1. Dalby - Examples of propaganda and associated activities can be found everywhere. They aim to foster positive perceptions and generate goodwill between the companies and community. Most notably on this sign is Dalby Bio-Refinery Limited (grain alcohol fuel production), PPW – Hunter Valley (welding, engineering and related services to the mining industry), and of course giant company Ergon Energy. 

 

2. It’s literally in some people’s front yards.

 

3. Worker’s camp, Dalby – Accomodation for the thousands of workers who fly in and out or arrive by bus are everywhere, often owned by the mining companies themselves. This one just outside of Dalby is a great example of ‘Dongas’ – the small metal accommodation cabins that make up these camps. They are often placed merely metres from gas wells or infrastructure that constantly emit hazardous chemicals with no regard for the occupant’s health.

 

4. Warning signs – danger abounds in front of the first gas well we saw, 40km from Dalby.

 

5. No digging #1 – Industrial water pipelines employed to carry contaminated wastewater are buried below the ground.

 

6. No Digging #2 – Numerous buried pipelines for the transportation of extracted gas to holding facilities are buried below.

 

7. There are huge amounts of money to be made by privately owned transport companies providing worker transit services due to the constant demands of cyclical shift workers.

 

8. More warning signs in front of another gas well next to a giant pile of state forest destruction, directly across the road from the well below. 

 

9. DANGER – DEEP EXCAVATION

 

10. A deep trench dug for the placement of wastewater and gas transport pipeline filled with a chalky soup.  

 

11. Gas Well – Thousands of these dot the countryside. Initially designated to be 750 metres apart the distance has since shrunk to 500m. Soon 350m will be the norm as companies struggle to acquire the volume of gas needed. The solution is to continue installing more and more wells in the hopes of meeting overestimated production quotas. 

 

12. No trespassing on state land, no smoking, and you better believe you’ll be arrested and charged with trespass if you’re caught on ‘private property’. 

 

13. A state forest sign lays discarded on a pile of mulch. It reads, amongst other things: “This area is a fauna sanctuary…Native plants and animals are protected.” Doesn’t look like the Department of Natural Resources is doing a very good job, does it? 

 

14. Pipeline Scar – Cut into the state forest and stretching for as far as the eye can see, this scar is packed with kilometres of buried gas and wastewater transportation pipeline. Water leaks from an unknown source, most likely due to ‘flowback’ – a term used for the percentage amount of water that is expected to come back out of the ground, whether it was pumped in for hydraulic fracturing of rock, permanent disposal or associated leakage. 

 

15. It is impossible to portray the enormous scale of this ‘produced’ water lake into just one photo. 

Produced water is a highly toxic byproduct of the coal seam hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, process. Fracking involves the injection of a fracking fluid, between 4.5 and 13.2 megalitres of water and sand into well-bore to create small fractures in the rock, thereby allowing gas to seep out for collection. The fluid contains somewhere in the region of 500 chemicals as part of a proprietary formula originally created by Haliburton in the late 1940’s. Many of these chemicals have the ability to cause a myriad of hazardous side effects to humans, animals and the environment, including irreversible pollution, poisoning, serious disease, illness and ultimately death.

 

Fracking wastewater has also been found to be radioactive in studies conducted in the United States and this problem is on our doorstep, too. As recently as last month Santos was fined a measly $1500 AUD after an underground aquifer in the Narrabri region was found to have uranium contamination levels 20 times higher than the ‘safe’ drinking limit. Needless to say the smell wafting from the murky waters was quite strong even from a few hundred metres away – not surprising considering its sinister contents.

 

These giant lakes aim to hold the wastewater before it is either repurposed, sent to a reverse osmosis plant for filtration, left to evaporate into the atmosphere, or mixed with other chemicals to convert it into a solidified waste product.

For a better idea of the lake’s scale, watch this video of an aerial flyover of some of the coal seam gas fields in the region - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AeWYwBreEY

To read more on wastewater radioactivity and the situation in Narrabri -
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/santos-fined-coal-seam-gas-contaminates-aquifer-uranium

Wastewater found to be radioactive in the United States - http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/15754-fracking-wastewater-can-be-highly-radioactive

 

16. Water often seeps out of the lakes due to failing plastic liners. The very same water that contains hundreds of chemicals, radioactivity and toxic byproducts is also available from a convenient dispensary (pictured) for uses such as watering roads, vegetation and sometimes even livestock and crops. Dangerous practices such as these are often perpetuated by a culture of ignorance. It is alleged that superiors do not communicate to workers the true nature of what they are actually exposing themselves to.

