Questionable safety procedures, leaking ponds, inadequate monitoring and unreliable analytical methods are just some of the findings about coal seam gas activities at Santos sites in a report the Environment Protection Authority has tried to keep secret.
The report into CSG operations at Gunnedah and Pilliga was the result of an audit of the coal seam gas industry conducted by the EPA in May 2013 which was to have been released publicly to "build the profile of the EPA as the new lead regulator for the industry ... and to increase community confidence" in the regulation of the industry according to the EPA's own internal documents.
The EPA drew up a media plan to communicate the steps and results of the audit program - which included "state-wide media releases" - but then refused to release the report's details. It was only after a protracted freedom of information process by The Sun-Herald and the Greens that some information has come to be publicly released. An EPA spokeswoman said she was not aware of that communication plan.
The Santos site report revealed no groundwater monitoring was taking place at the Wilga power station site, the air pollution testing was not using prescribed methods, and "the reliability of any results obtained would not be assured".
The documents show that the EPA gave Santos several days warning of the upcoming audit - a move the EPA knew would be of "interest to the media" according to internal EPA documents. The reason stated was the remote location of the sites.
Draft site reports revealed unused gas wells still had handles in place and were not locked, important because "removing the handles or locking them prevents any tampering that could release methane gas that may be leaking from the well". Those findings were removed from the final report. The EPA did not respond to questions as to why.
Leaks from Narrabri water holding areas known as the Tintsfield Ponds were identified. The report said water quality monitoring showed elevated levels of total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and some heavy metals including uranium, boron and barium. A cleanup notice was not issued until July 2014 and revealed holes in pond liners had been identified back in 2012.
The EPA has said the audit helped to "develop environment protection licence conditions for CSG facilities and inform ongoing regulatory programs for the industry".
A spokesman for Santos said the company had spent $17 million upgrading the sites and rehabilitating land.
But Greens MP and spokesman for mining Jeremy Buckingham said the audit was a tick-the-box exercise, not a comprehensive investigation of an industry with a poor record.
"Giving prior notice of an important audit is ridiculous and inappropriate and allows a company to cover up any non-compliances," said Mr Buckingham.
"The EPA needs to show much greater independence and rigour if it is to regain public trust now that the government has appointed it as the lead regulator of the coal seam gas industry."
Naomi Hogan, campaign manager at The Wilderness Society, said the report also showed Santos had told the EPA that the area under the Pilliga was not a local recharge area for water and that was "factually incorrect" .
"I have concerns that Santos is misleading the EPA and the public, but also that the EPA is not verifying the information that Santos is providing to them," she said.
The EPA spokeswoman declined to answer specific questions but said anyone who was interested should refer to the EPA submission to Parliamentary inquiry into its performance, which holds its final public hearing on Monday.
