ONE of the wastewater holding ponds at Santos' Leewood facility in the Pilliga forest leaked briefly during its commissioning phase but none of the water leached into the environment, the company said.
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A leak in the seal in the first layer of the pond was detected in February last year during the construction phase and contractors quickly repaired the fault, Santos' general manager of energy NSW Peter Mitchley said.
"There was no loss of fluid from the pond," Mr Mitchley said.
"It proves the detection system works, and the second and third layers prevented the water going anywhere."
Questions about the detection of water between the main linings of one of the four ponds each capable of holding 150 million litres were raised at a local consultation meeting last month in Narrabri by local grazier Tony Pickard, whose land is adjacent to Santos' exploration wells.
Mr Pickard said he had been told by a local Santos operations manager during a tour of the site in November that the fluid was "rainwater" and not from the pond.
It is understood a small amount of rainwater had also been found between the primary and secondary layers during construction when the liner was incomplete and prior to produced water being stored in the pond.
Santos said on Tuesday the leak was found when the pond was about one-third full, and the waste water was then drained to allow the repairs to take place.
The amount leaked was in the order of 2000 litres a day.
"Why the heck didn't they get back to me with the answer?" Mr Pickard said.
"They all tell you they want to get to the information out there ... but you've got to put them in a corner to get it."
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said it carried out regular inspections at the Leewood ponds site and would continue to do so.
"We have no evidence of any leak from the water treatment ponds into the environment," a spokeswoman said.
"The EPA is satisfied that the construction of the ponds at Leewood represent best practice. The construction includes double liners and a leak detection system.
"As long as the secondary liner is not breached and the leak detection system and sump collection system work as intended which is part of our regular inspection regime the EPA is confident that the environment will be protected."
