Our Work Health & Energy Leigh Creek Energy Underground Coal Gasification (April 2019)

Leigh Creek Energy Underground Coal Gasification (April 2019)

The state of SA has decided that it will try and perform better than Queensland in establishing an underground coal gasification (UCG) enterprise. They need to be reminded that the process has ended in disaster for the environment and workers in about half of all UCG developments nationally and internationally. There has never been a health impact assessment for any UCG development. 

In SA the assessment and management of the project will be the sole responsibility of the omnipotent Mines and Energy department. They propose to allow production of Syngas in a region scarce in water resources , near to the Great Artesian Basin and with the opposition of Aboriginal people.
In the submission we make the point that The Leigh Creek Proposal is complex and in future such decisions need to be made by national experts based in the national interest as to whether UCG should proceed anywhere in Australia.

So, In the case of Leigh Creek, a national system using a Sustainability Commission would consider the issues raised by Doctors for the Environment Australia and the Conservation Council of South Australia and recommend a decision on whether any UCG should proceed in Australia”.

Read the Leigh Creek Energy Underground Coal Gasification EIR Submission