WHY AGL HAS FAILED TO PROPERLY CONSULT THE GLOUCESTER

COMMUNITY OVER ITS COAL SEAM GAS (CSG) PROJECT

Metgasco has had its CSG exploration licence at Bentley suspended. The reason given by
Minister Roberts was that the company had failed to properly consult the community. The
Minister was quoted as saying that he had “concerns about the way which Metgasco has
characterised its activities.” In my opinion the Minister should have similar concerns about
AGL’s activities in relation to the Gloucester CSG project.

AGL has been publishing material asserting that it has been extensively consulting and
engaging the Gloucester community. In my view it cannot be said that AGL has properly, fairly
and fully consulted the community. Community consultation is only effective where the
information provided is complete, full and accurate, and where the communication is undertaken
in an appropriate way. On both counts AGL has failed.

It is not possible in this short piece to detail each and every piece of inaccurate information
which has been put out by AGL but a few examples are as follows:

 During CSG production large quantities of water are extracted which is called “produced
water” which must then be disposed of in an environmentally acceptable way. In its
latest Gloucester Community Newsletter AGL describes produced water as “simply old
salty water.”

The above statement is misleading because produced water is not simply old salty
water. The water certainly contains much salt, which is problematic, but it also contains
such things as heavy metals, other chemicals and radioactive material. Nothing was said
about the real difficulty of disposing of the huge quantities of salt in an environmentally
acceptable way.

 AGL has to date been attempting to dispose of its produced water by diluting it and using
the diluted water for irrigation. It has misleadingly been calling this operation a “trial”
when it is nothing of the sort. It is not a trial because no scientifically meaningful results
can be obtained from it because of its flawed design. It was never approved by
government as a trial.

 Fracking is a highly contentious issue. In a piece in this newspaper on 2 February 2014

Ms Julie Delvecchio, who is the head of community relations at AGL, said that for
fracking “… AGL uses a combination of water, sand and non-toxic additives…”

The above statement is incorrect and misleading. Of particular concern of tolcide which
is just one of the fracking chemicals and which is very toxic to aquatic life and can be
toxic to reproduction.

 In another piece in this newspaper Ms Delvecchio asserted that produced water does
not enter streams. AGL’s own documentation does not support this unqualified
assertion. The blended produced water which is being used for irrigation could in
circumstances of heavy rainfall end up overflowing into streams taking polluted soil with
it.
  AGL’s website asserted that a large percentage of Gloucester residents are in favour of
its Gloucester CSG operations and in doing so relied upon the results of a survey.
However it is very clear that the survey did not support that assertion in any way.

Apart from misinformation or “spin” being fed to the community, some of AGL’s methods need to
be called into question. At the recent Gloucester Show AGL employees approached school
children and handed out free goodies and material emblazoned with the AGL logo. No attempt
was made to seek permission from the children’s parents.

In a recent advertisement in the Gloucester Advocate AGL published a photo of children from a
local school standing with AGL’s community liaison person in front of the school sign which read
“Thank you AGL.” Apparently AGL had donated an air conditioner to the school.

In my view it is quite unacceptable for AGL to market to school children and to use them and
schools for a blatantly commercial purpose. That is not community consultation.

AGL is offering special rates of power to Gloucester residents and businesses. This should be
seen as nothing more than an attempt to buy local support for its activities.

AGL has a website called “Your Say-AGL”. It is clearly misnamed because the site contains
nothing but comments and articles favourable to AGL. It unashamedly promotes a local pro
mining group but does not mention any local group or issue that might challenge or question its
activities.

It is clear that AGL has confused marketing and advertising with community consultation and
has not been making a serious attempt to engage the Gloucester community. The position
requires close examination by the appropriate authorities. The situation is such that until that is
done AGL should not be permitted to proceed any further with its Gloucester operations.

John Watts is a Gloucester resident

and a member of community group
Groundswell Gloucester