Foxy,

That is the single most disgraceful and unwarranted slur against the CSIRO that they would throw all integrity out the window and shred their reputation and credibility to support the government.

This is what was reported in the Guardian, not exactly a coalition mouthpiece:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/river-on-fire-in-greens-mps-video-is-natural-not-fracking-says-csiro

Notably: "The CSIRO began studying methane seeps in 2012 in the Condamine river, which is near Chinchilla, about 300km west of Brisbane, after locals reported seeing bubbles."

So this is not a new phenomenon and predates most of the local CSG wells, giving final confirmation that this is a cheap and nasty stunt by an intellectual pinhead.

Final confirmation, Shadow? I suggest you reread that report you linked to – it makes it clear that the CSG industry in the area expanded in 2011, a few months before the problem was first noticed.

Aidan, being personally involved in the CSG industry myself, as a landholder with test wells, I can assure you some locals have said gas seeps have been occurring for many decades. Besides, would you rather extract the gas now, or allow it to one day find its own way up, perhaps with a bang.

Having said that, i'm not convinced that SCG extraction and this incident are linked either simply because of local history.

As for fracking, it could also be said that this practice is aiding in a controlled release of gas, which may be a good thing as it may prevent a sudden release at some point due to extreme pressure build up when mother nature decides it's time to go.

Here's a read,
http://www.aplng.com.au/pdf/factsheets/condamine_river_studies_fact_sheet.pdf

I first visited the area over 70 years ago with my father to stay on a property that one of his numerous cousins owned and I well remember being amazed when the cousin casually set fire to a small pool of water at a spring
He simply lit his pipe and flicked the match into the water, my reaction was all that he desired!!,

Aidan,

The choice is simple, do we believe an ex stone mason MP with a clear political agenda with 1days "research", or do we believe the main gov science body with geo technical scientists that have studied this for 2.5 yrs?

There is a coal seam about 70m directly under the area and river that generates methane, so Jeremy Buckingham would have us believe that fracking 5km away causes methane to travel 5km to rise up in the river? Or even 900m from an exploratory gas well?

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/gas-seeping-from-condamine-river-poses-no-threat-says-csiro/news-story/a5d03e36626644b87eeccaab9710e37b

Professor Damian Barrett, CSIRO’s research director of onshore gas and director of the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance, said research teams had been working on the gas seeps from the Condamine River for the past 2.5 yrs and had been looking at the source of the gas, variation in flows of gas and the geological nature of the area.

Prof Barrett said “we have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, but it is hard to be completely definitive as the gas is emanating from underground. The work has looked at the environmental impact in that area and it shows no impact whatsoever,”

He said the research showed the gas, which can be seen bubbling out of the River, is coming from coal. In that part of the landscape coal is 70-80 metres below the surface and it is intercepted by the Condamine Alluvium, so it is not unusual in sedimentary basins for coal to come through fissures and cracks to the surface,”.

The amount of methane in the area has increased in the past year and according to locals it has been increasing since people first noticed it. One of the things that is different to 12 months ago is the sediments in the river have moved due to the flow. Methane is coming straight out to the surface instead of being affected by sediments.”

So:
a) The methane emissions have nothing to do with the CSG extraction,
b) The environmental damage by the emissions in the area is zero,
c) Jeremy Buckingham is a pinhead.

I guess with all this Methane (More Global Warming than CO2) going into the Atmosphere from Coal under the ground, then the best idea would be to dig up all the Coal to stop it. eh.