Kimberley fracking proposal referred to Commonwealth: Minister Plibersek must assess

Global tourism destination and nature and cultural icon, the Kimberley, is now in the sights of US oil and gas company Black Mountain Oil and Gas owned by Texan billionaire Rhett Bennett.

The company, via subsidiary Bennett Resources Ltd, has just referred a proposal for 6 frack wells to the Federal Environment Minister for a decision on whether a full Commonwealth assessment under the EPBC Act is required. The full proposal, currently under assessment by the WA EPA, is actually a 20 well fracking project.

Ultimately, if fracking is approved, Black Mountain will require a 1,100km gas pipeline to Pilbara LNG facilities for export which would potentially lead to thousands of oil and gas fracking wells across the Kimberley leading to global scale carbon emissions.

Martuwarra Fitzroy River (Pic: Damian Kelly)

The Minister’s decision on whether an EPBC assessment is required for the ‘Valhalla Project’ is open for public submissions for ten days.

“This proposal to open a new fracking province in the Kimberley, akin to the gas fields of Texas, is shocking to most Australians. The Albanese government has the obligation here, following a rigorous assessment, to reject the fracking proposal and protect one of the world’s last, large intact landscapes from a horrific future of industrialisation on a massive scale, said Environs Kimberley Director Martin Pritchard. 

The ‘Valhalla’ proposal would clear habitat of the Greater Bilby which is listed as threatened under the EPBC Act. The fracking would require 100 million litres of groundwater per well leading to huge volumes of wastewater in the catchment of the National Heritage listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Two wells that have previously been fracked by Mitsubishi and Buru Energy on the same petroleum lease contained radioactive material in the wastewater.

The drilling and fracking is also in an area with complex underground geology and the region's groundwater aquifers are poorly understood.

“Ïf the Commonwealth is going to take its responsibilities seriously it needs to fully assess this proposal under the EPBC Act. We’re calling on the Minister Tanya Pilbersek to invoke the new water trigger law on this and make sure that Kimberley waterways, springs and groundwater are protected from fracking,” said Mr Pritchard.

Serious questions are being asked about the referred proposal including why the company has submitted a different proposal to the one under assessment by WA EPA with twenty frack wells.

““This company has been fined by ASIC for greenwashing and now they're referring to the Commonwealth a different project to what’s in front of the WA EPA - we’re calling on the highest level of scrutiny to be applied to this.”

Broome protest (Pic: Environs Kimberley)

Environs Kimberley was central to the successful campaign to protect the Kimberley coast from Woodside’s plans for gas refineries at James Price Point a decade ago. The eight-year campaign which gained international prominence led to Woodside and its joint venture partners abandoning the $80 billion project.

“We don’t want to see another James Price Point scenario”.

“This international nature tourism destination is known for its stunning landscapes, intact nature and Aboriginal culture. The $600 million tourism industry is dependent on the unspoilt scenery of places like the National Heritage listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River Valley and is currently being looked at for World Heritage listing after a commitment from Labor at the last election.” 

Sign the petition to ban fracking in the Kimberley here.

The WA Government has quietly approved a groundwater extraction licence that would allow an overseas-based fracking company to take 100 million litres of groundwater each year.

While the state’s water department (DWER) approved Black Mountain Energy’s water licence on May 2, no public statement was issued, and the only way to find evidence of the licence’s approval is by searching the company’s Australian subsidiary, Bennett Resources, on the WA Government’s Water Register website.

The licence gives Black Mountain permission to access the groundwater for “the maintenance of unconventional gas wells, dust suppression, mining camp purposes, stock watering and rehabilitation purposes”.

However, the company’s “Valhalla” exploratory gas fracking project is still undergoing environmental assessment, and a public consultation process still needs to be conducted.

Dead duck in Buru Energy wastewater pond

If Valhalla is approved, Black Mountain would drill 20 exploration wells between 2 km and 4 km deep and hydraulically fracture them in up to 70 stages each. It would also require an additional two billion litres of groundwater.

Valhalla is also only an exploration project. Black Mountain’s website makes it clear the company wishes to expand to full scale production. If this occurs, it would require the drilling and fracking of many hundreds of wells. An export-scale project would also require a 1100km high-pressure gas pipeline to the Pilbara, processing facilities, pumping stations, flare stacks, and heavy-vehicle access roads. 

Mount Hardman Creek where Black Mountain oil and gas wants to drill and frack

Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard said, “If Black Mountain goes into full production with hundreds of wells, the volume of precious groundwater required would be unimaginable.

“This incremental threat of enormous levels of precious groundwater extraction shows why fracking must not be allowed to take-off in the Kimberley. 

“Fracking uses toxic chemicals that can pollute our clean water here in the Kimberley, why would we risk that?”

“Giving Black Mountain’s Valhalla Project the go ahead risks opening up the Kimberley to full-scale industrialisation by petroleum companies eager to get at the unconventional gas within the Canning Basin. This would ignite a carbon bomb, at a time when increasingly severe heat waves caused by the burning of fossil fuels and resulting climate change is putting the Kimberley at risk of becoming unliveable.”

Overflow at Buru Energy wastewater pond in the Kimberley

Read local media's reporting on the approval here.