In late May 2012, the Condamine River was found bubbling 'like a spa bath' near the Queensland country town of Chinchilla. A gas metre registered high levels of methane coming from the river. The bubbling was occurring in an area where coal seam gas wells are located in close proximity to the River. Whilst the gas company concerned, Origin Energy, blithely described the bubbling as a 'natural' phenomenon, landholders in the area have never heard of or encountered gas leakages on this scale previously, and Dr Gavin Mudd from Monash University School of Engineering stated that it was feasible that de-watering of the coal seam had enabled methane gas to escape to the surface.
A hydrologist report to the Queensland Palaszczuk Government in 2021 found nearby CSG activity had ‘enhanced’ the amount of methane escaping in the area. While the report claimed the more severe methane seeps had been mitigated, footage taken in 2023 indicates it is in fact intensifying and spreading.
Evidence of methane migration as a result of coal seam gas mining has also been provided by a local landholder who has been able to set his water bore on fire after drilling took place nearby, and an old coal exploration drillhole at Daandine, near Dalby, which has recently caught fire after coal seam gas mining in the vicinity. There is also a large body of evidence indicating that methane migration is a relatively frequent occurrence near unconventional gasfields in America.
Read more about the issue here.