WA EPA’s biggest test for new Chair and Board
We are on high alert with Texas-based Black Mountain’s (Bennett Resources) 20-well Valhalla fracking proposal in the final stage of Environment Protection Authority (EPA) assessment. The WA EPA Board is expected to review it soon and make a recommendation to Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn, who will decide whether to reject or approve the project.
EK and more than 8,000 community members have called on the EPA to reject the proposal.
Graphic illustration of US frack fields overlaid onto one side of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Original photo of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River: Wendy Mitchell. Original photo of US frack fields: Ecoflight.
If the EPA recommends the proposal can go ahead, we will seek advice and, if there are sufficient grounds, we will appeal and encourage the community to do so as well. If any appeals are made, the Appeals Convenor can make a recommendation to the Minister for the Environment on whether or not it believes the proposal can proceed. Separately, the Commonwealth’s environmental assessment is still underway. A further public comment opportunity will come later in that process. The Federal Minister for Environment will eventually make a decision on the proposal and, so far, thousands of people have called on the Federal Government to reject fracking in the Kimberley.
Rally at Perth’s Parliament House against Black Mountain’s Valhalla proposal and calling for a ban on fracking
On 9th September, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, we will be holding a rally in front of Parliament House in Perth on the first sitting day. We are asking everyone to spread the word for as many people as possible to tell this government in no uncertain terms that we do not want fracking in the globally significant Kimberley region.
The Black Mountain Valhalla proposal is the most significant one since the Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Tight Gas Stimulation (TGS) proposal in 2015. We must stop Black Mountain from getting a foothold in the Kimberley. This is a pivotal moment in the campaign for a Frack Free Kimberley, so please tell your friends and family in Perth to help us make this the biggest rally to date of our resistance to this toxic and destructive industry.
Buru Energy’s toxic hydrocarbon sludge
In 2024, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) inspected Buru Energy’s Ungani Oil Production Facility 90 km from Broome for the first time since 2015. During the visit, inspectors discovered hydrocarbon sludge, transferred from Wyndham tanks, stored in an open turkey-nest dam. DWER had not been informed of this hazardous storage until the inspection, though the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) had approved it in September 2023.
Buru's hazardous storage of toxic hydrocarbon sludge. Photo: Department of Water and Environment Regulation obtained via Freedom of Information.
The sludge remained in the dam throughout the 2023/2024 wet season and was only removed in December 2024, when it was sent to Tellus’s Sandy Ridge Facility, which handles Australia’s most hazardous waste. Storing toxic sludge in an open dam posed a serious environmental risk. A heavy rainfall or above-average wet season could have caused a dangerous overflow and widespread contamination. We are seeking further information on this toxic sludge and any past pollution incidents.
Sign the petition to ask Premier Roger Cook to ban fracking in the Kimberley here.
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