Santos addresses Liverpool Plains farmers' concerns at AqQuip

Farmers from the Liverpool Plains are concerned Santos' controversial Narrabri gas pipeline will ruin the region's world-class agricultural productivity by increasing water consumption and spreading pollution from waste salt and pipeline leakages.

The gas giant has sent a statement to the Leader defending its activities in the region.

"Farmers hosting our infrastructure benefit from income that supplements their main business and is particularly valuable during drought periods," a Santos spokesperson said.

"Gunnedah and the Liverpool Plains are important food producers for the nation and for other countries through agricultural exports. Productivity is enhanced by nitrogen-based fertilisers made from natural gas. Without these fertilisers, the world could not feed itself today, or anytime soon."

The spokesperson said the company has already hired 16 people in the region and plans to bring more jobs if and when the construction of the pipeline gets underway.

In addition, the company says it is supporting the local economy by spending $5 million so far this year on local goods and services, and has plans to invest up to $120 million in local community programs across the region, plus $14.5 million for Narrabri Shire Council to maintain its roads and upgrade its airport.

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As for the impact on groundwater - which Quirindi and Gunnedah rely on almost exclusively for water security - Santos said it's not concerned.

"The NSW Chief Scientist conducted an extensive inquiry into coal seam gas production in NSW back in 2014, including impacts on groundwater, and concluded that 'the risks associated with CSG exploration and production can be managed' as long as drilling is allowed only in areas where the geology and hydrogeology can be characterised adequately, and appropriate engineering and scientific solutions are in place to manage the storage, transport, reuse or disposal of produced water and salts," Santos' spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said Santos is committed to keeping gas onshore to put downwards pressure on energy prices for NSW homes and businesses.

"One hundred per cent of Narrabri gas will go to the domestic market and this will be a condition of our PPL when it is granted," the spokesperson said.

But farmers have been fighting the Santos Narrabri Gas Development for more than a decade, and say they've been lied to or misled by the company and the state government before.

The farmers cite more recent research by University of New South Wales Emeritus Professor Ian Acworth, one of the nation's premier hydro geologists, who says the level of groundwater in the Liverpool Plains has been decreasing since the 80s and coal seam gas activities could push the water depletion beyond a point of no return, causing irreparable damage to prime agricultural land.

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