulator said in a statement this morning, it was notified by AGL of incidents in which nine of the company’s customers were wrongfully disconnected from their electricity supply.

This is not the first time that AGL has been in the news for behaving badly.

A quick Internet search brings up this disturbing timeline: 

* August 2003

Australia's largest energy retailer was today fined $100,000 on workplace safety breaches over the electrocution of a 36-year-old Melbourne carpenter.

AGL Electricity Ltd had faced a maximum fine of $250,000 over the man's death in February 1999.

The court heard that carpenter Paul Psaila suffered a fatal electric shock on the roof of a suburban Rosanna unit when he touched guttering carrying a 240-volt current coming from a live electricity cable attached to the home.

County Court judge Michael Strong said the work on installing the cable had been carried out by two linesmen seven weeks before.

It was a straightforward job which they had done many times before "but on this occasion the job was done incompetently, resulting in insulation on the cable being damaged".

A metal bracket "charged with electricity became a death trap", the judge said.

In sentencing, Judge Strong said: "The court must respond to the jury's verdict by sending a clear message to this industry that more-rigorous scrutiny is required of work by linesmen."

AGL was convicted by a jury of failing to ensure that people other than its employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.

* September 2004

Following NGE's intervention, I received a phone call from AGL's Victorian manager of Residential Marketing on 27/08/04. He apologized for the "misrepresentations of the sales staff", assured me the switching fee would not apply, and that the last $50 rebate would be paid. He gave me his mobile number to call direct if there were any problems.
On 02/09/04 I received another phone call from a different person presumeably from the same department. She said that the entire bill for the quarter would be waived because the new total ($14.67) was such a small amount, the next bill was due soon, and I'd been unhappy with the service.
The amended bill arrived on 06/09/04. Thanks to some creative accounting, the new invoice was for $29.34 (twice what it should have been after applying the rebate).
I've made two phone calls to the person I spoke to in August (unanswered - I left a message both times), and received one back from one of his colleagues. She said he was on a business trip, and offered to help in his stead. I explained that my invoice was wrong, and asked for a new one. She said she'd look into it, and would call back later. That was on Monday 13/09/04. Not surprisingly, I haven't heard anything since.
Given that "AGL prides itself [on] the ethics and honesty of [its] organisation" it would appear that that pride is undeserved. [Matter finally resolved in customers favour after six months of seeking redress]

* July 2005

AGL Gas Networks Ltd has been fined $325,000 following two gas explosions at a Kogarah shopping centre in 1995, in which two people died and 17 others were injured.
The company, based at North Sydney, was found guilty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission sitting in Court Session for failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees and others not in its employ.
In November 1995 a gas pipeline at Railway Parade, Kogarah, was cut and capped by AGL in preparation for the demolition of four nearby shops.
The pipeline remained connected to the mains, and on 4 December the line severed, with the resulting gas leak causing explosions and fires.
An AGL Gas Networks Ltd maintenance crew sent to the scene after the first explosion did not have the necessary valve location map to enable them to find and shutdown the escaping gas.
While the maintenance crew searched for the shutdown valve and fire crews fought to extinguish the blaze, a second explosion occurred.
In imposing the penalty, Justice Monika Schmidt said: "I am satisfied that the risks to safety were foreseeable. They included the risk of death and injury, which must be reflected in the penalty imposed."

* August 2006

The Australian Energy Regulator has imposed a civil penalty of $20,000 on AGL Hydro Partnership over its use of the inflexibility and rebidding provisions of the National Electricity Rules with respect to its MCKAY1 generating unit on 22 March 2006. The AER issued an infringement notice alleging that AGL Hydro breached clause 3.8.22(c)(2)(i) of the rules by failing to provide a verifiable and specific reason for declaring the MCKAY1 generating unit as inflexible. As AGL Hydro has paid the infringement penalty, the AER's investigation of this matter is now closed.

* May 2008

A third Queensland electricity retailer will be issued with a fine over its handling of pensioners' power bills.

Queensland Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said the regulator had made formal findings against AGL, which had been advised of a $30,000 fine for breaching the Electricity Act.

