The Camden Gas Project will become the first coal seam gas project in New South Wales to implement a fugitive methane emissions monitoring program, AGL Energy Limited (AGL) announced today. This is part of the new and expanded air and water monitoring program at AGL’s Camden Gas Project in south west Sydney, which has been developed following consultation with the Office of the New South Wales Chief Scientist and Engineer, the New South Wales Land and Water Commissioner, the Environment Protection Authority, and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.

Group General Manager Upstream Gas, Mike Moraza, said: “The new program ensures that the Camden Gas Project is leading the industry in best practice emissions monitoring. It will be the first fugitive methane emissions monitoring program to be completed in the CSG industry in the State and will be the most comprehensive set of data ever collected at the site. “We will now be consulting with the community about the details, including seeking input on the locations for monitoring stations and how to best share the information. “This program of work shows AGL is listening to community concerns. “AGL already prevents any fugitive emissions by regularly checking our pipelines and equipment. This program goes a step further by checking the air quality as well,” said Mr Moraza.

The details of the revised air and water monitoring programs include:

  • Monitoring concentrations of fugitive methane emissions within the existing Camden Gas Project area, which will be completed by an external air monitoring consultant at each monitoring location on a regular basis
  • The use of two methane gas instruments with isotopic analysers which are able to fingerprint the source of methane emissions from coal as opposed to methane emissions from landfill, agriculture or other natural or industrial sources
  • Sampling and testing of the methane concentrations in the areas surrounding the existing Camden Gas Project area
  • The addition and accelerated installation of eight dedicated groundwater monitoring bores (increasing the current number of existing monitoring bores from three to 11) to test water levels and water quality in the project area
  • Increasing the frequency of water quality sampling at the monitoring bores to quarterly and expanding the range of chemicals that are analysed.

This enhanced monitoring will give residents of Wollondilly, Campbelltown and Camden access to more information about air and water quality in their communities. “AGL will share the results of the emissions monitoring with the community to demonstrate that our operations pose no risk to either the environment or to human health,” said Mr Moraza.

About AGL

AGL is one of Australia's leading integrated renewable energy companies and is taking action toward creating a sustainable energy future for our investors, communities and customers. Drawing on 175 years of experience, AGL operates retail and merchant energy businesses, power generation assets and an upstream gas portfolio. AGL has one of Australia's largest retail energy and dual fuel customer bases. AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources including hydro, wind, landfill gas and biomass. AGL is Australia's largest private owner and operator of renewable energy assets and is looking to further expand this position by exploring a suite of low emission and renewable energy generation development opportunities.