A video posted by New South Wales Greens party MP Jeremy Buckingham appears to show the Condamine River erupting in flames as a result of methane gas build-up, believed to be caused by nearby fracking. Several gas fracking mines are located in the vicinity of the southern Queensland river in Australia, and gas was reported to be leaking into the water as early as 2012.
Buckingham can be seen in the video holding a lighter near the river from his boat, when the river suddenly bursts into flames. Buckingham is visibly taken aback by the fire, exclaiming Holy f**k, a river on fire!
Buckingham tweeted he was shocked by the force of the explosion. He told ABC News the river held the flame for more than an hour.
He later posted on Facebook, Fracking must be banned. Everywhere. No ifs, no buts, no exceptions. Ban it.
Fracking is the process of drilling down into the Earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release shale gas stored inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. Reserves of shale gas have been identified across large swathes of the UK, particularly in northern England.
