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Gloucester is awaiting the decision

Gloucester is awaiting the decision on whether AGL can start fracking 300m from family homes. AGL want to start fracking as soon as possible.

The following list the fines, breaches of license and investigations by the NSW EPA Environmental Protection Agency against coal seam gas company AGL in 2013:

19 December 2013	Exceeding NOx limits	Fined $1,500
9 August 2013	1. failure to maintain and operate equipment; 2. failure to continuously monitor emissions; and 3. failure to meet proper sampling requirements to monitor concentrations of pollutants discharged.	Enforceable Undertaking to address licence non-compliances AGL to pay $150,000 to environmental education and management project in the local area. AGL also paid $10,000 for EPA’s investigation and legal costs. AGL to bring the premises back into compliance with licence requirements.
15 July 2013	Failing to report Air Emission Monitoring data	Fined $1,000
12 March 2013	Exceeding NOx emission limit from onsite gas compressor engines during September, November and December 2012	Fined $1,500 for breaching its licence conditions
1 March 2013	Gas well flooded	No Action

AGL fined for NOx exceedences

19 December 2013 The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued AGL operations in Camden with a fine of $1,500 and an official caution for exceeding air pollutant, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) concentrations limits on two occasions in August this year.

The EPA’s Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford said that AGL had self-reported the two incidents to the EPA.

“AGL holds an Environment Protection Licence (EPL) issued by the EPA for the Rosalind Park Gas Plant which forms part of the Camden Gas Scheme.

“AGL is required to continuously monitor emissions from its three gas compression engines. They are also required to publish emission data on a regular basis.

“Emissions at the Camden site are monitored by three onsite Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) units and routine independent stack testing.

“In August and September this year the EPA received two incident reports from AGL for breaches of NOx concentration limits.

“The first exceedence occurred on 4 August and the second on 13 August. AGL has told the EPA that they were only made aware of the 13 August exceedence on September 6 when they received their monthly report of the CEMS from the company that undertakes the monitoring.

“The EPA has investigated the incidents and has determined that AGL failed to maintain its equipment in a proper and efficient condition as required under the EPL.

“As soon as AGL became aware of the incidents, it reported them immediately to the EPA, investigated the causes of the incidents and took action including the shut-down of equipment.

“AGL has also adopted corrective actions aimed at preventing a recurrence including more frequent verification of monitoring systems used for compliance purposes and the automatic shutdown of a gas compression engine if it goes into fault.

“Whilst the exceedences were small and of short duration and did not cause a significant impact on the environment, the EPA takes all non-compliances seriously”, said Mr Gifford

All details of the AGL licence and non-compliances are published on the EPA public register.

EPA investigating exceedences at AGL Camden plant

11 September 2013 – The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is investigating potential emissions breaches from the AGL Rosalind Park site in August that were reported to the EPA yesterday.

The incidents relate to three minor exceedences of the nitrogen oxide concentration limits by 1mg, 5mg and 10mg per cubic metre, on August 13 2013 between 5am and 8am.

AGL has told the EPA that they were only made aware of the exceedences on September 6 when they received their monthly report of the Continuous Emissions Monitoring System from the off-site monitoring company.

While it does not appear that exceedences of this type would have resulted in any environmental or health concern, the EPA is very concerned about the AGL control systems which did not activate an alarm in place for immediate awareness of the issue by the company.

The EPA has directed AGL to provide a full written report on the exceedences within 7 days.

The EPA is also investigating a separate nitrogen oxide exceedence that was reported on August 5.

AGL signs an Enforceable Undertaking to address licence non-compliances

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has considered and agreed to a proposal from AGL for an Enforceable Undertaking (EU).

Investigations by the EPA indicated that AGL had not complied with several Environment Protection Licence (EPL) conditions in relation to the continuous monitoring of air emissions between 2009 to 2012.

The EPA’s Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford said the licence non-compliances were first reported to EPA by AGL in Mid 2012 when the EPA tightened laws which required companies to publicly report all monitoring data collected under an EPL.

The licence non-compliances relate to failure to maintain and operate equipment; failure to continuously monitor emissions; and failure to meet proper sampling requirements to monitor concentrations of pollutants discharged.

