Farmers fear water risks in controversial gas pipeline
A group of farmers has launched a legal challenge over a controversial proposed gas pipeline that would cut through prime agricultural land, arguing the federal government failed to protect water resources.
Energy giant Santos plans to construct a 60km transmission pipeline that would connect its Narrabri gas project, in northwest NSW, to the Hunter gas pipeline, allowing delivery to the east coast domestic market.
The steel line would be developed on farmland, the Pilliga forest and on various public sites, according to the company's documents being assessed by the federal environment department.
The department in February ruled the construction of the pipeline was a "controlled action", meaning it would need approvals under environmental protection laws.
But it did not apply the water trigger - an additional safeguard that would require scrutiny of risks to water resources - because the pipeline was not deemed integral to the extraction of gas from the Narrabri project.
More than 140 public submissions argued the water trigger should be applied, in part due to the pipeline's proximity to the Namoi River and the Murray Darling catchment.
The government's ruling said the pipeline was "unlikely to significantly impact those waterways" and their links to threatened species and ecological communities.
A group of farmers and community members called the Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord on Monday filed an application in the Federal Court for a judicial review of the water trigger decision.
"The farms and families in this region are utterly dependent on clean, reliable water," the group's spokesperson Noni Wells said in a statement.
"We're going to court because every decision that could put water at risk must be assessed with the care it deserves."
The group is backed by legal organisation Environmental Justice Australia.
The Narrabri gas project was granted state planning approval in 2020 to extract gas from up to 850 wells across 95,000 hectares of land.
The $3.6 billion project has been wrapped up in complex environmental and heritage approvals processes for years, including challenges from the Gomeroi people.
In late May, the Native Title Tribunal ruled the land leases be granted, finding there was significant public interest in the project if all the gas produced is supplied to the domestic market.
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