‘Tip of the methane iceberg’: 130,000 coal boreholes must be audited after toxic leaks in Queensland, experts say

Conservationists have called for an audit of potentially thousands of methane-leaking coal boreholes in Queensland, as one expert says New South Wales also has an unknown number of potentially leaking holes.

Research revealed last week that two abandoned exploratory coal boreholeswere leaking methane at a rate comparable to 10,000 vehicles.

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The federal government has previously published estimates that there are about 130,000 abandoned coal exploration bores in Queensland’s Surat and Bowen coal basins where the quality of decommissioning to seal the holes is unknown.

The Queensland Conservation Council said the University of Queensland research had revealed “the tip of the methane