The EPA considers an EU is an appropriate enforcement response in this instance rather than prosecution because it will achieve an effective and long term resolution and more directly benefits the environment and community.

AGL holds an Environment Protection Licence issued by the EPA for the Rosalind Park Gas Plant which forms part of the Camden Gas Scheme.

AGL is required to continuously monitor and report on their emissions. Whilst full continuous monitoring for Nitrogen Oxides did not occur between 2009 and 2012, quarterly stack testing was conducted in accordance with the EPL. The quarterly results show compliance with the tight licence limits.

AGL has stated that the cause was due to oversight combined with a lack of understanding by staff. AGL has already implemented various measures to prevent a recurrence.

Whilst the AGL non-compliances with licence conditions did not cause a significant impact on the environment, it is vital that the community and government have accurate and reliable information about its emissions.

The EU is a public and legally binding written agreement to address poor conduct put forward by a Company to the regulator as an alternative to prosecution. The EU recognises that AGL has taken active responsibility for the offence and implemented all necessary measures to address licence breaches.

The EU contains a detailed description of the non-compliances that concerned the EPA, AGL’s acknowledgement of these and the actions taken to address the licence non-compliances. These actions include the installation of new air monitoring equipment, a detailed review of air monitoring requirements and changes to reporting and auditing systems.

The EU requires AGL to pay $150,000 to a “Love Your Lagoons” environmental education and management project in the local area that will be implemented by the University of Western Sydney.

AGL will also pay the EPA’s investigation and legal costs totalling $10,000.

These payments are over and above the costs to AGL to bring the premises back into compliance with licence requirements.

The environmental enhancement component of the EU was proposed by AGL and developed in consultation with the AGL Community Consultative Committee.

The EPA takes all non-compliances seriously and our regulatory decisions are guided by the principles outlined in the EPA Prosecution Guidelines.

AGL fined for failing to report Air Emission Monitoring data

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined AGL $1,000 for failing to publish monitoring data under “community right to know” requirements of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

The EPA’s Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford said the intent of these requirements is to improve the public’s access to information about the environmental performance of licensed facilities.

“AGL holds an Environment Protection Licence issued by the EPA for the Rosalind Park Gas Plant which forms part of the Camden Gas Scheme.”

“AGL is required to obtain and publish emission data from its three gas compression engines, from onsite Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) units and routine independent stack testing.

“When EPA reviewed the AGL website on 6 June, the last CEMS data was for the month of January. No CEMS data was published for the months of February, March and April .

“The EPA requires a monthly summary of the CEMS data to be published on the company’s website within 14 days of the last data being obtained for that month. “

“Once notified, AGL immediately published the data. The data indicates that emissions were not above the limits permitted by its Environment Protection Licence.”

The EPA takes all non-compliances seriously and our regulatory decisions are guided by the principles outlined in the EPA Prosecution Guidelines.

AGL fined for breach of Licence

The NSW Environment Protection Authority has fined AGL $1,500 for breaching its licence conditions at its Rosalind Park Gas Treatment Plant after emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were recorded above limits permitted by its Environment Protection Licence.

The EPA’s Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford said AGL holds an Environment Protection Licence issued by the EPA for the Rosalind Park Gas Treatment Plant which forms part of the Camden Gas Scheme.

“The licence requires that the concentration of nitrogen oxides that can be emitted from AGL’s gas compressor engines must not exceed 461 mg/m3 at any time (based on an hourly average).

“AGL recorded exceedances of the NOx emission limit from onsite gas compressor engines during September, November and December 2012. The highest hourly average reported for each month was 587 mg/m3 in September, 896 mg/m3 in November and 578mg/m3 in December.

“The EPA does not consider these exceedences caused significant harm to the surrounding community or environment.

“AGL self-reported the incidents to the EPA and the emission monitoring data, including the exceedances, were published on the AGL website as required by the EPA. AGL also investigated the cause of the exceedences and promptly fixed the equipment.”

The EPA takes all non-compliances seriously and our regulatory decisions are guided by the principles outlined in the EPA Prosecution Guidelines.

The EPA is separately investigating AGL at Camden for failing to continuously monitor NOx emissions from its gas compressor engines between 2009 and 2012. This licence breach was reported by AGL to the EPA in July 2012. The EPA’s regulatory response will be made public shortly when the process is complete.