* May 2009

June 2008 AGL became our electricity provider. This surprised us when we received the first "Dear Customer" letter from them in November, attempting to bill us all the way back to February!
In fact, we had been contracted to Simply Energy (gas + elec) for over a year and owned the house for four years. Every AGL customer "service" person attempts to convince us we just moved in!
Of course we called AGL after getting the November letter (actually two bills for different amounts). The help desk woman apologised, said she could see the account had been transferred to them in error, and promised to send us back to Simply Energy. "No need to worry about it". Famous last words.
Come April 2009, and two more envelopes arrive from AGL. Amount owing is over $1,100, please pay within two weeks. An entire afternoon wasted calling AGL then Simply Energy then AGL (with SE on the line), then AGL again. Each time the recorded voice said we owed a different amount! In the first call, AGL told me to tell SE to check MSATS (their common database) for the handover date. SE said it was June but AGL was billing back to February! SE confirmed we'd paid up to June. All good so far.
AGL claims that because 130 days had passed without hearing from SE, they _own_ our account, under law. They could well be right, but surely SE would be due compensation? AGL checked their own records and could see that they had reminded themselves in November to ask SE for a "winback", but never actually sent the message to them.
To add to the insult, two days after those phonecalls we received a letter from AGL thanking us for agreeing to this payment plan during your phonecall. We did nothing of the sort! We laughed when we saw the "instalment plan" was one payment of the full amount including the months already paid, due in June.  Ta.
The good thing about dealing with AGL is that you get to read up on what your rights are. You can read the entire ombudsman's website while you're on hold! In Victoria, utilities can't backbill residents for more than nine months' worth of power, and have to give an equivalent time to pay if requested. The longer they take to work their stuff out, the more free electricity we have received.
The last time I called them was a week ago, because they'd promised to call me by then. The guy was a lot more candid about the extent of their problems, said their complaints department was VERY busy and while they would try to ring me in the next week he couldn't guarantee it. Meanwhile (after I pressed him to say it) we should ignore the demands for payment. So we're relaxed and waiting ... next step the ombudsman because there's no way they can get away with this. [Resolved in the customers favour after what appears to be almost twelve months of negotiation]

* May 2010

trichloroethylene ingroundwater at a specific location beneath the Torrens Island Power Stationsite. The South Australia EPA was notified under Section 83A of the EnvironmentProtection Act.

* September 2010

AGL–Arrow Energy Moranbah Gas Project JV, Qld: In September 2010, protected vegetation on PL191 was overcleared by the Operator. A $2,000 Penalty Infringement Notice was issued by DERM in relation to the breach

* May 2011

In May 2011 a large drilling fluid spill occurred at AGL’s CSG well head at Camden North in NSW during routine maintenance. According to STOP CSG!, AGL failed to report the incident for two days until the leakage was shown on TV. 

* September 2012

In yet another classic example of excessive executive compensation while the rest of the nation is reeling from high prices and economic slowdown, officials of power firms in New South Wales are enjoying astronomical pay hikes while residents pay through the nose because of higher electricity rates. The Herald Sun reported that the managing director and chief executive of power firm AGL got 85 per cent pay hikes to $6.3 million from $3.4 million in 2011. The boost in compensation was justified by the 11.8 per cent rise of AGL's profit in 2011-12 at $482 million, thanks to the 18 per cent increase in power rates.

* 2012

AGL sent me a letter advising me that I had entered into a default contract with them because the electricity at that address was still being used despite the cancellation of the A/C. This puzzled me as I had not cancelled the contract with AGL. As requested I phoned the number listed in their letter. At the outset of the conversation with AGL I was required to identify myself by giving my name and DOB. When I asked who had cancelled my A/C, my request was denied on the grounds of privacy regulations. My response to this was that my privacy had been violated when a third party had been allowed to cancel my account with AGL. When my letter of complaint to the GM retail was not answered, a week later I sent an e-mail citing the issues raised .This proved more effective because Customer Relations then contacted me. Their case is that the new tenant next door initially gave the street number of my holiday house, later phoning to correct his error. If the tenant had made this correction before the letter about a default contract had been written, then the issue of a default contract is in my opinion a red herring. Instead AGL should have come clean with me. Alternatively if the tenant had not yet alerted AGL to this debacle, there was no need to send a letter concerning electricity consumption at the address initially given by the new tenant next door. In summary, despite their claim to the contrary, I cannot accept that AGL can cancel an A/C without checking with the person who responsible for the A/C. Even for a simple enquiry a customer is required to identify themselves. Secondly I am not confident that the default letter was written in good faith. If AGL already knew about the source of the confusion at the time of writing to me , they should have been frank and open. XXXX XXXX Address in question-XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

