WA Water Department tells inquiry it has no veto over shale gas fracking
.. spot on, DD .. a swerve here .. i searched 'usa vs australian drinking water' and post this as one example of sometimes being behind you guys is good for us ..
By Sue Lannin Updated Tue 11 Feb 2014, 11:37am AEDT
Western Australia's Department of Water has told a state parliamentary inquiry it has no veto over fracking for natural gas below proclaimed groundwater areas such as aquifer systems.
But it says it would advise authorities against the approval of shale gas fracking underneath a public drinking water source.
The Water Department made the admission on the first day of the inquiry into the implications of hydraulic fracking, the fracturing of hard rock to release natural gas. Tad Bagdon, executive director of policy and innovation at the department, told the parliamentary committee there was the potential for conflict over protection of water supplies and expanding the gas industry.
But he said his department was working closely with other agencies including the WA Department of Mines and the Environmental Protection Authority "to ensure approval processes have the appropriate level of assessment".
The Conservation Council of Western Australia told the inquiry that new draft regulations to control shale gas fracking are not tough enough.
The council's director, Piers Verstegen, says he does not have much confidence in the new rules.
"We've looked at the draft regulations pretty closely and what they actually say is they require industry best practice.
"What we know from other parts of the world is industry best practice means contaminated ground water, serious air pollution, health impacts on communities and serious environmental disturbance, so we don't think industry best practice is going to be acceptable here for Western Australia," he said.
Mr Verstegen said the council estimated there could be 100,000 wells drilled in the Kimberley in the north of the state when commercial shale gas production gets underway based on well density in the US.
But he said the figure may be out by "50 per cent".
12 shale gas fracking wells expected to be drilled this year
The peak body for the oil and gas industry, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, said it expected 12 wells for shale gas fracking to be drilled in WA this year.
APPEA spokesman Stedman Ellis said he was confident that shale gas could be developed safely with minimal environmental risk.
He said incidences of water contamination were not from fracking but from problems with wells such as minor leaks.
"In very rare cases there had been contamination of water but that had been remedied by the regulator and the operator," he said.
He said APPEA supported full disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluid as required by WA law but he argued there was a case to limit disclosure in the case of innovative new products to protect commercial confidentiality.
Submissions to inquiry show 'range of concerns'
The inquiry has received more than 100 submissions.
Inquiry chairman Simon O'Brien says the views expressed would be used to help form recommendations to government on the future of fracking.
"Submissions have produced a range of concerns," he said.
"We're going to be using that as the basis for a good part of our inquiry."
Mr O'Brien said the submissions indicated there were strong feelings for and against fracking.
"It's fair to say there's vested interests. What we want to do is burrow through all of that and work out what is the truth of the matter," he said.
Energy company Buru Energy plans to start fracking in the Kimberley in the Canning Basin in the north of WA in April.
Western Australia is estimated to have one fifth of the world's shale gas reserves but development of its resources is estimated to be five to 10 years away.
Fracking has provoked controversy in Australia and elsewhere with concerns about its potential impact on the environment and human health.
DesertDrifter -- just for the record -- LifeSiteNews.com isn't a source of "best info" on that topic (or any other) -- a hard-core theo-fascist web site that is virulently against contraception as well as abortion, considers the former a form of the latter -- their current "popular" headlines:
Women taking pill more likely to be treated for depression, study finds
.. you never would come across as being anti the pill .. some latest research you may be interested in ..
Danish research finds that women on combined contraceptive pill are 23% more likely to be prescribed antidepressants
The research found that adolescent girls were most at risk. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images
Sarah Boseley Health editor
Thursday 29 September 2016 01.03 AEST Last modified on Thursday 29 September 2016 07.00 AEST
Women who take the contraceptive pill are more likely to be treated for depression, according to a large study.
Millions of women worldwide use hormonal contraceptives, and there have long been reports that they can affect mood. A research project was launched in Denmark .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/denmark .. to look at the scale of the problem, involving the medical records of more than a million women and adolescent girls.
It found that those on the combined pill were 23% more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant by their doctor, most commonly in the first six months after starting on the pill. Women on the progestin-only pills, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, were 34% more likely to take antidepressants or get a first diagnosis of depression than those not on hormonal contraception.
Adolescent girls appeared to be at highest risk. Those taking combined pills were 80% more likely and those on progestin-only pills more than twice as likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than their peers who were not on the pill.
The researchers, Øjvind Lidegaard of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues, point out that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime as men, though rates are equal before puberty. The fluctuating levels of the two female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, have been implicated. Studies have suggested raised progesterone levels in particular may lower mood.
The impact of low-dose hormonal contraception on mood and possibly depression has not been fully studied, the authors say. They used registry data in Denmark on more than a million women and adolescent girls aged between 15 and 34. They were followed up from 2000 until 2013 with an average follow-up of 6.4 years.
The authors call for more studies to investigate this possible side-effect of the pill.
Other scientists said the research should not put women off using hormonal contraception. Dr Channa Jayasena, a clinical senior lecturer in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, said: “This study raises important questions about the pill. In over a million Danish women, depression was associated with contraceptive pill use. The study does not prove [and does not claim] that the pill plays any role in the development of depression. However, we know hormones play a hugely important role in regulating human behaviour.
“Given the enormous size of this study, further work is needed to see if these results can be repeated in other populations, and to determine possible biological mechanisms which might underlie any possible link between the pill and depression. Until then, women should not be deterred from taking the pill.”
Dr Ali Kubba, a fellow of the faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, also said further research was needed.
“There is existing clinical evidence that hormonal contraception can impact some women’s moods, however, from this study there is no way of linking causation, therefore further research is needed to examine depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use,” he said.
“Women should not be alarmed by this study as all women react differently to different methods of contraception. There are a variety of contraception methods on offer including the pill, implants, injections, intrauterine devices, and vaginal rings and we therefore advise women to discuss their options with a doctor, where they will discuss the possible side-effects and decisions around the most suitable method can be made jointly.”
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