Unconventional Gas Development in Queensland, Australia: How Well Does it Align with the ‘Golden Rules’ of Gas?

The Australian Government’s $35.4 million Geological and Bioregional Assessment (GBA) Program is assessing the potential impacts of shale, tight and deep coal gas development on water and the environment in the Beetaloo, Isa and Cooper GBA regions. This paper compares the outcomes of impact assessments for the Beetaloo and Cooper GBA regions, highlighting the role that local geology, hydrogeology, ecology and regulatory regimes play when assessing potential impacts of unconventional gas development. Unconventional gas development activities between basins are broadly consistent, involving drilling, stimulation of the reservoir (typically through hydraulic fracturing), production and processing of hydrocarbons, export to market and decommissioning and rehabilitation. The characteristics of these activities and their potential impacts are strongly influenced by local factors including the geology, environment, industry practices and regulatory regimes. While subsurface impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing and well integrity are considered unlikely in both regions, regional geology means there is greater stratigraphic separation between target resources and overlying aquifers in the Beetaloo Sub-basin than in the Cooper Basin. Local ecological conditions and species influence the nature of potential impacts on protected matters in the two basins, which are mostly associated with surface disturbance and spills or accidental release of fluids. A key similarity between the two regions is the broadly consistent regulation and management of potential impacts in the two basins. Preliminary results of the causal network analysis indicate that mitigation measures are available for all pathways in which unconventional gas resource development activities may have the potential to impact on endpoints.

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Impacts of unconventional gas development on rural community decline

Journal of Rural Studies ◽

10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.04.003 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. 376-385 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Thomas G. Measham ◽

David A. Fleming

Keyword(s):

Rural Community ◽

Unconventional Gas ◽

Unconventional Gas Development

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A roadmap for community and investor satisfaction from unconventional gas development

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj12048 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 437 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Barry Goldstein ◽

Anthony Hill ◽

Michael Malavazos ◽

Sandra Menpes ◽

Alexandra Wickham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

State Government ◽

South Australia ◽

Unconventional Gas ◽

Land Access ◽

Environmentally Sustainable ◽

Balance Of Trade ◽

World Class ◽

To Come ◽

Unconventional Gas Development ◽

Sustainable Projects

If a fraction of the national potential to produce unconventional gas is realised, then Australia will benefit: security of domestic and export gas supplies for decades to come; supply-side competition for decades to come; improved balance of trade and transport fuel security as Australia's supplants imports with gas-based transport fuel; billions of dollars invested in environmentally sustainable projects; thousands of jobs; considerable royalties and tax for revenues public good; and, world-class intellectual property that can be converted into export services and equipment. Given these drivers, the SA State Government convened a Roundtable for Unconventional Gas Projects in October 2010. Participating in this roundtable are a total of 260 organisations plus individuals, including: peak representative bodies focused on economic, social, and natural environment outcomes; and, companies, universities, and key agencies from all state, NT, and commonwealth governments. This roundtable informed a Roadmap for Unconventional Gas Projects in South Australia that was published in December 2012. The objectives of this roadmap are to credibly inform industry strategies, government policies, and public perceptions. In particular, this roadmap explains how people and enterprises potentially affected by unconventional gas operations are given information and time to draw considered views so their rights to object in part or full to activity—and location-specific land access—are supported. This will facilitate the efficient, profitable, and welcomed deployment of capital, technologies, and infrastructure for the commercialisation of unconventional gas. This extended abstract details the findings of this roadmap.

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An opportunity to say no: Comparing local community attitudes toward onshore unconventional gas development in pre-approval and operational phases

Resources Policy ◽

10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101824 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 69 ◽

pp. 101824

Author(s):

Dr Rod McCrea ◽

Dr Andrea Walton ◽

Ms Talia Jeanneret

Keyword(s):

Local Community ◽

Unconventional Gas ◽

Community Attitudes ◽

Unconventional Gas Development

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Exploring Disparities in Maternal Residential Proximity to Unconventional Gas Development in the Barnett Shale in North Texas

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16030298 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 298

Author(s):

Jennifer Ish ◽

Elaine Symanski ◽

Kristina Whitworth

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

White Women ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Negative Binomial Regression ◽

Barnett Shale ◽

North Texas ◽

Unconventional Gas ◽

Residential Proximity ◽

Unconventional Gas Development

Background: This study explores sociodemographic disparities in residential proximity to unconventional gas development (UGD) among pregnant women. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis using data from a retrospective birth cohort of 164,658 women with a live birth or fetal death from November 2010 to 2012 in the 24-county area comprising the Barnett Shale play, in North Texas. We considered both individual- and census tract-level indicators of sociodemographic status and computed Indexes of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) to quantify relative neighborhood-level privilege/disadvantage. We used negative binomial regression to investigate the relation between these variables and the count of active UGD wells within 0.8 km of the home during gestation. We calculated count ratios (CR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to describe associations. Results: There were fewer wells located near homes of women of color living in low-income areas compared to non-Hispanic white women living in more privileged neighborhoods (ICE race/ethnicity + income: CR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.48–0.55). Conclusions: While these results highlight a potential disparity in residential proximity to UGD in the Barnett Shale, they do not provide evidence of an environmental justice (EJ) issue nor negate findings of environmental injustice in other regions.

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