Friday 26 October 2012

Metgasco amnesia


ABC North Coast NSW: Henderson at a Casino test drill site

Metgasco’s reply in The Northern Star on 20th October 2012 conveniently forgets to mention the wining and dining of local government councillors it also does in an effort to sway decision makers on the Northern Rivers. Nor was there any mention of its surreptitious entry onto council land at Rock Valley last year before it had met Lismore City Council’s consent conditions or the fact that it was fined $5,000 for dumping "more than 1.3 million litres of waste water".

“I RESPOND to a letter to the editor on 19 October (entitled Big 'no' to CSG). Metgasco is open and transparent and we do consult with the community.
Our industry is safe and established and has the support of the NSW Government. We are proud of the contribution we make to the Northern Rivers region and will make in the future.
We are accessible to the local media and regularly attend community events talking about our industry and our company.
We have been based in Casino for almost 10 years and with our Casino-based staff driving around in Metgasco-labelled utes it would be hard to hide even if we wanted to.
Our constant presence at community forums was a fact recognised last year by activist, Ian Gaillard, in which he commended us for "turning out to everything". Also Joanne Shoebridge on ABC local radio this week acknowledged our accessibility to talk about industry issues.
A key part of our community relations strategy is getting out and speaking to as many people as possible.
The events we organise include one-on-one meetings, presentations to small groups, conducting tours of our operations, addressing large membership-based gatherings, attending numerous community events (like Beef Week and Primex) and participating in community debates. Just last week we presented to Southern Cross University's regular Environmental Science Series seminar. It is worth noting we must provide annual reports to government on our community consultation program.
In the past, Green activists have attended meetings with the primary goal to disrupt proceedings. There is no benefit of meetings when this sort of behaviour occurs.
We believe a large percentage of the community will take comfort in the knowledge the NSW Government has closely assessed our industry and given it a tick of approval. We are aware however, that there is a small but vocal element of the community that is ideologically opposed to development and the fossil fuel industry, irrespective of its demonstrated safety and importance to our society.
We ask that the community accepts that strong regulations and processes are in place and allow them to be observed.
Peter Henderson
Managing Director and CEO, Metgasco”

Thursday 25 October 2012

Renison Consolidated Mines exploring within the Clarence River catchment in 2012

 
From A Clarence Valley Protest 24 October 2012: 
 
RENISON CONSOLIDATED MINES (formerly known as Sirocco Resources NL, Kakadu Resources Ltd, Gerrod Ltd and Avillion No 4 Ltd) a Brisbane-based corporation first registered in 1986 and primarily involved in gold and coal exploration, has been granted an exploration license in the Timbarra Plateau region on the NSW North Coast.
 
 
The plateau is detached from the Great Dividing Range, apart from a narrow connecting ridge in the north, and has hence been able to provide a significant refuge for wildlife from human impacts and feral predation. The plateau falls away steeply into the valleys of the Timbarra River and Demon Creek.
The area is a biodiversity hot spot. In the forests of the western sector of the nominated area, 29 endangered species are known to occur. These include: mammals (Hastings River Mouse, Yellow-bellied Glider, Tiger Quoll, Rufous Bettong, Golden-tipped Bat, Greater Broad-nosed Bat and Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby); birds (Glossy Black Cockatoo, Powerful Owl and Sooty Owl); and amphibians (Stuttering Frog, Glandular Frog and recently discovered Peppered Frog). The wilderness contains a major overlap of biogoegraphic zones, with faunal representations of coastal, inland, temperate and sub tropical regions converging. The area is the only single site able to provide key habitat for the threatened Hastings River Mouse, Eastern Chestnut Mouse and Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby.
 
The 98 blocks in this license surround the old Timbarra Gold Mine which was permanently closed in 2001-02 due to persistent cyanide contamination from mine tailing dams which overflowed after rain.
 
The licence also covers part of the Timbarra River catchment which falls within the larger Clarence River Catchment Area.
 
In 2011 the Clarence River catchment supplied fresh water to an estimated 52,816 residents living in the Clarence Valley local government area and, to another 73, 296 residents in the Coffs Harbour local government area which is located outside the catchment and historically is provided with a significant measure of water security by the Clarence Valley [Clarence Valley Council,Clarence Valley Economic Monitor,June 2012 and Coffs Harbour City Council,Community Profile,June 2011].
 
Renison’s current chair, Stephen Grant Bissell, is also a director of Bizzell Capital Partners, Renaissance Uranium, Armour Energy Ltd, Titan Energy Services Ltd, Dart Energy, Diversa Ltd, Stanmore Coal, Hot Rock Ltd, Bow Energy, Celamin Limited, Apollo Gas Limited, a former director of Arrow Energy and a member of the Queensland Coal Seam Gas forum.
 


Click on map to enlarge

Teh Parrot Eats Crow


The Sydney Morning Herald 24th October 2012:
Tuesday 25th September 2012
Alan Jones publicly apologizes to Barbara Ramjan