* March 2013

The New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has fined AGL Energy $15,000 over a gas leak from a coal seam gas well at the Rosalind Park gas plant in the suburb of Spring Farm.

* May 2013

The Federal Court has ordered by consent that AGL Sales Pty Ltd and AGL South Australia Pty Ltd pay combined penalties of $1.555 million for illegal door-to-door selling practices, following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. CPM Australia Pty Ltd, the marketing company used by the AGL companies, was also ordered to pay $200,000 for its role in the conduct.

* July 2013

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined AGL $1,000 for failing to publish monitoring data under “community right to know” requirements of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

* December 2013

Energy retailer AGL has been fined $35,000 after a salesman ignored a Do Not Knock sign.

Federal Court judge John Middleton punished AGL and its marketing company CPM for the conduct of a South Australian salesman.

"These penalties reflect the need to deter conduct of such seriousness by the relevant respondents and others in the door-to-door selling industry," he said in his judgment.

AGL South Australia was fined $35,000 while its marketing agent CPM, who contracted the salesman, was penalised $25,000 for trying to negotiate an energy supply agreement in November 2011.

He had remained on the premises despite the consumer having an image on the front door of a knocking fist with a line through it.

The maximum penalty is $50,000.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued AGL operations in Camden with a fine of $1,500 and an official caution for exceeding air pollutant, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) concentrations limits on two occasions in August this year.

* December 2014

POTENTIALLY contaminated wastewater used to frack AGL's Gloucester coal seam gas project has been dumped unlawfully into the Hunter's sewer system by the private company hired to treat it.

Transpacific, one of the nation's largest wastewater management firms, has been fined $30,000 by Hunter Water for releasing treated "flow-back" fluid from the gas project into the region's sewer network.

It comes after AGL and Transpacific were both explicitly warned by the water regulator that releasing the flow-back fluid was a breach of its wastewater criteria.

* January 2015

AGL operations at Gloucester have been suspended and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is investigating after the company informed the authority that it had detected BTEX chemicals at its Gloucester coal seam gas project.

AGL suspended operations today after announcing BTEX chemicals were found in samples from its Waukivory operations, said EPA Chief Environmental Regulator Mark Gifford.

“AGL informed the EPA that it was aware of these elevated levels of BTEX chemicals on 15 January, but it did not make these results known to the EPA or the public until today,” said Mr Gifford.

“The EPA is very concerned at AGL’s lack of timeliness and transparency in informing us of these results and we will be conducting a full investigation.

“The EPA can confirm that fracking fluid additives used at the Waukivory operation were sampled and analysed by Government environmental officers in November 2014 before fracking activities were allowed to commence.

“These samples were analysed for BTEX chemicals, which were not detected. Identifying the source of the elevated levels of BTEX chemicals found in AGL’s samples will be part of the EPA’s investigation.”

* April 2015

Energy retailer AGL has been fined $700,000 for misleading customers in South Australia about discounts on their power bills.

Thousands of them will be entitled to a refund, likely to be about $30.

The Federal Court imposed the penalty on Wednesday, ordering the energy retailer to also pay $780,000 in refunds and $300,000 in costs.

Monsanto, Roundup and probability of cancer

East Bay Express 15 April 2015:

On March 20, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassified glyphosate as a chemical that probably causes cancer. The IARC is a branch of the World Health Organization that focuses on cancer, and it combines the knowledge and expertise of epidemiologists, laboratory scientists, and biostatisticians. The IARC has been engaged in cancer research for more than five decades, and its vast experience in cancer research has led the agency to conclude that "most cancers are, directly or indirectly, linked to environmental factors and thus are preventable."

