Opponents call out ‘major data gaps’ in Santos CSG Narrabri response to submissions

However, the company says the report shows the project would not impact existing water users and or have a significant impact on groundwater resources.

Santos’ Response to Submissions (RtS) acknowledges and replies to all the concerns raised in the 23,000 submissions the project received.

Coonabaraban resident Jane Judd said the company’s response was “woefully inadequate”.

“Especially when it comes to water,” she said.

“They have point blank refused to conduct the extra baseline data collection on groundwater dependent ecosystems recommended by the Independent Expert Scientific Committee.

“What is the point of having an expert water group to review gas mining proposals if Santos is free to just ignore them? It’s just not good enough.”

Santos CEO Kevin Gallegher said the RtS was the next step in the comprehensive NSW government assessment process and confirmed the project ticked all the boxes.

“Santos is confident it has the track record and expertise required to safely and sustainably develop the Narrabri Gas Project and deliver clean energy to NSW for many years to come,” Mr Gallegher said.

Narrabri resident Rohan Boehm said the company was still keeping the project shrouded in secrecy and called on Santos to reveal to reveal exactly where they planned to place their gas wells.

“The community still has no way of knowing where the 850 gas wells and associated roads, pipelines, compressor stations and other infrastructure will be located,” he said.

“Santos are basically asking the government to give them a blank cheque.”

NSW Resource and Energy Assessments director Mike Young said all applications were assessed on their merits under the state government's planning legislation.

“Community consultation is an integral and important part of the planning assessment process,” he said.