Groundwater modelling shows clear risk in Glencore's proposed CCS Project

QFF and other industry groups, community organisations and scientific experts continue to rally against a proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project seeking to inject liquified carbon dioxide into a water producing aquifer within the Great Artesian Basin (GAB).

This project is unprecedented, with research showing no other examples of CCS being applied within a usable water source globally. CCS is typically used in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, because what is being injected is essentially industrial waste.

The company behind the proposal, Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation Pty Ltd (CTSCo), a subsidiary company of Glencore, has outlined the potential damage the project will cause in its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

While most of the language used in the EIS and other CTSCo engagement materials downplays the potential threat, comparing the CO2 injected to carbonated soft drink, there is an acknowledgment that the CO2 will significantly impact the pH of the aquifer resulting in a 10,000 fold increase in groundwater acidity.

The EIS also acknowledges that this change to groundwater acidity will dissolve the aquifer rock, resulting in the release and mobilisation of heavy metals at concentrations substantially exceeding the human and stock drinking water guidelines.

In fact, modelling contained in a University of Queensland report attached in section 9C of the EIS presents a much clearer picture of the threat. The site of the proposed CO2 injection currently has a pH level of 8.35 with zero parts per billion (ppb) of arsenic, cadmium or lead detected.

The University of Queensland’s ‘ANLEC Project 7-0320-C323 Final Report: South Surat Metal mobilisation and fate of heavy metals released’ report suggests that following the injection of CO2 the pH level will drop to 4, and levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead will rise to 500 ppb, 160 ppb and 1000 ppb respectively.

The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines recommend no greater than 10 ppb of arsenic, 2 ppb of cadmium and 10 ppb of lead in water for human consumption. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has shown sufficient evidence that arsenic is cancerous, and notes that long term cadmium exposure causes kidney dysfunction and is probably carcinogenic.

We are all aware of the serious implications of lead poisoning including severe damage to the central nervous system. The IARC suggest lead is possibly also carcinogenic to humans.

The situation is no better for stock drinking levels with the concentration of each of the metal elements discussed above matching or substantially succeeding the Stock Drinking Water Trigger Level. Revised stock water guidelines currently in draft would half the currently permissible levels of arsenic, placing the CTSCo proposal at double the advisable level.

This water source is being used by more than 180,000 people, 7,600 businesses and 120 towns, and countless livestock.

The Queensland Government must reject this proposal and implement policy parameters to prevent any future CSS incursions into environmental assets such as the GAB. CCS must not be used as a PR or marketing stunt and must not put at risk valuable water producing assets like our Great Artesian Basin.