The Baird government has been accused of making a "reckless" decision to give conditional approval for a coal seam gas desalination plant one of its own agencies said could pose a "significant environment risk".
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Santos has won approval for its Leewood Produced Water and Beneficial Reuse Project for its proposed CSG field at Narrabri even though the company is yet to submit detailed water treatment and irrigation plans, nor been given a deadline to submit them.
The nod was given by the Division of Resources and Energy (DRE) with the proviso Santos detail within six months how it will manage as much as 500,000 litres of brine a day.
"Conditional approvals are not unusual for projects which may take many years, and as such, require plans at different stages," a DRE spokesman said. "Once submitted, these plans will require approval from DRE before the activity can commence."
Stuart Khan, associate professor in the University of NSW's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said that although the government has left some remaining conditions for the project to be met, "once the project is constructed, it will be more difficult for the NSW Government to refuse approval to operate it".
"Given that this project has been planned for years, I would have thought that these plans could have been insisted upon prior to approving construction," Professor Khan said. "There is certainly a lot of community interest in understanding how the concentrated brine (and associated dissolved salts) will be ultimately managed."
Greens mining spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said the government was "wrong and reckless to approve this facility" as Santos "only have half-a-plan to deal with it".
Energy Minister Anthony Roberts declined to comment.
'Many questions'
Santos had been given until June to answer detailed concerns by several government departments about the $2 billion project. The Environment Protection Authority had said it could not support the proposal without "a detailed commitment for the lawful disposal of brine" as the issue "presents a significant environmental risk".
A spokesman for Santos said the company had worked with the government "to answer the many questions that were raised during the assessment process".
"We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure continued confidence in the Narrabri Gas Project," he said.
The company, though, may be distracted by bigger issues, including the announcement on Friday that chief executive David Knox would exit. Santos will review its entire operations, amid an $8 billion drop in market value in the past year and a plunging oil price that threatens to force asset sales and a capital raising.
"Santos is in complete disarray," Naomi Hodgson, Wilderness Society Newcastle campaign manager, said. "The NSW government shouldn't be rushing decisions on a project that some analysts think Santos has shelved."
Ms Hodgson said the five-year exploration project will produce 500 million litres of concentrated salty brine. By contrast, AGL has taken three months to truck just 2.7 millions of brine from its CSG project at Gloucester.
"If Santos can't even explain now how it will dispose of waste from a handful of exploration wells, how will it provide a solution to the waste produced from 850 wells if the Narrabri Gas Project is fully operational?" she said.
Labor says it will oppose any CSG activity in the Great Artesian Basin area, including the Pilliga State Forest site planned by Santos.
"We have grave concerns with the planning process of this project and graver concerns how Santos will manage waste water at the site," Adam Searle, Labor's energy spokesman, said.
