West Australia’s conservative Liberal-National state government has decided to allow the exploration of Coal Seam Gas (CSG) in the state’s Kimberley region without an Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) assessment.
Perth-based Buru Energy wants to use hydraulic fracturing stimulation or ‘fracking’ at four existing wells along its Laurel Formation prospect in the Kimberley, later this year.
AAP Newsagency reports the EPA told the company in January that the proposal raised several environmental issues but it had decided against subjecting it to an impact assessment process.
“The EPA considers that this small scale, `proof of concept’ exploration drilling proposal is unlikely to have a significant effect on the environment,” it said.
Potential impacts such as vegetation clearing and pollution of groundwater due to well failure could be monitored and mitigated by the Department of Mines and Petroleum and the Department of Water, the EPA said.
AAP now reports the WA environment minister Albert Jacobs has said the EPA’s decision was justified and dismissed 48 appeals.
Conservation groups were outraged and renewed their call for a moratorium on gas ‘fracking’ in WA.
“This is WA’s largest ever ‘fracking’ proposal by a long shot, and for it to have no scrutiny by WA’s only independent environmental watchdog is appalling,” Environs Kimberley director Martin Pritchard said.
“While the government claims that gas ‘fracking’ has been done safely in WA for decades, they fail to say that modern day ‘fracking’ is completely different, with much higher risks for the environment, groundwater and public health.”
According to Buru Energy, some 780 wells have been fractured for oil and gas in the state since 1958, including seven tight gas wells that were ‘fracked’ since 2005.
