AT 92, Bill Ryan could be comfortably enjoying his twilight years.
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Instead, Mr Ryan last week drove from his home in southern Sydney with son Colin and friend Peter Donley to lend support to Groundswell Gloucester and its efforts to prevent AGL fracking four wells as part of its Waukivory Pilot Project.
A Second World War veteran, Mr Ryan fought at Kokoda and said he first started taking an interest in the coal seam gas issue following the Copenhagen climate change conference in 2009.
“I went to war to save this land,” he said.
“We put our lives on the line. Now I’m trying to save our land again, specifically our water and the community’s health.
“The real blow-in here is AGL. Once they’ve got what they want they’ll leave without a second thought. The damage will already have been done.”
Mr Ryan spent last Thursday and Friday supporting the protesters in their vigil on Fairbairns Lane.
His friend Mr Donley, who Mr Ryan met through the Sutherland Shire Environ-ment Centre, said he too wanted to help preserve the environment for generations to come.
“My daughter Jenna was killed in a terrible accident in 2011 while she was overseas,” he said.
“She was a veterinarian and had her whole life ahead of her.
“We were involved in the Maules Creek protests in June of this year. That’s an area with a lot of endangered animals that have been put at risk by a mining project.
“My child is gone, but I want to help try and preserve what we do have for future generations. I think I owe Jenna that much.”
Mr Ryan, who has been arrested several times for protest activity, has been campaigning outside AGL’s offices in Sydney since the State government announced the company could frack in Gloucester.
He said he would continue to support the efforts of Groundswell Gloucester and others opposed to the company’s operations locally.
“I want the people fighting this issue to know they are not alone,” he said.