The Queensland Resources Council, the peak organisation for the State’s coal, metal and petroleum producers, explorers and suppliers, has welcomed the release of findings from a three-year CSIRO study into the air, water and soil impacts of hydraulic fracturing in Queensland.
The study found hydraulic fracturing in Queensland has little to no impacts on air quality, soils, groundwater and waterways.
QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the CSIRO study conducted, via the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA) and focussed on the Surat Basin, was an emphatic endorsement of the industry’s development of the State’s onshore gas reserves.
“This study is clear evidence to policy-makers that our gas reserves are being developed sustainably and successfully for Queensland, and there is no credible scientific or environmental reason to constrain the further development of these reserves,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The study vindicates the bi-partisan support for the Queensland LNG industry over more than a decade.”
“In 2018-19, the oil and gas industry provided an $8 billion injection to the Queensland economy and supported almost 40,000 jobs.
That contribution is even more precious today with the severe economic impacts of COVID-19.”
GISERA is a collaboration between CSIRO, Commonwealth and state governments.
