Newman Government delivers legacy borehole protocol

A new protocol for the safe management of uncontrolled gas emissions from legacy boreholes has been developed by the Newman Government.

 

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps said the new protocol would provide greater certainty to the resources industry, one of the four pillars of the Queensland economy.

 

“In consultation with the mining and petroleum and gas sector, we have been able to develop a protocol which will provide an incident response process for industry and government agencies to follow when responding to these events,” Mr Cripps said.

 

“Under the former Labor Government, there were no clear guidelines to respond to an uncontrolled gas emission from an abandoned borehole.

 

“In the past, the resources sector had no clear guidance on how to appropriately respond to uncontrolled gas emissions from legacy boreholes, putting the safety of employees, the local community and the relevant landholder at risk.

 

“As part of this protocol, we have established a set of principles by which companies and the Government will act, along with notification, response, rectification, safety and communication processes.”

 

A legacy borehole is a bore or well drilled for the purposes of coal, mineral or petroleum exploration or production on land, that has since been relinquished by a company.

 

Mr Cripps said his Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) moved to develop the protocol in response to an incident at Kogan, near Dalby, in August 2012.

 

“An uncontrolled gas emission from a 32-year-old abandoned coal exploration borehole caused concerns when a bush fire started nearby,” he said.

 

“DNRM’s Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate responded swiftly to ensure there were no safety concerns for the community from the fire.

 

“They also worked closely with industry to make the area safe, extinguish the fire and remediate and cap the historic coal exploration borehole.

 

“The successful management of the Kogan incident was a cooperative and effective response by industry and provides a model to deal with this type of incident in the future.

 

“Thanks to this experience, we have delivered a safe, best practice solution for dealing with these sort of events.”

 

Mr Cripps said while these incidents were rare and the risk they pose generally low, it was important that mechanisms are put in place to resolve any situations that might arise.

 

More information is available at: : http://mines.industry.qld.gov.au/assets/legislation-pdf/legacy-borehole-protocol.pdf

[ENDS] 25 November 2013

Media contact: Eleisha Rogers 0413 375 088