So much methane is bubbling into a river surrounded by hundreds of fracking wells that it's a fire hazard! Local campaigners blame the coal seam gas industry for the gas releases which are spreading along Queensland's river Condamine and gaining in intensity.
So much methane gas is now bubbling up through the Condamine River in Queensland, Australia that it exploded with fire and held a large flame.
Gas seeping into the river began shortly after coal seam gas operations started nearby and is growing in volume and the stretch of river affected is expanding in length.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham travelled to Chinchilla in South Western Queensland to investigate the impact of the coal seam gas industry on the environment as part of the Greens' campaign to ban fracking and unconventional gas in Australia.
"I was shocked by the force of the explosion when I tested whether gas boiling through the Condamine River, Queensland was flammable. So much gas is bubbling through the river that it held a huge flame for over an hour", said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
Methane was first discovered bubbling through the Condamine River near Chinchilla in 2012 where coal seam gas wells had been drilled by Origin Energy nearby. There are hundreds of wells in the immediate area, with three companies, Origin Energy, QGC and Arrow Energy all operating coal seam gas fields nearby.
Photo credit Jeremy Buckingham
Read more at ENN Affiliate, the Ecologist. Source: Australian Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.