Lock the Gate Alliance has launched the first legal challenge to fracking under the water trigger in Australia’s national environment laws.
The Federal Court challenge is against Tamboran B2 Pty Ltd’s proposed Shenandoah South Exploration and Appraisal project to frack 15 gas wells in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, near the town of Daly Waters.
Represented by Environmental Justice Australia, Lock the Gate Alliance will argue the fracking project is likely to have a significant impact on groundwater resources and should therefore be caught by the water trigger in national environment laws.
So far, Tamboran has not referred its project to the Federal Environment Minister under water trigger provisions, and the Federal Environment Minister has not “called in” the project for assessment under water trigger provisions.
Meanwhile, Tamboran has already begun early work on the project.
Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator Carmel Flint said, “Lock the Gate Alliance is launching this landmark challenge to protect water from fracking because we believe Tamboran’s project represents a serious risk to groundwater in the Northern Territory.
“We believe Tamboran should be conducting further assessments and seeking approval from the Federal Environment Minister before fracking is undertaken. We argue that if it doesn’t, Tamboran will be in breach of the national environmental law.
“We feel compelled to take this action because the Federal Environment Minister has failed to step in and make sure water impacts are fully assessed.”
Darwin local and Lock the Gate Alliance spokesperson Pete Callender said, “We feel we have no choice but to commence this litigation to protect NT groundwater from the likely significant risk of contamination from fracking chemicals and toxic wastewater.
“We are trying to make sure the water trigger does its job of protecting water in the Northern Territory.”
Senior Specialist Lawyer from Environmental Justice Australia, Retta Berryman said, "This government introduced changes to the water trigger last year so that tight and shale gas fracking projects would be assessed for their impact on water resources.
“Our national environment laws require fracking projects with a likely significant impact on water resources to be referred for federal assessment. All companies seeking to carry out regulated activities must abide by Australian laws, and our client looks forward to having this critical issue considered by the Court."
Lock the Gate Alliance is seeking an injunction from the Federal Court to prevent the Shenandoah project going ahead until the Federal Government assesses the impacts of the project on water under national environment laws.
ENDS
Background:
Fracking involves injecting a mixture of water, chemicals and sand into deep shale layers at high pressure to extract gas.
According to the approved Environmental Management Plan for the Shenandoah South Exploration and Appraisal Project, the project will:
- Drill and frack up to 15 horizontal exploration and appraisal wells at 4 locations
- Use up to 72 million litres of water and 15,000 tonnes of sand per fracked well (Page 107)
- Use approximately 580,000 litres of chemicals per well pad (Table 6, pp 20-34)
- Store up to 34 million litres of wastewater across the project area (Page 55)
In order to reach the deep shale gas targeted by the Shenandoah project, Tamboran will drill through the important Cambrian Limestone Aquifer system (p203) which supplies water to pastoral stations and feeds surface water to creeks and rivers, including the headwaters of the Roper River and Mataranka Springs (Geological and Bioregional Assessment Program 2021).
The Cambrian Limestone Aquifer system harbours unique stygofauna, underground aquatic creatures that can play a crucial role in cycling nutrients and maintaining water quality. Many of these local species are found nowhere else in the world.