The Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) on Friday called on government to delay publishing final regulations and issuing rights for shale gas exploration in the Karoo, until a 24-month strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been concluded.

TKAG CEO Jonathan Deal said in an open letter addressed to Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi, Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant and director-general Dr Thibedi Ramontja that the SEA should inform regulations and the way forward.

Earlier this month, government launched a R12.5-million, 24-month SEA of shale gas mining in the Karoo to attain better understanding of the currently little-known potential environmental risks of exploiting unconventional gas resources. However, the Department of Environmental Affairs would allow energy companies to simultaneously undertake exploration activities, with the Department of Mineral Resources seeking Cabinet approval for supportive regulations.

“We believe that a decision that is prudent, logical and which takes into account the duty of the State contained in Section 24 of the Constitution will involve the delay of any final regulations and the issuing of exploration rights until such a time that the SEA has been concluded and can inform regulations and the way forward,” Deal said.

The TKAG open letter, which was also submitted to various government departments and Parliamentary committees, as well as the Presidency, questioned the issuing of exploration licences, expected in the third quarter of 2015, prior to the conclusion of the SEA, the finalisation of appropriate regulations and extensive public consultations.

“We believe that the role of an SEA – within the context of a process with scientifically documented environmental risk, in a water-scarce country with complex geology – should from the outset be focused on research of global facts, good understanding of local conditions and reliable local projections.

“It would then also inform appropriate regulations and a suitable approach to decision-making,” Deal commented.

TKAG claimed the regulations to be tabled in July lacked the “science” applicable in the South African context and the process of compiling the draft had failed to provide “sufficient opportunity” for public input.

The current updated applications had also been finalised before the publication of final regulations, which could invalidate the updated – yet “flawed” – environmental management plans and programmes put forward by the exploration applicants.

“The current applications before government may involve high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing – even in exploration – and the government is at this point not appropriately prepared to predict or deal with the potential consequences,” Deal said.

Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said in a reply to a Parliamentary question, on Friday, that no water-use licence applications have been received for shale gas explorations in the Karoo region.

She stated that the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) planned to publish, within two months, a notice declaring the exploration and production of onshore naturally occurring hydrocarbons that require stimulation, including hydraulic fracturing, as a controlled activity.

Further, in anticipation of potential hydraulic fracturing in the Karoo region, the DWS was currently undertaking a study, expected to be completed in November 2015, on the water reserves of the Gouritz catchment in the Western Cape, and had embarked on a process of initiating a preliminary reserve study for the entire Lower Orange catchment.