But Sydney Gas CEO Bruce Butcher said that fears of the wells’ impact were misguided, and far from inflicting environmental damage the wells would offer significant environmental benefits.
The valleys represent about 50% of the NSW Central Coast’s water catchment, and locals say these catchments are under threat if the valleys are drilled.
About 300 local residents attending a recent public information session voted against the project to extract methane gas from local coal beds. Wyong Shire Mayor Brenton Pavier said following the community's outright opposition to the project, a motion would be put to Council in late November.
"It is my job to represent the people of Wyong Shire and they have made it crystal clear they are against the proposal," Pavier said.
"After listening to the speakers at the meeting and considering available information, I can see absolutely no benefits of the project for the people of Wyong Shire."
The public information session was organised by Wyong Shire Council with speakers from Sydney Gas and the Dooralong Valley community. An independent expert was also employed to attend the meeting and Wyong Shire Council technical staff were on hand to answer any questions from attendees.
The local state parliament MP, Chris Hartcher, attended the meeting and agreed to take the community's concerns to his State colleagues. Federal Member for Dobell Ken Ticehurst has also corresponded to the Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell requesting an investigation in to the project.
Landowners are concerned the project could greatly reduce local water supplies and that water extracted through the process could be polluted.
Opponents say that the coal-bed methane would lower the water table and one of the by-products of extraction is saline water, which must be safely treated or disposed of.
But Sydney Gas dismissed these objections.
Reports in The Australian had referred to the area as “pristine”, but the valleys in questions were farmland with bush remnants and all drilling operations were taking place on farmland, Butcher said.
“We can locate wells in discreet corners of paddocks and behind trees,” he said.
“There is a lot of confusion surrounding our operation and the low impact we actually have. The process has been very effective in Camden [on the south-west fringe of Sydney] and we have had very few problems.”
There was also no risk that local water quality would be damaged, he said.
“There are two main aquifers in the area – one is close to the surface and the other is no deeper than 150 metres – we are drilling at 400 to 450 metres, so it’s simply not true that our operations will affect the water table,” Butcher said.
Sydney Gas was currently operating only two wells around Wyong and all water had been shipped into the district, then out again for disposal. But as its operations expanded it intended to purchase equipment for desalinising the water.
“We can treat the water so that farmers can spray it on paddocks, give it to livestock or use it for dust suppression,” he said.
“They would actually be gaining a benefit.”
With NSW facing power supply and distribution problems and there being a need to reduce greenhouse emissions, Sydney Gas was disappointed that some locals were failing to see the Wyong coal-bed gas project’s environmental benefits, Butcher said.