Menangle Park AGL coal seam gas well flooded after recent rains

The NSW Environment Protection Authority’s (EPAs) Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford, has confirmed that the AGL site at Menangle Park has been again been subjected to heavy rains but the community can be reassured that the flooding does not pose a risk to the environment.

“AGL advised the EPA of the flooding of one of its gas production wells at Menangle Park following heavy rainfall,” Mr Gifford said.

“AGL’s planning approval includes conditions which specifically address flooding due to the wells’ sensitive location, including the requirement for a Flood Management Plan.

“These site management measures require AGL to take precautions to prevent any environmental impacts and to secure the site to prior to flooding occurring.

“AGL’s wells can be shut remotely and are designed to be safe even if submerged underwater.

“The EPA is confident that the AGL Menangle Park site was appropriately secured during flood events, and that no contaminants, including any stored chemicals, could have moved off the site.

“AGL has done the right thing by reporting the flooding to the EPA.

”The EPA will continue to ensure that AGL maintains the environmental performance of its Menangle site to a high standard.

In 2009/2010 the NSW government and the taxpayers were forced to cover a $100 million bill to clean up toxic waste at the former Australian Gas Light Company gasworks site in Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Sydney city.

AGL Gasworks, 30-38 Hickson Road Millers Point Sydney

Contaminated Land Management Act 1997

Nature of contamination affecting the site:

The EPA believes that the site is contaminated with gasworks waste and particularly waste tar as a result of the previous use of the site as a gasworks plant.

The chemical composition of gasworks waste includes the following substances (“the contaminants”): polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX); total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs); ammonia; phenol and cyanide.

According to state government memos obtained by the SMH, the chemicals have spread into Darling Harbour and to residential blocks and pose a ”serious risk of harm to human health”.

Jemena acquired assets of the former AGL from another entity after 2006, when the current AGL Energy Limited was formed as a separate company not involved in this dispute.

More to read: The fracking technology currently used was invented in 1998

Coal Seam Gas

Blog / By admin

As of December 12, 2013, AGL are waiting NSW State Government approval to recommence stimulation fracking of these same wells …

AGL’s Gloucester coal seam gas wells have already accidentally erupted methane 300m away from the wells

A coal seam gas well currently owned by AGL at Gloucester was shut down in 2004 when several boreholes up to 300 meters away unexpectedly blew off methane gas.

These are the same wells which consumer gas company AGL and federal Resources Minister McFarlane now want to start fracking before Christmas.

These gas wells are located less than 300 metres away from family homes.

However, AGL insists that family homes within 300m of gas wells is not close: “Claims that wells will be close to houses is incorrect. The closest any well will be to a residence is around 300 metres.”

300m is less than the length of 25 school buses or 15 mining trucks and a man ran that distance in less than 31 seconds in 2000.

The NSW Government is currently considering whether AGL should continue fracking operations of these wells, with their announcement expected soon. The community at Gloucester has vowed to stop AGL.

An expert in Workplace Health & Safety said that in assessing the risk of a potentially dangerous industrial operation such as a gas well so close to where people live and work, there are two main considerations: the ‘likelihood’ of an accident, and the ‘consequence’ of that accident.

Looking at the AGL Gloucester gas wells, the likelihood is assessed as ‘high’ as a blow out has happened previously in the same wells. The consequence of as similar accident happening again is ‘extreme’ as multiple deaths of innocent residents may occur.

With families and farmers living and working within 300m of gas wells, the chances of accidental explosion from hot water systems or any flame is of major concern to residents.

COAL BED METHANE HAZARDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES
BY C. M. ATKINSON January 2005.

In September 2004, within a fortnight of the beginning of gas testing, a coal bed methane well north of Newcastle, NSW, was shut down as several boreholes up to 300m away began to blow off methane gas.

This was the first reported case of a serious migration of methane gas from coal bed methane operations in New South Wales.

Molopo Australia Limited has a 25% interest with the operating company AJ Lucas Coal technologies Pty. Ltd, in the Stratford gas prospect near Gloucester, approximately 100 kilometres north of Newcastle.

Drill hole LMG-03 was one of two test production drill holes completed by the partners and four coal zones with an aggregate thickness of 16 metres (some announcements quote 23 metres) of coal had been fracture stimulated with sand and water. A 6-12 months testing period began in late August 2004.

