Call on the Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to reject the Texan frackers’ proposal to industrialise the Kimberley!

In order to proceed, Black Mountain Energy’s proposal to frack the Kimberley must obtain approval from both the WA government and the Federal Environment Minister.

The Kimberley is an internationally recognised conservation icon and tourist destination, with visitors being drawn by its unique nature-based and cultural experience. This well-established industry provides hundreds of jobs to Kimberley residents.

Tourism is one of the major industries in the Kimberley, with 12% of the region's employment coming from jobs in the industry. Over half a million visitors annually spend over $500 million dollars per year experiencing the Kimberley region, which is simply like nowhere else on Earth.

Who would put all that in jeopardy by allowing large-scale fossil fuel industrialisation?

Black Mountain Energy’s current 20-well ‘Valhalla’ fracking proposal will provide few jobs for Kimberley residents and would pose an extreme risk to the natural values of the Kimberley, including the heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River.

The plan is to pump 18,000 tonnes of chemicals, much of it toxic, into wells that pierce aquifers for fracking. This is a massive pollution risk to water and communities. Fracking would also require more than 2 billion litres of fresh groundwater pumped under extreme pressure to crack open gas-bearing rocks. Wastewater coming back to the surface in this area has been found to be radioactive.

This cannot be allowed to go ahead! Sign the petition calling on Murray Watt to reject fracking in the Kimberley.

Image: Spectacular Danggu Gorge, West Kimberley. Image By: A Monk

No Fracking: Send a message to Federal Environment Minister

Tell Murray Watt to say no to fracking in the Kimberley!

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Dear Minister Watt,

Yours Sincerely,
[Your name will be added automatically]

You have a momentous decision to make regarding the future of one of Australia’s most remarkable and loved regions. Please make the right decision.
The Kimberley remains one of the most intact landscapes on Earth. Its woodlands form part of the largest intact tropical savanna in the world, and its wetlands, rivers and rainforests are of global significance.
The Kimberley is an internationally recognised tourist destination, with visitors being drawn from around the world by its incredible nature-based and cultural tourism experiences. This well-established industry provides hundreds of jobs to Kimberley residents.
Tourism is one of the major industries in the Kimberley, with 12% of the region's employment and 10% of gross business revenue coming from the tourism industry. Over half a million visitors annually spend in excess of $500 million per year experiencing the Kimberley region, which is simply like nowhere else on Earth.
Texan fracking company Black Mountain Energy, through subsidiary Bennett Resources Ltd, is putting all that at risk by proposing a polluting fracking project to drill and frack 20 oil and gas wells in the heart of the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment. This would be the thin end of the wedge; based on the company’s own published plans, it would open the door to hundreds, if not thousands, of oil and gas fracking wells, turning the Kimberley into a Texas-style gasfield landscape.
Numerous threatened and endangered species rely on these river systems and wetlands for their survival. The drawdown of fresh groundwater for fracking activities (100,000,000 litres per well) would have a significant impact on waterways and wetlands and the species that depend on them during the dry season.
Your department’s ‘Independent Expert Scientific Committee’ (IESC), recently advised you and DCCEEW that the fracking company has failed to demonstrate detailed understanding of the local hydrogeology, including faults and seals, giving rise to concerns of serious contamination risks to pristine aquifers, vital springs and the Martuwarra Fitzroy river itself. The IESC report is damning of the company’s attempts to show the project is environmentally acceptable.
The plan is to pump 18,000 tonnes of chemicals, much of it toxic, into wells that pierce aquifers for fracking. This is a massive pollution risk to water and local communities. Fracking would also require more than 2 billion litres of fresh groundwater pumped under extreme pressure to crack open gas-bearing rocks. Wastewater coming back to the surface in this area has been found to be radioactive.
<img src="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/environskimberley/pages/8545/attachments/original/1777876462/Mt_Hardman_Creek_-_Martin_Pritchard.jpg?1777876462" alt="" width="620" height="594">
Image: Mt Hardman Creek, wells are proposed within 2 KM of the creek. 
The WA EPA recently recommended that the proposal go ahead. This is outrageous. We have appealed this decision alongside more than 8,000 community members, delivering a strong message to both the WA Environment Minister and the Commonwealth of the strength of community opposition to fracking in the Kimberley!
Opening the Kimberley (Canning Basin) to fracking would lead to a huge new source of greenhouse gas emissions at a time when reducing emissions is of paramount importance.
I urge you to reject the Valhalla fracking project and protect the globally significant Kimberley from oil and gas fracking and industrialisation.

Read the message you will send

Dear Minister Watt,

You have a momentous decision to make regarding the future of one of Australia’s most remarkable and loved regions. Please make the right decision.

The Kimberley remains one of the most intact landscapes on Earth. Its woodlands form part of the largest intact tropical savanna in the world, and its wetlands, rivers and rainforests are of global significance.

The Kimberley is an internationally recognised tourist destination, with visitors being drawn from around the world by its incredible nature-based and cultural tourism experiences. This well-established industry provides hundreds of jobs to Kimberley residents.

Tourism is one of the major industries in the Kimberley, with 12% of the region's employment and 10% of gross business revenue coming from the tourism industry. Over half a million visitors annually spend in excess of $500 million per year experiencing the Kimberley region, which is simply like nowhere else on Earth.

Texan fracking company Black Mountain Energy, through subsidiary Bennett Resources Ltd, is putting all that at risk by proposing a polluting fracking project to drill and frack 20 oil and gas wells in the heart of the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment. This would be the thin end of the wedge; based on the company’s own published plans, it would open the door to hundreds, if not thousands, of oil and gas fracking wells, turning the Kimberley into a Texas-style gasfield landscape.

Numerous threatened and endangered species rely on these river systems and wetlands for their survival. The drawdown of fresh groundwater for fracking activities (100,000,000 litres per well) would have a significant impact on waterways and wetlands and the species that depend on them during the dry season.

Your department’s ‘Independent Expert Scientific Committee’ (IESC), recently advised you and DCCEEW that the fracking company has failed to demonstrate detailed understanding of the local hydrogeology, including faults and seals, giving rise to concerns of serious contamination risks to pristine aquifers, vital springs and the Martuwarra Fitzroy river itself. The IESC report is damning of the company’s attempts to show the project is environmentally acceptable.

The plan is to pump 18,000 tonnes of chemicals, much of it toxic, into wells that pierce aquifers for fracking. This is a massive pollution risk to water and local communities. Fracking would also require more than 2 billion litres of fresh groundwater pumped under extreme pressure to crack open gas-bearing rocks. Wastewater coming back to the surface in this area has been found to be radioactive.

Image: Mt Hardman Creek, wells are proposed within 2 KM of the creek.

The WA EPA recently recommended that the proposal go ahead. This is outrageous. We have appealed this decision alongside more than 8,000 community members, delivering a strong message to both the WA Environment Minister and the Commonwealth of the strength of community opposition to fracking in the Kimberley!

Opening the Kimberley (Canning Basin) to fracking would lead to a huge new source of greenhouse gas emissions at a time when reducing emissions is of paramount importance.

I urge you to reject the Valhalla fracking project and protect the globally significant Kimberley from oil and gas fracking and industrialisation.

Yours Sincerely,
[Your name will be automatically added]

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