Wahlquist, C. (2016, April 24). River on fire in Greens MP’s video is natural, not fracking, says CSIRO. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/river-on-fire-in-greens-mps-video-is-natural-not-fracking-says-csiro
An Australian Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, posted a video of himself lighting the surface of the Condamine River, starting a fire on the surface of the river. Buckingham blamed the coal seam gas industry for the methane flow which was less than 1km away from an oil well and 5km away from a gas field. However, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has stated that the methane seep was a result of coal beds being less than 100m from the surface, causing naturally occurring fissures in the rock. The CSIRO has said that the coal beds don’t create natural connections and that the methane flow has no direct connection to the fracking in the area.
If fracking sites create gas flows in surrounding areas, it could mean major problems for climate change. Introducing gas flows to ecosystems is dangerous and can damage the health of the environment. However, according to the CSIRO, fracking was not the cause of the methane flow. It would be wrong to ignore the possible link between the gas flow and the oil well, but at the moment, it seems like fracking is still a relatively safe procedure.
What damages could be caused to the surrounding ecosystem from having methane flow through the river?
This reminds me of when we learned about the Cuyahoga River catching fire multiple times in the 60s due to pollution. Australia needs to learn from our past and not make the same careless environmental mistakes.
Humans need to find more efficient and safe ways of extracting natural resources or else there could be serious consequences. Did this incident cause harm to any organisms?
It seems as though there is some confusion about whether or not the coal industry is to blame for this. How could they test the water to find out?