Liverpool Plains farmers say NSW Resources Regulator approved Santos exploration during caretaker mode

Farmers on the Liverpool Plains have been left feeling blindsided after a decision was made to approve coal seam gas exploration near Gunnedah.

Cattle farmer and Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord member Margaret Fleck said she was outraged to find out the NSW Resources Regulator had given the green light to energy giant Santos to reactivate legacy coal seam gas wells on the Liverpool Plains.

According to a letter obtained by the Leader, the regulator approved Santos' 'Kahlua Pilot Reactivation Project' effective as of March 15, when the government was in caretaker mode.

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Ms Fleck said she received an email from the regulator's executive director on the same day stating with the government in caretaker mode, the period before an election where no significant new decisions, appointments or contractual commitments should be made, "these types of applications will not be finalised until after the election".

"It's an outrageous thing to inform a member of the public that it wouldn't happen, and then on the very same day this activity has been approved," Ms Fleck told the Leader.

The Kahlua reactivation project allows Santos to continue exploration and appraisal activities to better understand the potential for "long-term energy security and affordability", according to Santos' website.

The approved site is located 20 kilometres west of Gunnedah.

Ms Fleck said approval decisions were usually uploaded to the 'news' section of the authority's website, but this was uploaded to a document library on March 31.

She said it was a clear example of the government trying to hide the decision from the public.

"To put it somewhere else, when people would be looking on the 'news' part of the website was somewhat unexpected, and not what we were informed would happen," she said.

A spokesperson for the NSW Government said the Resources Regulator "complied with caretaker conventions" in relation to approving and publishing the reactivation of the Kahlua well.

They said approval under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 is considered routine business and was assessed under the Act.

"Due to caretaker conventions the approval was not published on the website until after caretaker had ceased," the spokesperson said.

"Advice provided by the Regulator was about finalisation of the process as to when the assessment would be made public."

Ms Fleck said the affect on groundwater was one of her biggest concerns with the approved exploration.

The cattle farmer said nine million litres of waste water was expected to be produced from the wells each year.

"Any depletion or contamination will be a major concern," she said.

Earlier this year, Santos carried out seismic testing on the Liverpool Plains to locate gas which would connect to the Narrabri gas fields.

Farmers have also come out in fierce resistance against the potential to dig up rich black soil to bury the energy giant's proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline.

Ms Fleck said the most recent approval in Kahlua showed the "industry is ramping up, when it should be doing the opposite".

Santos was contacted for comment.

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