FARMERS in southern Queensland are increasingly concerned about the rapid expansion of the State's coal seam gas industry.
It is estimated up to 40,000 wells could be dotted across the Surat and Bowen basins over the next two decades.
But the landholders say not enough is known about the long-term impacts of the extraction process, and they are worried about what it will do to the quality of water and soil.
Three major coal seam gas projects have been given conditional approval in recent weeks.
The wells will extract gas from the Surat and Bowen basins, pipe it to Gladstone in Central Queensland, and convert it to liquefied natural gas for export.
Southern Queensland farmer and Basin Sustainability Alliance chairman, Ian Hayllor, has raised questions about the approval processes.
"Major projects have been approved ... the gas companies have got the financial approval to proceed," he said.
"These projects are going ahead, yet the government is still to fully understand the long-term impact."
Mr Hayllor joined scientists, environmentalists and industry representatives at a forum in Brisbane last night to discuss the emerging industry.
He says he cannot get an answer about what effect water pumped out of the gas wells will have on salinity or underground aquifers.
"Basically, the landholders are concerned with a lack of understanding of this industry," he said.
"It's just exploding onto the scene - we're talking about the extraction of 350,000 megs a year out of the Great Artesian Basin, 40,000 wells, and millions of tonnes of salt.
"The government just says 'we're going to adopt an adaptive management approach to manage this industry'.
"We're just scared - we are frightened that the industry is so big, the impacts could be so great, that it may not be able to be stopped."
Mr Hayllor says he is worried chemicals from the wells could contaminate water.
But the director-general of Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management, John Bradley, has tried to allay fears.
"We've got a regulatory regime which is tougher than any in the world in terms of its impact on coal seam gas," he said.
"We see the banning of evaporation ponds, unlike the approach taken in the United States.
"We also see the stringent use of accumulative models to assess groundwater impacts, (so that) we'll be able to predict in advance what the impact on groundwater is going to be."
Ross Dunn from the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association says coal seam gas extraction is safe.
"We have no more interest in contaminating the land than the next person does," he said.
"We want to make sure what we do is environmentally acceptable."
However, despite the State government and industry assurances, Mr Hayllor remains unconvinced.
"We're working really hard to ensure this industry doesn't leave a legacy of destruction for future generations," he said.
"It's a 20- or 30-year industry in our area. It'll move on to other areas or other countries, and we're not prepared to stand back and see our groundwater destroyed."
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