What are the effects of coal seam gas on the health of Queenslanders?
A leading health organisation is backing calls for a royal commission into the impact of coal seam gas mining on the people of Queensland. Dr David Shearman from Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) urges the new Government to protect the current and future health of Queenslanders.
Senator Glenn Lazarus’ recent call for a royal commission into mining, especially coal seam gas, comes just as the Federal Government’s Independent Expert Scientific Committee warned that Santos’ proposal to expand its CSG operations “creates considerable scientific uncertainty”.
Given the adverse impacts from CSG on farmers and rural communities which have largely been ignored, a royal commission needs to happen sooner rather than later.
The CSG industry is out of control in Queensland – it’s growing so rapidly there is barely time to consider the implications on health and the environment. Our concerns are that fracking methods can use chemicals which have the potential to cause long-term health effects, including endocrine (hormone system) disruption, fertility and reproductive effects and the development of some cancers.
Internationally, there is growing evidence that fracking has contaminated wastewater, and the potential long-term health impacts are starting to be detected. In the US the scientific literature shows an increased prevalence of heart defects in children whose mothers lived in close proximity to gas fields.
When dealing with potentially harmful activities, the precautionary principle must be prioritized – public health must not have to carry the burden of proof.
Some people would have you believe that fracking has financial benefits for the community. It’s false economics when you weigh in the costs to people’s health and the contamination to Queensland’s precious water resources.
The lack of regulation and monitoring of wells in Queensland has so far had a bad track record. In Queensland, at the end of the first quarter of 2014, there were 5,553 active coal seam gas wells, including 4,703 production wells. The number of wells being monitored to detect abnormalities is totally inadequate
We urge the new Government in Queensland to support a royal commission for it is in their interest and those of developers to wipe the slate clean and move to a sound trusted process which protects the current and future health of Queenslanders.
DEA has recently put in a submission into the Queensland Government administration, whose terms of reference include environmental approvals. However, as yet this has not been published.
Dr David Shearman is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Adelaide and the Honorary Secretary and founder of Doctors for the Environment Australia.
Max Thomas
March 6, 2015 at 6:24 am
What are the effects of CSG on the health of Queenslanders?
I agree with Dr Shearman that CSG proposals ought to be regulated and based on scientific risk assessment. However, I read the blog expecting to learn something about the health effects of CSG but found unsupported assertions such as: "given the adverse impacts from CSG on farmers and rural communities" and "fracking methods can use chemicals which have the potential to cause long-term health effects." If the monitoring of wells in Queensland has been "totally inadequate" any assertions about health or environmental impacts must be treated with caution. A little more detail will be required to convince government that a royal commission is required.