Dirty Fracking Business Read Free Page A

which was surrounded by mountains to the north, east and west and by lush rolling hills and a koala-inhabited eucalypt forest to the south. A small river with numerous tributaries wound its way down the mountains and meandered through the valley’s lush pastures, paddocks and vineyards. The only blemish on this beautiful landscape was the coalfields, but they were on the outskirts of the valley and did not deter the millions of tourists looking for peace, harmony, fresh crisp country air, fine food, great restaurants and, of course, tastings of the superb local wines.
    In early 2002 the NSW Government granted an exploratory mining licence to a subsidiary of a large public company, which sought to find gas on crown land at the extreme northern perimeter of the valley. The locals paid little attention when an enormous drilling rig seemed to grow day by day at the mine site and many hoped the discovery of gas would bring them new wealth. A short time later, Clean Energy & Gas Limited made an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange that it had discovered a potentially huge reserve of coal seam gas. Life in Paisley and the Fisher Valley changed forever that day.
    The tragic death of little Charlie Paxton in 2010 symbolised that change.

Chapter 2
    Donny Drayton was a thirty-year-old former dreamer. After completing a business studies degree, he had joined Energy & Gas Limited as a junior management executive. EGL was the largest user of fossil fuels in Australia but, in an attempt to improve its tarnished image, it made some small investments in wind and solar power and added ‘Clean’ to its name. It then launched a major advertising campaign espousing its green credentials and young Donny, who was looking to save the world, decided that this was just the type of company he wanted to carve out a career with. He wasn’t half as smart as he thought he was but he had outstanding qualities that CEGL shrewdly detected: everyone liked him, he was personable, gregarious and one of those rare people who instantly captured the trust of others. CEGL was quick to move him out of management and into customer relations, where he was charged with pacifying disgruntled customers, a job he handled admirably but which provided him with little satisfaction and made no contribution to saving the planet. When an opportunity arose to play a role in developing clean gas he had jumped at it and accepted an appointment as a land access consultant. This involved convincing landowners that it would be beneficial to let CEGL explore for coal seam gas on their properties.
    Before commencing his new job, Donny was put through an intensive training course covering the legalities of entering landowners’ properties, the obtaining of licences, the actual drilling process, the reinstatement of the property and, of course, the documentation. He was then instructed on how to present to landowners in such a way that the information he provided was nebulous and that full disclosure was only made when it benefited the company. He was told that providing too much information would unnecessarily confuse landowners, so he should aim to make his presentations as simple as possible. It was stressed that the representations he made were largely unimportant so long as the documentation, which had been prepared by a leading firm of lawyers, was properly executed by landowners. By the time Donny phoned to make an appointment to see his first grazier, he knew more about the relevant law than most lawyers.
    CEGL and the other gas companies, after identifying prospective tracts of land, applied to the government for easily-obtainable exploration licences. After the exploration licences were granted, CEGL still had to negotiate with landowners, farmers, graziers and viticulturists before it could enter their properties and drill bore holes to test the gas flow. Failing this, CEGL had to make application to the Planning Minister under Section 3A of the  Planning Act,