The IARC had previously designated glyphosate as possibly carcinogenic. Monsanto, a leading producer of glyphosate under the trade name Roundup, immediately issued a press release challenging the new IARC designation and contending that Roundup is safe. But Monsanto has a tremendous amount at stake. Half of the corporation's revenues come from sales of Roundup and Roundup Ready seeds, which can tolerate the herbicide. Monsanto advocates that farmers spray their fields heavily and repeatedly with Roundup in order to kill unwanted weeds, and Monsanto's corporate strategy is based on the assumption that Roundup is safe. If Roundup is found to be toxic, the entire house of cards comes tumbling down, and with it, Monsanto and biotech agriculture. The banning of glyphosate could mean bankruptcy for Monsanto.

IARC Monographs Volume 112: evaluation of five organophosphate insecticides and herbicidesonograph

The flood next time......

Clarence Valley Council (CVC), in the NSW Northern Rivers region, has control of:

110 km of levee 

18 km rock protection 

50 bridges 

500 floodgates 

250 flood mitigation drains

on the Clarence Valley flood plain.

In the 2013 flood one section of the 110km of levee walls was topped at Wilton Park, Waterview:

This is what that section looks like today:

Clarence Valley Council has apparently done no actual repair work on this levee since the 2013 flood.

According to its records it is quibbling over the amount of funding for levee repair the NSW Baird Government is willing to supply:

[CVC Corporate, Governance & Works Committee , Business Paper, 10 March 2015]

One has to wonder what other sections of the levee network are in a similar state of disrepair?

I hope council’s insurer will be happy to pay the costs which are likely to be awarded after the next big flood should residents (and their insurers) take council to court on the basis that levee disrepair contributed significantly to flood damage on their properties. 

Or will council’s insurer refuse to pay if residents were to win such a case?

* All images found on Twitter

UPDATE

Clarence Valley Council rates its infrastructure assets on a scale of 1 (excellent condition) to 5 (very poor condition).

Currently 39 segments of the 110km of levee walls are rated in poor condition to very poor condition.

Excerpt from Clarence Valley Council Asset Management Strategy 2015 -2025 (24 June 2014):

Floods over recent years have had a major impact on floodplain asset condition. In general the restoration cost of these assets has been excluded from the assessment on the basis that Council will receive Natural Disaster Relief Assistance for damage caused by these events. However, damage will occur to assets from repeated flood events that may not be able to be attributed to single events but will cause the increased deterioration of assets over time. The restoration costs of these assets will ultimately be borne by Council.

Major emphasis is to increase maintenance levels in the following areas:

* Rural levee maintenance – increased inspection and maintenance on a four year cycle;…

Proposed to increase asset renewals and new and upgrading of assets in the following major areas:

* Rehabilitate levee segments rated condition 4 or 5 over a 20 year timeframe (currently 39 segments);….

General focus will be on managing condition 4 and 5 floodplain assets and maintaining floodplain assets rated at condition 3 and above.

*Additional detailed data is to be gathered on floodplain network, especially rural levees, to better determine the extent of the condition of the assets and to more effectively schedule maintenance and capital works. This is also to include crest surveys of the levees.....

Denton, Texas: the birthplace of fracking just banned this gas extraction method

The West Australian 7 November 2014

Denton, Texas, has an estimated population of 123,000 people and is within the Barnett Shale, one of the larger gas fields in America.

It reportedly has 272 active fracking wells, with 212 additional wells within it’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Denton gas industry infrastucture

On 4 November 2014 over 58% of its eligible residents voted to ban any further fracking within city limits. The people had finally had enough.

The evacuation of houses and diversion of flights at the city airport near a well blowout in April 2013 was probably the one straw too many for some of theses voters:

Air quality samples were gathered when the incident was nearly over. Fort Worth-based Cudd Well Control, which EagleRidge first contacted at 5:30 a.m., had arrived at 11 a.m. and capped the well at 3:39 p.m., according to state documents.

