Landholders fighting the proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline project say a high pressure gas inferno that erupted in Central Queensland on Tuesday could happen in the Hunter Region.
The explosion and fire occurred on the Queensland Gas Pipeline near Bauhinia Downs, south west of Gladstone and north east of Carnarvon Gorge National Park.
Firefighters and paramedics remained at the scene throughout the day as the blaze continued to burn. No one was injured.
"This extremely dangerous gas pipeline fire is exactly why landholders are fiercely determined to stop Santos constructing its Hunter Gas Pipeline," Mullaley Gas and pipeline Accord spokesperson Margaret Fleck said.
"Gas companies must not be allowed to foist these dangerous projects onto communities.
"Gas fields do enough damage to farmland when they're not on fire, but what we've seen today should put paid to any suggestion by Santos that its gas pipeline is anything but a toxic, dangerous menace."
Tuesday's incident is the latest in a series of gas pipeline explosions in recent times. An Arrow Energy owned pipeline exploding near Lake Broadwater Conservation Park near Dalby in 2022, and a Santos owned pipeline exploding at its Cooper Basin project in South Australia early last year.
They followed a major explosion at Santos' Toolachee pipeline, near Innamincka in South Australia, in 2019.
Cecil Plains landholder Liza Balmain, who is fighting the expansion of Arrow's Surat Gas Project on Queensland's Darling Downs said, "This fire exposes the dangers inherent in high pressure gas pipelines, and offers a firm argument as to why they should not be constructed on densely settled farmland.
"With the current legislation as it stands in Queensland, farmers on the Darling Downs have no right to veto gas projects occurring on their land. They have no ability to assess the risk for themselves, their families, and their communities, and say no to the risk of such potential disasters. This is an appalling situation.
"It is no wonder that a major rural insurance company pulled out of providing third party liability cover for farms hosting gas infrastructure. This incident at Bauhinia Downs demonstrates the inherent risks unjustly being forced upon QLD farmers and their communities."