 

17. The Arrow Energy Daandine Gas Powerplant (owned by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina) – Restricted access with no cameras, of course. 

 

18. Powerlines To Infinity – Central Queensland is very flat. With no mountains or trees to obscure the view you can watch these massive power lines and their towers stretch on forever. Beyond the gate are more gas wells, as usual. 

 

19. Front entrance to the massive Origin Energy Darling Downs Power Plant. 

 

20. Pollution in the form of a white smoke spews from the above plant at a steady rate. 

 

21. Power lines litter the skyline. 

 

22. On the way to Chinchilla – The black dirt that makes up the area is perfect for growing crops. It holds moisture very effectively and is nutrient rich, though it is not particularly stable, leading to crooked telephone poles, buildings and very wavy roads. 

 

23. Many hours of driving later we had made it to Chinchilla. After acquiring some supplies and establishing camp we set off on a night mission. The roads are constantly busy with trucks transporting materials for the construction and upkeep of the mining and gas operations. Above, one speeds past without load, probably under pressure to meet a deadline. Reckless driver behavior is a growing problem, leading to many of the roads in the region being placed in the Government’s Black Spot Road Safety Program. 

 

 24. Yancoal Coal Mine at Cameby Downs – The locals call it an amusement park, and that’s hard to argue with when you see the thousands of bright lights littering the compound. The ramp in the center of the frame is what the mined coal travels up where it is then dumped into trains for transport. The haze shrouding the entire photo is coal dust. 

 

25. The Milky Way – Light pollution, a problem normally confined to more developed areas of the planet, has become an issue even in the relatively unpopulated rural areas. If you can find the right spot you’ll be treated to something magic. 

 

Seen in a book of poems and letters. 

 

26. Overflow at the Chinchilla Weir – Rainfall had attributed to the wildly flowing weir, normally described as swampy and stagnant due to drought, though rain is not likely to be the sole cause of increased flow. The Queensland Government has granted permission for the dumping of 20 megalitres of ‘produced’ water into the Condamine per day - the equivalent of 8 Olympic swimming pools.

 

 

 

The Queensland Government has deemed the industry must be self-regulating and report annually on their operational impact. As such, it is unlikely that the full effect of dumping practice will ever be uncovered or acted upon while companies strategically act to cover their tracks. In future we can expect the effects to be far-reaching – The Condamine is part of the Murray-Darling Basin, meaning these same waters will travel far south before they reach the Southern Ocean, spanning three states and passing countless food growing regions. Furthermore, industry is present throughout outback Australia, so its no stretch to assume that the Condamine is not the only river being used as an industrial waste dump. 
 

27. If it wasn’t mixed in before it is now. Scenes like the overflowing Chinchilla Weir made one wonder what the water conditions are like when it is not flowing with rainwater yet produced water is constantly being released. Stagnant, polluted and murky are all terms that come to mind. Reports from the locals confirmed our suspicions.

Dumping of waste is not the only issue compromising the Condamine – continuously bubbling streams of gas emanating from wayward underground fractures encouraged by the industry have been found in numerous places. Evidence can be seen in these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMPtWT6RsF4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di8cCrlyW6k

 

28. A baby possum at 10am sheltering in a shoulder height tree hollow. Its mother was nowhere to be found. Animals are at a highly increased risk in the area, not only due to shrinking habitat and pollution, but also due to the increased human and road traffic associated with the influx of industry. 

 

29. A large holding facility at the QGC Kenya gas fields as seen through a chain-link and barbed wire fence. The multi-story black tower on the right is known as a flare stack. It is occasionally alight with flame as excess gas is burnt off in a process called ‘Flaring’. This has been deemed excusable for short-term safety purposes to prevent dangers associated with over-pressurization of equipment. More commonly, flares are lit whenever it is impossible to utilize (store) the gas due to lack of transportation or holding infrastructure. 

 

Another enormous lake to the left of the photo holds produced water while it awaits filtering through the on-site reverse osmosis plant. 

 

32. Local Sentiments – Unless they’re profiting from the gas rush in some form, whether it’s from land leasing, compensation payments, business or employment, locals generally oppose the industry due to its innumerable negative consequences. The simple solution is to lock the gate – nobody has to give the corporations an audience if they choose not to.
www.lockthegate.org.au

 

33. Upon arriving at the Jenkins’ house we were immediately made aware of the dire seriousness of their living situation. 