However, Molopo announced on 7th September that all tests had been halted after methane had erupted from a number of old boreholes in the area.

At the time a strong gas flow of 280,000 cubic feet/day had been recorded even though the water level was still about 300 metres above the coal seams.

Two and a half months later Molopo Australia Limited announced that test pumping of LMG-03 had resumed.

Three boreholes from an earlier coal exploration had started producing methane, and these along with eight other boreholes had now been sealed with concrete, the company explained.

The project manager explained in November that this accidental methane eruption had shown how good the lateral connections were in the reservoir.

In this case there were apparently no serious injuries and the methane gas migrated into nearby boreholes rather than houses, essential water supplies or livestock areas.

This example shows that even with only a partial withdrawal of the hydrostatic pressure, methane will migrate quickly and in unpredictable directions.

If the drill site conditions laid down by the State Government are similar at Stratford to those elsewhere, the most visible safety precautions would have been a wire fence and a locked gate.

Shares in Molopo Australia Limited (MPO) dropped 8% on 7 September 2004 after the company advised that work on its Coal bed methane project at New South Wales’ Gloucester Basin had been suspended because gas started venting from a number of old boreholes in the area.

More to read: Dealing with irritations that come from CPAP masks

$The fracking technology currently used was invented in 1998$

The fracking technology currently used was invented in 1998

Blog / By admin

Don’t be fooled by the gas industry spin that “fracking has been done safely for decades”. This massive world-wide ‘gas rush’ is happening because George Mitchell figured out how to do it economically in 1998.

George Mitchell is known as the “Father of Fracking” due to his 1998 invention (just over 15 years ago) where he combined the old and uneconomical hydraulic fracturing, with ‘slickwater’ and with ‘horizontal drilling’ … those 3 technologies combined made the process economical and thus fuelled the current world-wide boom in fracking

Sources: The father of fracking (The Economist)

The industry can no longer simply focus on the benefits of shale gas (The Economist)

Shale Gas Revolution (NY Times)

Yes, hydraulic fracturing or fracking by pumping water down a well was done since 1947 – but it was uneconomical and was rarely done.

“In 1998, with Mr Mitchell approaching his 80s, his team hit on the idea of substituting water for gunky drilling fluids. This drastically cut the cost of drilling and turned the Barnett Shale into a gold mine”.

From the 1970s America’s energy industry reconciled itself to apparently inevitable decline.

Analysts produced charts to show that its oil and gas were running out. The big oil firms globalised in order to survive.

But Mr Mitchell was convinced that immense reserves trapped in shale rock deep beneath the surface could be freed.

He did not discover shale gas and oil: geological surveys had revealed them decades before he started. He did not even invent fracking: it had been in use since the 1940s. But few great entrepreneurs invent something entirely new.

He spent decades perfecting techniques for unlocking them: injecting high-pressure fluids into the ground to fracture the rock and create pathways for the trapped oil and gas (fracking) and drilling down and then sideways to increase each well’s yield (horizontal drilling).

George Mitchell fused two technologies – hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling and added a cocktail of chemicals to the fracking process which made the process economical.

The result was a revolution. In an interview with The Economist last year Mr Mitchell said he never had any doubt that fracking might turn the American energy market upside down.

But even he was surprised by the speed of the change. Shale beds now produce more than a quarter of America’s natural gas, compared with just 1% in 2000.

Q. “Are the concerns of environmentalists over fracking justified?

George Mitchell: “As a concerned businessman and philanthropist, I have come to understand that the natural gas industry can no longer simply focus on the benefits of shale gas while failing to address its challenges.

“We know that there are significant impacts on air quality, water consumption, water contamination, and local communities.”

Shale Gas Revolution

November 3, 2011 NYTimes – A few years ago, a business genius named George P. Mitchell helped offer such a gift. As Daniel Yergin writes in “The Quest,” his gripping history of energy innovation, Mitchell fought through waves of skepticism and opposition to extract natural gas from shale.

The method he and his team used to release the trapped gas, called fracking, has paid off in the most immense way.

In 2000, shale gas represented just 1 percent of American natural gas supplies.

Today, it is 30 percent and rising.