A Santos proposal to drill for gas off the north west coast of Western Australia poses major risks to the state’s most iconic reefs from oil or other hydrocarbon spills, the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has warned.
CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts said that Santos’s own modelling showed that spills from the Bedout proposal could cause wide-ranging devastation to WA’s iconic Pilbara coastline.
“This isn’t who we are as Western Australians,” Mr Roberts said. “We protect the places we love, because they represent far more to communities and future generations than they do to corporate shareholders looking for a return on investment.
“We can’t let multinational companies like Santos come in and trash our natural heritage, particularly given this company’s dire record of ongoing leaks and spills in the Northern Territory and WA.”
Mr Roberts said federal offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA is currently accepting public submissions on the Santos proposal to drill up to seven exploration wells in the Bedout Basin off the coast from Port Hedland.
“Santos wants permission to drill near some of our most iconic Marine Parks and around 40 kilometres from the Rowley Shoals Marine Park,” Mr Roberts said.
“The Environmental Plan submitted to NOPSEMA by Santos shows that oil spills from the Bedout project could have severe impacts on waterways and coastline, potentially impacting World Heritage Areas including Shark Bay, and the Murujuga Coastal Landscape, as well as coral reefs including Ningaloo, Rowley Shoals, and Scott Reef.
“Santos is risking oil spill blowouts over an area that extends all the way from Shark Bay, past Broome, and nearly to Timor-Leste.
“Santos’s own Environment Plan admits this project could impact a long list of endangered species, including blue whales, southern right whales, loggerhead turtles, the dusky sea snake, and numerous species of seabirds and shorebirds.
“We’re also deeply concerned by the prospect of more seismic blasting in our oceans that could disrupt and disturb whales and other marine life.
“Beyond that, Santos is looking for more gas to export overseas at a time where we should be focussing on clean, cheap renewables, and building an energy future beyond gas.
“Western Australia’s oceans are under attack from the gas export industry. Our governments should be standing up to multinational companies like Santos and defending these places.”
CCWA has made a submission to NOPSEMA (attached) warning against the risk of catastrophic oil spills, seismic blasting and industrial noise and pollution. Also attached is a briefing paper on the proposal.
The below map from Santos’s Environment Plan shows the area that could potentially be impacted by oil spills (outlined in blue):
Media contact: John Cooke – 0433 679 780 – [email protected]
* Oil is a hydrocarbon, but not all hydrocarbons are oil. Spills from offshore oil and gas projects can be oil, and previous spills from the Santos gas project at Varanus was an oil spill.
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