One 30-minute air quality sample was collected downwind at 3:21 p.m. and another 30-minute sample was collected upwind at 4:11 p.m., according to state records.

The downwind sample detected 46 of the 84 hazardous air pollutants tested for, including benzene and ethylene dibromide, or EDB. Upwind, the sample detected 27 of 84 chemicals. Neither benzene nor EDB was detected upwind, state records showed.

Within 12 hours of the vote results being announced the gas industry and its political supporters mounted a legal challenge to this ban and went to the 53^rd District Court of Travis County seeking a permanent injunction.

The application for this injunction has an unusual twist - referring to the gas leases on public land as “the school kids' minerals”.

Presumably the school kids actually living in Denton are supposed to tolerate, for the common good, the level of air pollution which may be experienced within the environs of these gas wells.

*Photographs found at Google Images

Disposal problems with waste water from coal-bed methane wells in the U.S.

Full article at http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Rubinstein_article_final.pdf

Yes, Virginia, methane and other pollutants do enter water supplies as a result of drilling gas wells

Wall Street Journal 28 August 2014:

Records on the 243 U.S. cases can be found here.

This is a  specific instance where the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection sets out the risks of beyond saturation-level methane contamination to one household:

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection sets out the risks of methane contamination to one hous... by clarencegirl

Even without the risk of serious water contamination, it is obvious that Australian authorities recognize that coal seam/tight/natural gas mining/production poses risks to nearby residential properties, because emergency services were called out at the beginning to the week to attend what was obviously the emergency venting of explosive gases from a coal seam gas well at the AGL Camden Gas Project 144 well field in the immediate vicinity of a housing estate.

Scammers posing as Qantas and Virgin Australia appear to be contacting NSW North Coast residents

From the Australian Communications and Media Authority:

SCAM ALERT - Scammers posing as Qantas and Virgin Australia

Consumer Alert: Scammers posing as Qantas and Virgin Australia

The ACMA has received an increase in reports from members of the public about automated voice calls. The call suggests to 'press 1' to claim a loyalty reward or redeem a prize from Qantas, Virgin Australia or similar. These are scam calls.

Where members of the public do 'press 1', they are taken to a human operator who will ask a number of questions, including a request for credit card details.

You should never provide your credit card details under these types of circumstances.

If you receive a call, or repeated calls like this, simply hang up.

For more information on this specific scam, see the ScamWatch alert: Automated scam calls claiming to be from Qantas with bogus holiday win.http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1139946

You can report phone scams to http://www.scamwatch.gov.au or by calling 1300 795 995.

Project Blueprint: making the Clarence coastline a safer place

Every accessible beach and rock platform in the Clarence Valley is to be assessed as part of a statewide program aimed at preventing drownings.

The assessments will be done as part of Project Blueprint, a Clarence Valley Council-supported coastal risk project being run by Australian CoastSafe.

As part of the assessment process, public forums will be conducted at:

* Treelands Drive Community Centre, Yamba, from 10.30am-noon on Sunday July 27, and 

* Grafton Community and Function Centre, Duke Street, Grafton, from 6.30-8pm on Thursday, July 31.

Email Luke Stigter of your attendance at lstigter@coastsafe.org.au

Those interested can send written submissions to Coastal Risk Officer, Luke Stigter, SLSNSW, PO Box 307, Belrose, NSW, 2085. 

[From CVC eNews: Speak up and help prevent drownings]

So you think gas exploration in the NSW Northern Rivers region is conducted in a safe and environmentally sustainable way?

The CSG industry uses international standards and is highly regulated

CSG operations will not threaten water supplies

Metgasco is committed to conducting all of its activities in an environmentally sustainable way

All activities will be planned and managed to ensure minimum environmental impact

[Metgasco Limited 2013]

Think again……..

