Environmental lawyers have raised concern the offshore petroleum regulator is attempting to avoid scrutiny by not publishing its reasons for approving seismic blasting and drilling for a major fossil fuel development in northern Western Australia.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) granted approval for seismic testing and drilling of up to 10 wells for Woodside’s $16.5bn Scarborough gas development last Friday.
Woodside has approval to start drilling for the gasfield, which is estimated to cause between 880m and 1.6bn tonnes of emissions over its lifetime, from 13 December.
The approvals were granted two months after the federal court overturned the regulator’s earlier approval for seismic testing after finding Woodside had failed to properly consult traditional owners.
The Environmental Defenders Office, which represented Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper in the federal court case, said it was concerned the regulator had not published a statement of reasons for either of its decisions last week.
Special counsel Clare Lakewood said although the regulator was not legally required to publish its reasons when it granted an approval, this had been its past practice.
Information published in a statement of reasons for the earlier seismic testing approval led to Cooper launching her legal challenge.
“Nopsema hasn’t published its reasons for accepting either the seismic or drilling environment plans on the Nopsema website, which is a new approach, as previously statements of reasons have been made available at the time of the decision,” Lakewood said.
“Nopsema is not legally required to publish reasons when it accepts an environment plan, but it is alarming that it appears to be attempting to avoid scrutiny, when it has a recent history of making decisions that the courts have found are contrary to the law.”
A statement of reasons can be requested and the regulator has 28 days to publish it. Lakewood said this meant any seismic work could be well advanced before the reasons for the approval were available.
A Woodside spokesperson said seismic testing had commenced and would be completed by 31 December.
Cooper said: “I want to know why Nopsema hasn’t published their reasons for making this decision.
“They need to publish them. It’s in the interest of all people who have an interest in this project.”
Cooper said she remained concerned about the potential effects of seismic testing and drilling on marine species and on “sacred, significant songlines stretching from one end of the continent to the other”.
A Nopsema spokesperson said the environment plan for the seismic testing was subject to a “lengthy and rigorous” assessment process and the regulator was satisfied it met the criteria for approval.
They reiterated the regulator was not required to publish a statement of reasons and its “published policy sets out how Nopsema considers publication of any statement of reasons, which is on a case-by-case basis”.
The spokesperson said the regulator had 28 days to comply if a statement of reasons was requested.
The drilling approval allows for the drilling of eight wells with a contingency for two further wells. They said any further proposed drilling activity for the Scarborough development will require Woodside to submit a new environment plan or a proposed revision to the approved plan.
The Scarborough project is one of two major offshore gas projects that have been delayed by legal challenges.
Last year the federal court overturned a drilling approval for Santos’ Barossa offshore gas project off the Northern Territory.
Hearings in a separate legal challenge to a pipeline for that project commenced in Darwin this week.
More than 30 organisations including Greenpeace, The Wilderness Society and Save Our Songlines, have written to the federal government urging it to strengthen Nopsema’s regulations. The letter expresses concern about “aggressive lobbying” by the gas industry in response to the court cases that found consultation with traditional owners had not been adequate.
On Tuesday, Greenpeace activists scaled a 140-metre crane next door to Woodside’s Perth headquarters, dropping a 25-metre banner reading “Stop Woodside”.
“Fossil fuel giant Woodside and its monstrous Burrup Hub gas project are not only Australia’s biggest climate threat, but a huge threat to Australia’s precious whales and wildlife,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive David Ritter said.
Woodside’s spokesperson said the company was committed to “playing a significant role in the world’s energy transition, through limiting our own emissions and reducing global emissions by supplying lower carbon energy to a world that needs it”.
“Woodside will reduce Scarborough’s direct greenhouse gas emissions to as low as reasonably practical by incorporating energy efficiency measures in design and operations,” they said.
They said Woodside had also set targets at Pluto, its liquefied natural gas processing facility, in line with company net zero targets by 2050.
