Lock the Gate Alliance says the Independent Expert Scientific Committee’s advice on the potential impacts on water resources from shale gas exploration in the Beetaloo Basin indicates there is a clear case for calling in Tamboran and Empire Energy’s shale gas exploration projects under Federal Environment law.
The IESC advice, released yesterday, finds several “High likelihood/high consequence” impacts from exploration activities and a long list of knowledge gaps that need filling.
Lock the Gate Head of Research and Investigations Georgina Woods said, “The IESC’s advice on the potential impacts of shale gas exploration activities on water resources in the Beetaloo Basin raises more questions than it answers. In our view, these questions must be answered through an environmental assessment under the water trigger of each project currently underway in the region.
“The Committee’s advice makes clear that it was not provided with project-specific information about fracking operations underway and planned in the Beetaloo Basin and that ‘there remains a need for site- and project-specific investigations.’
“These investigations are precisely what the water trigger is for, and we urge the Minister to call-in these projects for proper assessment.
“Importantly, the IESC has identified a number of risks to water resources it describes as ‘high likelihood / high consequence’ arising from potential exploration and appraisal fracking projects. The test for unconventional gas projects to be caught by the water trigger is whether the project is ‘likely to have a significant impact on a water resource’ – so it would appear the IESC considers that these projects could be caught by the water trigger provisions.
“Many of the risks they identify as likely and of high consequence have been concerns of Territorians for a long time.”
The IESC has assumed that ‘best practice’ management of risks would be in place, including that “wastewater will not be discharged into local waterways or stored in open ponds but will be transported off site by road".
"However, best practice measures are not in place and wastewater is stored in open ponds in the fracking exploration and appraisal projects in the NT,” Ms Woods said.
“Strangely, the summary statement at the top of the advice plainly contradicts what the advice itself is saying, which is that there are several likely impacts of shale gas exploration activities that would have high consequences for the precious water resources in the Beetaloo.”
ENDS
Background:
The IESC has published high level advice on the broad risks of unconventional gas exploration and appraisal in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, following a request from Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
The Committee notes in its advice that unlike other advice it provides, the nature of this request “is very different because the Committee has not been provided with project-specific Environmental Impact Statements to assess and the regional spatial scale substantially exceeds that of any previous request to the Committee.” (Page 8)
Crucially, the Committee notes that “there remains a need for site- and project-specific investigations including collection of baseline data and subsequent modelling” (page 18)
The IESC’s advice makes clear that there is insufficient information available to properly assess the impacts of specific shale gas exploration activities. The Committee found:
Information is needed on where, how much and when exploration and appraisal activities are likely to occur, and their proximity to surface and subterranean water resources in the Basin. Detailed information is also needed on treatment, transport and disposal of flowback wastewaters (Page 4)
And observed that,
Material gaps remain in the current scientific understanding of the hydrology, hydrogeology and other aspects of the Beetaloo Basin that affected the IESC’s ability to provide advice on potential impacts, impact pathways and risks associated with exploration and appraisal activities.
These include:
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geological and hydrogeological characterisation of the aquitards and aquifers, including their inter-connectivity;
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spatial and temporal dynamics of runoff, surface water flows, groundwater recharge and surface water-groundwater connections and how these affect water resources;
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adequate baseline groundwater and surface water quality data; and
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species composition, distribution, groundwater-dependence and condition of subterranean, aquatic and terrestrial GDEs. (Page 4)
Working within these information gaps, the IESC prepared “impact pathway diagrams” (IPDs) sketching potential impacts and estimating their likelihood and consequences (ie see page 11). For the southern catchment area of the Beetaloo Basin, this identified a number of high likelihood/high consequence risks including to aquatic groundwater dependent ecosystems and to permanent/semi-permanent refugial pools like Longreach waterhole.