A FOUNDING director of Rural Communities Australia says its submission is not a recommendation against fracking "per se'' but ensures that regulations are adhered to and the serious risks assessed before any project is given the green light.
Geoff Wells, a former dean of the University of SA's Business School, with a research background in sustainable business and natural resource management, presented to the Parliamentary Inquiry at Millicent last week.
He believes state regulations under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 are adequate but are not being appropriately policed.
The regulations require a full, quantitative accounting of the impacts and risks associated with these operations, including uncertainties, but none of the existing Environmental Impact Statements on the public record for SA fracking projects have met these requirements.
"All the risks are crude cases of likely or not likely,'' he said. "There is no frequency analysis work, impact data on other industries through the life of the project, or sensitivity analysis.
"The EIS may be big documents but in it the companies are really just saying trust us in what we are doing."
He said the science had not been settled on unconventional shale gas production, which made it even more important to assess and understand the risks.
"In many areas fracking has gone ahead with the research lagging behind," he said.
He said international research in North America, Europe and China had documented adverse impacts of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas which need to be considered. The Stockholm International Water Institute's 2014 report stated that substantial amounts of water were needed - up to 500,000 cubic metres a well, and fracking was linked to triggering seismic activity, social and community disruption, and air quality concerns with methane and nitrogen dioxide.
There were also threats to groundwater contamination through faulty well casing and concrete.
Health was another emerging concern with substantial US studies indicating increased incidence of disease near wells from groundwater and air contamination.
A recent rural Colorado study of 125,000 live births indicated a statistically greater likelihood of birth defects within 10 miles of wells.