A NARRABRI anti-coal seam gas group is taking the energy giant Santos and the state government to court over the approval of the Leewood wastewater treatment plant in the Pilliga forest.
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People for the Plains will argue the approval given to the CSG wastewater treatment plant last week is invalid.
CSG explorations works are exempt from requiring development consent under NSW planning law, but the group will argue the plant is not for the purpose of CSG exploration and required separate development consent.
They will be represented in the NSW Land and Environment Court by the NSW Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).
Principal solicitor of EDO NSW, Sue Higginson, said the case is about ensuring proper laws and development assessment processes are followed in approving such development.
“While the Leewood water treatment plant will receive waste water from the CSG activities in the Pilliga, it is not for the purpose of CSG exploration, and should not be able to proceed without development consent,” Ms Higginson said.
“There is a real question whether the Leewood facility is even allowed on the land at all, when the local planning laws are considered, as they ought to have been.”
Santos general manager of energy NSW, Peter Mitchley, said the fact someone can argue the wastewater treatment plant is not a petroleum activity is “difficult to comprehend”.
He said the facility is a “simple” reverse osmosis plan, which would take the water from the CSG process and make it useable for irrigation.
“They are used in cities across Australia to treat water,” Mr Mitchley said.
He said Santos has followed the government’s “rigorous” process and the plant had been assessed by a number of departments.
“We are confident on the ground we stand on – they’ve got their interpretation of the law and we’ve got ours,” he said.
“We’ll work through the legal process and let the court decide.”
The Leader asked Mr Mitchley if he thought the legal action was taken to merely interfere with Santos’ activities in the region, but he declined to answer other than to say people can decide for themselves.
Mr Mitchley said operations at the plant will commence shortly despite the legal action, as until decided otherwise it had government approval.
Spokesperson for People for the Plains, Sarah Ciesiolka, said Santos and the Department of Resources and Energy had not followed the proper legal process by “conveniently” classifying the Leewood facility as CSG exploration work.
“Resource companies like Santos, and the NSW government, should not bypass planning requirements in assessing resource projects of this nature,” Ms Ciesiolka said.
“A one million litre wastewater treatment plant is no trifling development – but in its desire to prop up Santos’ troubled gas gamble in the Pilliga, the government has neglected to apply the most basic planning laws we’ve got.
“It seems that due consideration, process and the law are not properly being applied to the CSG industry, and that’s a huge concern for landholders in our area.”
“You don’t muck around with CSG waste water, and you don’t bypass the checks and balances of planning law when so much is at stake.”
The matter is understood to come before the court before the end of the year.
