An extraordinary David and Goliath battle has begun as Nood and Narelle Nothdurft and their family of 11, from Chinchilla, commence Land Court proceedings against QGC for excessive noise and air emissions from gas infrastructure on and around their property.
A directions hearing is being held at 9.30am on Tuesday, 29th March in Brisbane.
“QGC have made our lives unliveable’ said Mr Nothdurft.
“We have to live with excessive noise which ruins our sleep and constant air emissions from surrounding gas wells and infrastructure which threaten our health.
“We’ve been forced to live in the middle of an industrial gasfield.
“We were never informed at the outset that we would experience these impacts or that they would escalate over time.
“We’re deeply concerned for the future of our children, who are having severe headaches and other unexplained symptoms.
“All we’ve ever asked for is a fair go, to live our lives in peace, but that has been taken from us” he said.
Drew Hutton from Lock the Gate said that the Nothdurfts had been treated badly by QGC and neglected by the Qld Government.
“It is an absolute disgrace that a regular Qld family like this has no option but to take on a multi-national mining giant in court.
“They can’t even sell their property and move away, because no-one wants to buy it.
“The Qld Government has done absolutely nothing for this family, despite repeated calls for them to intervene and protect their wellbeing.
“We delivered the Qld Government a CSG Crisis Action plan late last year, to try to prevent further human harm in the gasfields, but they have done nothing in response.
“Families like the Nothdurfts should not have to put their entire future on the line with a legal challenge because they have been hung out to dry by the Qld Government” he said.
Over the last 2 weeks, the Sisters of Mercy have made two historic and unprecedented statements at the UN on the impacts of CSG mining at Chinchilla, Qld, on human rights. You can view video of the statements here and here (click to the right of the video and view Chapter 21).
