Wednesday, February 29

Stealing the Hunter's beauty robs it of a future




"Coal seam gas operators will be gone inside 50 years and no one knows how big a mess they will leave" ... Bruce Tyrell. Photo: Jonathan Carroll

Over the past 150 years, the Tyrrell family have been winemakers, property owners and community members of the Hunter Valley wine region. We have not only been part of making this area one of the world's iconic premium wine producers but in the early 1960s, my father began wine tourism in earnest. Hunter Valley semillon is regarded as one of the three unique Australian wines.

Over the decades we have seen off a number of threats to our industry. Today we are faced with a new one: coal seam gas. Like most of the Hunter Valley vignerons, I am not anti-mining but, above all, I believe firmly in the need for food and water security. While so many questions hang over the potential impact of coal seam gas mining on soil quality, on aquifers, disposal of high-salt waste water, visual pollution, methane emission and potential sliding of property values, coal seam gas cannot be allowed in our area.

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SMH

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