Coal Seam Mining Major to be Environmental Issue
Coal seam gas mining will be one of the biggest environmental issues to confront the country, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has declared, while backing the need for mining companies to respect the rights of farmers.
Addressing the debate over whether farmers should be able to say no to mining on their land, Mr Barnett said yesterday the extraction of unconventional gas had a significant impact on the environment.
"The situation in Queensland is where the extraction of tight gas does have a significant impact visually and some very complex and risky environmental impacts on water tables," he said.
"I think it will probably be one of the big environmental issues facing Australia."
He said mining companies should respect the rights of farmers and in his state farmers had the right to veto mining on their land.
"In WA, freehold property owners do have a veto over mining; that's been in place a long time Generally you get negotiated outcomes between mining companies and farmers," he said. Or, in some cases, if there's a resources deposit, often the mining companies simply buy the land and work around it."
Mr Barnett predicted that Queensland's coal-seam gas industry would seek a resolution.
"You're talking about a sophisticated mining industry and part of that sophistication means dealing with landowners in a sensible way," he said.
"It will be an issue, but I'm sure there will be some resolution."
Barrister George Irving, who specialises in mining and native title law, said under WA's Mining Act there was a provision known as the "farmer's veto".
"If a farmer has an area under cultivation, the Mining Act says no mining can take place . . . without the consent of the farmer. Cultivation means just about anything; if it's an unfenced area used for grazing stock, then that's cultivation," Mr Irving said.
He said in theory the state government could intervene and compulsorily acquire the land but this had never happened in the case of freehold farming land.
Source: The Australian