A man has locked himself under a coal seam gas rig truck headed towards the Pilliga forest in north-west New South Wales on Saturday morning.
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Simon Pockley was among 10 protesters at Santos' proposed Narrabri Gas Project, and one of seven who attached themselves to Santos CSG equipment in two locations.
Six farmers have locked themselves on gas drilling rig machinery at a gas drilling compound in the Pilliga forest.
A rescue team sent by the police was on its way about 10.30am to unhook the six protesters at the Pilliga site, before they attend to Mr Pockley in Bellata.
Mr Pockley crawled on the dirt underneath a stationed truck and wedged his arms in an L-shaped pipe looped through the vehicle about 7.45am.
The 64-year-old said he aimed to slow down Santos' operations, which he believes could affect his drinking water if they began operations in the Narrabri area.
"They'll have to cut me free, which will be quite difficult without cutting my arms off," he said.
"I'm not sure how they're going to do that and I'm quite happy to be here indefinitely and hold up Santos.
"It looks like I'll be here all day."
Santos was fined $1500 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority in March for contaminating a groundwater aquifer with uranium products.
Mr Pockley said he had written to Santos CEO David Knox to determine how they would respond to the contaminated aquifer, but had received no response.
Santos spokesperson Chandran Vigneswaran said the contaminated aquifer did not threaten anyone's safety as it was not connected to deeper aquifers used by farmers.
He said the protest could slow down the company's operations and impact the safety of both workers and protesters.
"It's irresponsible behaviour," he said. "In the past, these protesters have done it while the vehicle is moving – they dive under the truck and sometimes the activists can be dragged on a dirt road.
"In the past, certainly these activities slow us down, it impacts the project, our suppliers and has a financial cost to our business."
The blockade follows the arrest of protester Pat Shultz in the Pilliga forest on Friday night.
The Armidale grandmother was arrested for attaching herself to a coal seam gas rig truck for several hours on Friday.
She is set to face court later this month.