Metgasco Limited Drilling Incidents*

Some of the descriptive terms used in relation to incidents: severe water losses, gas bubbling was observed in hole, well caving, major problems, water inflow, 380m drill string and 33m bore hole assembly abandoned in the well, fault intercepted, “returns gained but big water losses”, leaking, hole collapsed from 16m, gas metre went into alarm mode “off scale”; hole spurting air and water; volumes of gas, cemented but would not hold pressure, well failed to clean up properly, caving clay & sand well collapsed, “gas detector not functioning but hydrocarbons can be smelled in the shaker area”, gas entering the mud column, presence of methane in mud returns, mud pits collapsing and losing mud, fracture stimulation, drilled into old river bed, “explosive cutters” required to remove casing.

Note

NSW Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham has lodged a notice of motion in the Legislative Council and posted a YouTube video here.

The document above appears to be one on which he may have based some of the details contained in his motion.

* Author unknown

A new unconventional gas threat on the horizon for New South Wales?

On 9 September 2008 the Newcastle Herald reported on the proposal for a NSW in situ coal gasification project which was finally rejected in 2010:

Energie Future has applied under the Commonwealth Offshore Minerals Act for four mineral exploration licences that cover a total of 5940 square kilometres from Stockton Bight to Stanwell Park.

Energie spokesman Rick Somerton told The Herald that his company wanted to extract energy from seabed coal in a process called gasification.

However, in 2014 the NSW Coalition Government still lists in situ underground coal gasification (UCG) as a clean coal technology.

The UCG process involves using air or oxygen to ignite coal while it is still in the coal seam to produce gas. This process produces waste water/chemical by-products as well as a commercial gas often primarily composed of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane.

To date there appears to have been only four or five UCG pilot projects in eastern Australia. None have been in New South Wales. Three have been involved in serious environmental breaches.

In Chinchilla, Queensland, Linc Energy Ltd is decommissioning its UCG plant following a 2013 investigation by the state environmental agency.

According to ABC News on 16 April 2014:

Linc Energy is facing four charges of "wilfully and unlawfully" causing serious harm, each of which carries a fine of more than $450,000 or five years' jail…

The ABC understands one of the charges relates to a so-called overburden fracture, a crack in the layers of rock and soil that sit above the coal seam.

In some cases this can lead to the escape of gases into the air or allow groundwater into the cavity.

The Australian Financial Review on 24 September 2013 stated:

Cougar Energy [now known as Moreton Resource Pty Ltd] has been fined $75,000 for releasing a cancer causing chemical into groundwater at its coal seam gas trial project in Queensland.

The company's $550 million underground coal gasification (UCG) trial at Kingaroy was shut down by the Queensland government in January 2011 after the cancer causing chemical benzene was found in nearby bores.

Prosecutor Alan MacSporran QC told Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday that Cougar had failed to install a production well in line with agreed environmental conditions and later released benzene into the local groundwater.

Mr MacSporran said Cougar also failed to notify authorities about the benzene release as soon as reasonably practicable.

Cougar pled guilty to three counts of contravening conditions of an environmental authority for a licence earlier in 2013….

Queensland Government media statement 6 December 2012:

Carbon Energy, which has a plant located between Dalby and Chinchilla, was fined $60,000 and its executive officer, Andrew Dash, was fined $2,000 for breaching their environmental conditions [by releasing contaminated water] and failing to notify the department….

Carbon was also ordered to pay $40,000 in legal and investigative costs.

Mr Powell said the company was charged following an investigation in 2010.

ABC News 8 July 2011:

The Queensland Government has dropped a controversial gas project in the state's south.

The underground coal gasification pilot in the South Burnett region has been shut down permanently after an investigation found it posed an unacceptable risk to underground water near the site.

Locals are relieved and are warning communities near other pilot projects to be vigilant.

Cougar Energy's underground coal gasification project is based at Kingaroy - a rich agricultural region in southern Queensland.

Terry Wall from Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management says the project was temporarily closed last year when traces of cancer-causing chemicals were found in water bores at the site.

"We found readings of chemicals, of benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene, known as BTEX chemicals. The most one of concern there was benzene," he said.

The Kingaroy project is one of three underground coal gasification testing plants in Queensland.

The State Government approved the plants to explore the viability of the new technology, which converts coal to gas using heat and chemicals.

But after the Kingaroy site was found to be contaminated, Cougar Energy was asked to explain and provide plans to prevent it happening again.

