Contributed by Ugly

A survey has found that 89 percent of residents in Western Australia’s Caversham East went their area to be coal seam gas (fracking) free.

Local resident and vigneron Dr Marc Rumpus from the Frack Free Caversham group says that volunteers went door to door, asking neighbours, who overwhelmingly responded with the wish to be protected against the “toxic industry”.

People are waking up to the rubbish being peddled, about there being no other choice but to carry on looking for gas, no matter where it is found and how it is extracted, to overcome a severe gas shortage.

“Most people are predominantly concerned the risk fracking poses to our underground water which Perth, the Mid West and South West all rely heavily on for drinking and agriculture” he said.

“The different levels of aquifers in the area are connected and can mix and this couples with the real threat of pollution, by direct and indirect action of the fracking and unconventional gas extraction processes is a big worry – contamination has been proven in other areas”.

The regional Lock the Gate coordinator Simone Van Hattem said people in the Swan Valley and Chittering have indicated in recent months that they do not want fracking in the region.

Gas companies are interested in exploring a large part of the Swan region.

Last year, the Swan City Council officially opposed the exploration. This has added legitimacy to the community campaign.

But permits were still given by the state government’s Department of Mines and Petroleum, covering a section of Ellenbrook, The Vines and the Swan Valley. This meant that the battle had to be waged on the ground.

Last November a series of public meetings in towns within the municipality, revealed the extent of public opposition. These meetings were organised by local action groups: Gate Vines, Midland Gatekeepers, Gasfield Free Perth Hills, and Frack Free Guildford-Caversham.

The industry has been working hard to convince all that there is no risk from coal seam gas mining. Few are buying it. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.