For more than 30 years, Leanne and Doug Muller have poured their lives into their cattle property near the quiet Queensland town of Cecil Plains.<\/p>\n
Now, they fear it will all be for nothing.<\/p>\n
The Queensland government recently approved the construction of a major coal-seam gas-processing facility three kilometres from their home \u2014 a decision Ms Muller said left her feeling “extremely disappointed”.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a large number of concerns,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The noise is a big one, and the air pollutants are going to be a problem for us as well as the town of Cecil Plains.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Arrow Energy can now expand its proposed Lynwood Field Compression Station on the Darling Downs. (ABC Rural: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n
The government has given Arrow Energy the green light to expand its proposed Lynwood Field Compression Station on the Darling Downs, part of the company’s broader Surat Gas Project.<\/p>\n
The move has ignited anger among local farmers and environmental groups, who warn it threatens prime agricultural land, air quality, and community health.<\/p>\n
Arrow Energy, a joint venture between Shell and PetroChina, defended the approval, saying the facility would use “safe, established technology already in use across the Western Downs”.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said emissions would be “10 times below the federal guideline for the protection of human health”.<\/p>\n
The company said the project, first proposed in 2012, had already been through extensive public consultation and environmental assessments.<\/p>\n
“The facility and its location were approved under our Environmental Impact Statement by the Queensland and federal governments in 2013,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Low impact on air<\/p>\n
Arrow said it would operate on Arrow-owned land and implement noise and light management plans to reduce impacts on nearby properties.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation said a detailed assessment found “the risks of impacting air quality to be low”.<\/p>\n
The department said strict conditions would require air monitoring and limits on carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions.<\/p>\n
But local groups say the approval has blindsided the community and contradicts government promises to protect farmland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In April, dozens of farmers protested coal seam gas expansion at the edge of Arrow Energy\u2019s Surat Gas Project. (ABC Rural: Brandon Long)<\/p>\n
Save Our Darling Downs and Lock the Gate Alliance have announced plans to seek a review of the decision.<\/p>\n
Save Our Darling Downs spokesperson and Cecil Plains farmer Liza Balmain called the move “wildly inappropriate”, saying it placed an industrial facility just kilometres from a rural town of 400 people.<\/p>\n
“It risks up-ending our rural lifestyles and turning this region into a toxic industrialised zone,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Balmain called for an independent, peer-reviewed health study into coal seam gas operations.<\/p>\n
“The residents of Cecil Plains and surrounds look set to become the latest crash-test dummies in the blind health-impact experiment that is forced gas-field coexistence,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Cost should be no barrier when it comes to public health.”<\/p>\n