Mr Wall says the department was not convinced by Cougar's explanation.

He says the site has been shut down and the company must come up with a plan to nurse it back to health.

"To ensure that the groundwater actually is rehabilitated to its normal state and that equipment and other activities are removed from the site and the site is actually put back to its appropriate state," he said….

If the asylum seeker confidential information data breach wasn't so serious, this request to a journalist would be laughable

 Follow Asher Wolf's links to official correspondence.....

Asher Wolf ‏@Asher_Wolf  1h

Australian govt. asked me to "return" "confidential information": http://ow.ly/d/1WjA  I sent them a response: http://ow.ly/d/1WjB 

And click on Colvin's link for an historic Private Eye response.....

Mark Colvin ‏@Colvinius  46m

@Asher_Wolf Advise you to refer them to the reply in Arkell vs Pressdram, viz: http://www.nasw.org/users/nbauman/arkell.htm …

This is what Metgasco and other coal seam gas miners want to turn the Northern Rivers into....

http://youtu.be/1AeWYwBreEY

If you don’t’ want this to happen – at the next round of elections vote out those local government councillors and state or federal MPs who support (or fail to genuinely oppose) the coal seam gas industry.

Metgasco finally admits that its Kingfisher E01 gas well was in trouble long before the explosion...

...and the NSW Mine Safety Investigation Unit reveals coal seam gas exploration and mining company, Metgaso Limited, did not install and plug the well with sufficient understanding of the processes involved.

@lockthegate

The Northern Star 27 September 2013:

On July 14 this year six Metgasco workers were placed into a "very high" risk situation during the shutdown operation of the Kingfisher E01 well on the outskirts of Casino, when 200m of steel drill pipes shot out of the well without warning.

The incident followed an attempt to drill through a special plug installed 200m down the 2km well shaft to "bleed off" rising pressure....

Flying metres into the air, the pipes fell to earth around the site, missing the six fleeing workers but causing extensive damage to surrounding equipment.

In an indication of the force, one of the drill pipes was ejected out of the drill site and into a neighbouring paddock.

The Mine Safety Investigation Unit reported the well had experienced "continuously rising pressure" during its lifespan due to loss of well integrity.

"Loss of integrity ... meant that gas under pressure could migrate between the inside and outside of the (well) casing," it stated.

It suggested efforts to monitor and control this building pressure had failed; one of the causes was an "insufficient understanding" of the level of pressure build-up, and the plug was installed too close to the surface.

NSW Mine Safety Investigation Unit 28 September 2013:

The workers report running away from the workover rig towards safe muster points and in doing so saw sparks and a brief ignition of gas above the rig as the last of the pipes ejected from the well....

The causes and circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by the department’s Investigation Unit.

The Metgasco team provided an object lesson to other coal seam gas miners; SAFETY ALERT High potential incident – drill string ejected from hole.

Coal Seam Gas: an object lesson for Northern Rivers communities is coming out of Colorado USA

These photographs and videos set out below are coming out of Colorado in the United States and, show just part of the gas and oil fields flooded in September 2013.

Is this the level of risk Prime Minister Tony Abbott, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, Metgasco Limited, and its main backer ERM Power, are willing to expose the flood-prone Northern Rivers region to?

http://youtu.be/y_wNkPYGiRo

Colorado frack-site flooding - September 2013 from Mateo Albaricoque on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/74683562

The Daily Examiner 19 September 2013:

EmmaB

So Metgasco is heartened by what the Liberal/Nationals governments are saying at state and federal level and plans to "ride a rising tide" to corporate prosperity on the backs of local communities.

Perhaps its board members should give some thought to both past and recent North Coast flood event history.

Then look at those news photographs of literally one thousand plus flooded gas wells, miles of broken pipelines, drifting condensate tanks and floating chemical barrels contaminating Colorado countryside right now.

Of which one Weld County, Colorado resident stated in the media:

“We probably shouldn’t have had the oil and gas development in a flood plain to begin with. That would have been the prudent thing. But, it’s done now. Now we have deal with the result of having made that decision.”

I can assure Metgasco that Northern Rivers residents are noting the lessons those photographs teach.