 

34. An honest, hard-working Australian has been trapped by QGC in his own home.

John Jenkins, his wife and two children, who both suffer from cerebral palsy, live a mere 2 kilometres from a number of gas wells and QGC’s enormous Kenya facility. This alone is astonishing considering the ‘safe’ zone is deemed to be 3.5km. Not far enough when taking into account that wind, clouds and rain can collect and transport chemicals over a widespread area with nothing more than a breeze or light shower.

It was stiflingly hot inside John’s house; all the doors and windows were closed. I had to muster all of my mental fortitude to steel myself against not only the heat but to take in the sadness of their situation. Even then I sat there stunned for a short while, listening to our fixer and John discuss life and the happenings of the battle since they last met. I simply couldn’t believe this was happening a mere 350 kilometres, or 4 hour drive, from my home.

John’s entire family exhibits signs of the negative health effects inflicted by exposure to toxic chemicals. He tells stories of friends who refuse to sleep at his house, even in their own mobile accommodation, for fear of exposure to such conditions. Our guide told of times visiting the property in the past where she could smell and taste chemicals, leaving with a sore throat, sinuses and burnt eyes – all signs of exposure to hazardous materials in the environment. After prolonged exposure victims often report that they can no longer smell or taste the chemicals, with many eventually losing their sense of smell and ability to detect the nuances of taste altogether. John displayed signs of this with his preference for sugary soft drinks, sweet and salty foods. He had to have all of his teeth removed in the last year, but for most of his life he never had a problem with them. John’s wife was also displaying signs of ill health, with a problematic leg fracture necessitating the installation of a metal plate and a resultant infection. She claimed to feel constantly fatigued, experiences severe headaches, and stated that her own and the hair of her children was falling out in clumps. While we were there she was experiencing such severe abdominal discomfort and bouts of dizziness that she had to excuse herself to lie down while we continued with the meeting. 

 

35. The family recently commissioned a drinking water test at their own expense for this extensive list of chemicals. All were found to be in their drinking and bathing water in varying degrees. Is this acceptable in a first world, developed country such as Australia? No amount of hazardous chemicals should be present in the drinking water of anyone. Needless to say I couldn’t bring myself to drink or eat anything while I was there. 

 

36. John’s children both suffer from cerebral palsy. In a strange twist this may be their only hope as their son’s medical record pre-dates the installation of nearby gas infrastructure.

Amongst other things, Aaron’s blood contains levels of lead 5 times higher than what is deemed ‘safe’. Side effects of prolonged exposure to lead include severe anemia and lack of oxygenation to the brain, as well as a variety of gastrointestinal, neuromuscular and neurological symptoms.

Coincidentally these symptoms are visible in the rest of the family and include dizziness, calcium-deficiency related complications (John’s teeth, his wife’s leg fracture), abdominal pain, dizziness and fatigue. Among the many essential metals lead interacts with are calcium (bones, teeth), iron (dizziness, anemia, fatigue) and zinc (overall well-being, immune system deficiency). Who knows what else they have been exposed to, but only time will tell at this stage.

QGC denies that any link between these health issues and their business operations in the area. 

 

37. Coke is a staple at the Jenkins’ house – Its sweet, cold, and (relatively) chemical free.  

 

38. John’s old Beetle – left to sit when life priorities changed. 

 

39. Unused Tractor

40. The roof of one of the family cars that has been owned for almost two years – “It was like new when we got it, and now look at it!” Acid rain bought on by chemicals released from the nearby water processing facility and gas extraction wells has been eating away at the paint, causing it to rapidly deteriorate into a dust that John can rub off with his hand. 

 

41. Portrait of a man who won’t give up, has not been beaten, that continues to fight for his rights and quite possibly his life. Even though QGC initially offered the family a far-undervalued compensation to vacate John refused, believing that he should not have to leave his home because of the bullying tactics of a multinational corporation. Furthermore, John has refused all compensation from the company on the basis of principle, leading him to be stuck in a financial bind. Now desperate to get out due to fear for his family’s long-term health, the option of acceptance is gone as QGC has retracted offers to pay any compensation at all. They are now trapped as the costs of mortgaging, moving and a low income constrict while John and his wife try to balance irregular work with illness and carer duties for their disabled children. 

