The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has expressed disappointment after failing in its Supreme Court challenge of Woodside's $16 billion Scarborough gas development.
The CCWA had challenged the validity of environmental approvals granted for the project, which was given the final go-ahead by Woodside and partner BHP in November last year.
The Council submitted that the state's environment watchdog allowed for permits to be changed to allow for the processing of additional gas, without further assessment.
Woodside applied in 2019 for approval to transfer gas to its Karratha plant in the state's north west, using the proposed Pluto North West Shelf Interconnector Pipeline and/or the existing pipeline system.
The Council argued the changes would result in significant additional impacts on the environment, claiming it would result in 1.6 billion tonnes of extra carbon pollution.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) had said in July 2019 that no additional effects were likely as "gas received from pipeline sources will be able to be processed by existing Karratha gas plant infrastructure".
It said the changes were not of a scale or intensity to be significant.
The then EPA Chair, Tom Hatton, accepted the recommendations and informed Woodside that approval was granted.
CCWA claimed the chair did not personally engage in the "intellectual process" required of him to come to his conclusion.
Justice Jeremy Allanson rejected this, saying the Council had not established the chair did not consider the possible impacts.
He pointed out the assessment process went from March through to July, Woodside had foreshadowed its application and it was common to have discussions.
Justice Allanson also said CCWA had not proved the chair made an error.
Judicial review knocked back
Supreme Court Justice Jeremy Allanson not only dismissed the challenge, but also refused leave for judicial review because the application was launched too late.
The challenge was launched about 16 months after CCWA became aware of the decision, and 10 months after the limitation for judicial review expired.
Justice Allanson said the delay was "properly characterised as excessive and unwarrantable."
He said if CCWA had brought the action within the time frame, it "would have been disposed of much more quickly and economically".
Woodside provided evidence that it had taken actions on the understanding it had EPA approval, with some submissions heard in closed court for commercially sensitive reasons.
Justice Allanson said Woodside, and third parties, would have suffered significant prejudice if an approval given in July 2019 was now set aside.
EPA failed in its duty: CCWA
CCWA executive director Maggie Wood said the Council was disappointed.
"We have maintained that the Environmental Protection Authority failed to properly assess Woodside's Scarborough gas development and that unless this oversight was challenged, there would be no way for West Australians to know the damage it would cause to our environment," she said in a statement.
She said the legal challenge was only initiated after a failure to reach an agreement with the EPA following negotiations.
Woodside has issued its own statement to the ASX, welcoming the outcome in the Supreme Court.
It said it was continuing to progress the Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 projects and the start-up of the Pluto-Karratha Gas Plant Interconnector.
Woodside said a hearing date was yet to be set for CCWA's separate Supreme Court proceedings challenging the Pluto Train 2 project works approval.
