Gas lobby attacks Australian Broadcasting Commission over its coal seam gas website
The ABC said it had conducted the report to counter the lack of available, readily understandable information about the industry, including its environmental impacts. The report, which features an interactive website, consolidates government and industry reports on CSG, many of which are more than 10,000 pages.
Gas lobby blows up over ABC ‘errors’, BY:ANTHONY KLAN AND AMOS AIKMAN, The Australian November 26, 2011 THE coal-seam gas lobby has attacked an ABC report into the practice as “riddled with factual errors” and lodged an official complaint with the broadcaster.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association said
the work “fails to provide the objectivity, accuracy or right of reply
that is expected of quality journalism”.
The APPEA listed seven concerns it had with the report, including
figures relating to the number of CSG wells approved and the amount of
water the industry would use.
The ABC said it had conducted the report to counter the lack of
available, readily understandable information about the industry,
including its environmental impacts.
The report, which features an interactive website, consolidates
government and industry reports on CSG, many of which are more than
10,000 pages.
The APPEA said the ABC’s claim that CSG companies had gained approval
for 40,000 wells was not true. But its chief operating officer for
eastern Australia, Rick Wilkinson, was unable to provide a figure for
approved wells. “It’s not for me to justify or come back and fill in
the figures the ABC has (reported). That’s up to them to do that,” he
said.
APPEA also denied the ABC’s claims that conservative estimates
suggested 300GL of water could be withdrawn from the ground each year
by CSG operators. APPEA was unable to provide an alternative figure.
The ABC said it was examining those issues raised by APPEA. “The ABC’s
data journalism unit will of course make and record any amendments to
the project site,” a spokeswoman said.
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