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With his two children and wife he moved to the Great Lakes to enjoy its pristine waters and lifestyle, having survived the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 in Sri Lanka, and a life threatening illness. 

The CSG project in Gloucester however, he says, is far worse.

As the driving force behind setting up last week’s impromptu CSG forum, Craig was responsible for giving Great Lakes residents the opportunity to hear firsthand the CSG concerns expressed by the region’s protest groups. He is a recent convert of only four weeks, but he knows enough about the industry to be appalled for his children’s sake.

“It might not be an immediate disaster, but in the long term, its impacts will be catastrophic. It is the cumulative impacts that are not written into the system that we have to worry about.”

Whilst the issues surrounding CSG extraction are diverse, Craig’s main concern is the risk of water contamination from the fracking process. 

Craig does not think that a CSG well’s cement and steel barrier is an adequate safeguard to prevent cross-contamination between the outside underground environment and the water, sand, and chemical fracking solution found within the CSG well.

“It’s like putting a toxic waste drum in your backyard. After time, what do you think is going to happen? It will rust,” he said.

Craig also cites radioactive elements being disturbed within the coal beds, rising to the surface with the excess water, the fracking solution and the gas. 

“In one minute, we have interrupted a geological environment that has taken millions of years to form. 

“They are making a swiss cheese of it, and it will not rehabilitate while humans are on earth. What are they thinking, and what are we going to do about it?”

Unaffialiated with any particular group, Craig has set up a Facebook page called csgfreegreatlakesnsw. To be on an email list for further events, contact csgfreewater@gmail.com