 

42. John led us to the other cars stored on the property to show us more evidence of the effects of the poisonous atmosphere. 

 

43. The white Holden as pictured above displays numerous signs of damage from falling chemicals. Black spots and cracking paint span the entire car, speeding the decaying process of rust. These black spots could not be removed at the time the photo was taken. 

 

44. More Evidence – Land Rovers are a decent car with good paint but when you expose them to acid rain the paint will undoubtedly fog. John demonstrates how he can rub the white haze off with his hand. 

 

45. “CSG MAYBE RESPONSIBLE” – Its hard to argue otherwise when presented with evidence like this. According to John this is door has original paint and had not been replaced at any point in the car’s lifetime. 

 

46.  Even the rubber tyre cover is not safe – John demonstrating its’ degradation.

 

47. Like many Australians in rural areas the family relies on a rainwater to supplement their usage. As you can see, the tank also has a fine white film and dots buildup all over its surface. This effect was continued on the roof of the nearby shed that feeds the tank. In comparison, the sides of the tank were normal and looked just like a regular plastic water tank should aside from the many lines created by chalky runoff. 

 

Close up of the milky-white chemical haze covering the water tank. 

 

49. More propaganda, but this time on the fence of a state-owned public school. This was one of many we spotted. Activities like these raise the question of “why?” If companies were truly doing the community as much benefit as they claim, then why would they be so mindful of their reception in the public’s eye? Strategy includes manipulating ideals of corporate social responsibility and splashing capital to buy affection. Companies must be seen to be doing good so they can continue to operate uninhibited, otherwise the bottom line may be compromised.

You can gaurantee that when the last gas well has run dry they will not be anywhere to be seen let alone continuing to contribute to the community. Many of the locals we spoke to raised concerns about what will happen when the industry one day leave and what they will be left with – a polluted mess of abandoned, rotting infrastructure that the taxpayer will have to bear the cost of cleaning up. 

 

50. Daryl is an author, Vietnam veteran and strong opponent of the use of finite natural resources for the production of consumable energy. He sat and talked to us for quite some time, sharing his experiences and telling us of his activism. One successful protest called for him to canoe out into the Condamine River where he was unable to be moved on or arrested, as he was not physically trespassing. He also shared with us the technology of solar thermal steam powered turbines, which he believes are the future of power production.

“Liars, cheats and thieves, the lot of them” sums up Daryl’s sentiments to the entire issue. He also helped to shed some light on how the companies act –Representatives come onto your land, aiming to get their foot in the door by any means possible and doing their best to appease you. Once a landholder gives consent for one gas well you’ve effectively signed up for 100 as they continue to push the boundaries until its too late, using their contractual loopholes and legal jargon to their advantage. 

 

51. Dave, a well-established and successful farmer and cattle breeder. He dropped in to visit us at our accommodation on his way back from showing his animals in Toowoomba with an arm-full of prize ribbons. 

 

52. We had heard from several sources that there were permanently alight flare stacks nearby, so later that night we set out on the hunt.

 

53. Perhaps it was because it was a Saturday night, but this compound was completely unmanned. We drove straight in while trying to find our way and there was not a soul in sight. 

 

54. It didn’t take long to find two giant flares – all we had to do was follow the brightly glowing sky with the hole in the cloud and try our luck on a few dark roads. I practically leapt out of the car, excited that we had found such a concrete piece of evidence.
To give you an idea of distance, the checkpoint on the left stops any unauthorized traffic from entering the compound and leads onto a road that is approximately two kilometres long. This was a scene I’ll never be able to forget. The sound was like nothing I had ever experienced – a deep, guttural roar, much like the sound of a gas burner, but with so much bass and strength that you could physically feel it, let alone hear it. Imagine a jet engine had somehow been lodged into the ground pointing directly upwards and you’re almost there, but it was far bigger. Afterwards we all realized that we had burning eyes and sinuses – signs that a variety of hazardous chemicals were being released into the air that we could barely smell or taste at the time. All in a matter of five minutes. 
 

We were able to circle around the massive compound that also plays host to large amounts of workers accommodation. It makes you wonder what kind of health affects the workers who are exposed to these chemicals all day, every day, while they work and sleep, will experience in the future. To date there have been no long-term studies conducted, but it is only a matter of time before a pattern starts to emerge.