Jeremy Buckingham, an Australian member of parliament representing the South Wales Greens party, set the Condamine River on fire.
Why did he do it?
The MP explains in a video posted to his Facebook page: “Sometimes a picture says a thousand words." Buckingham blames the fracking that's only kilometers away for the toxic river on fire.
According to Lock the Gate Alliance, the Condamine has been "bubbling 'like a spa bath'" since 2012. The Alliance describes that the National Water Commission (NWC) found that coal seam gas poses "'significant, long-term and adverse impacts' on water resources." Furthermore, the NWC identified these possible threats from continued mining:
-- Contaminated and depressurized aquifers
-- Gradual caving or sinking of the land
-- Reduced flows
-- Wastewater management challenges Chemicals like boron, silver, chlorine, copper, cyanide and zinc are still present in treated wastewater, according to the Alliance.)
-- Changed water quality
"This is utterly unacceptable," says MP Buckingham. If you agree, sign and share this petition urging Australian leaders to rid the river of the bubbling methane that's accumulated over years -- even if it has to stand up to the powerful fracking industry. Do you really want Australian rivers on fire to become the new normal?
Photo Credit: Screenshot from The Washington Post
