WA Government quietly approves fracking company’s 100 million litre water licence in Kimberley
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.
Premier’s Kimberley package will fail if climate change not addressed
The Kimberley $67.5 million resilience package announced today by the WA Premier fails to get to grips with the ruinously expensive costs of climate change, according to Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.
The WA State Government's mid-term performance review in December revealed that the January 2023 floods in the Kimberley, induced by climate change, will cost taxpayers over $869 million. This extra $67.5 million brings the costs of climate change close to a billion dollars in just over a year.
Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard said:
“The Cook Government has described the Fitzroy Crossing floods as the worst in WA’s history but has yet to acknowledge that this is exactly what’s been predicted for the Kimberley with climate change. The amount of taxpayer funds going into climate change disasters is only going to increase — and we’re already looking at a billion dollars from 2023/4 alone.”
"Even as the impacts of climate change get worse, the Cook Government is sleepwalking into one of the biggest polluting industries in the world – oil and gas fracking – right here in the Kimberley.
Climate change scientists have estimated that if the oil-and-gas fracking industry in the Kimberley takes off, it could unleash three times Australia’s emissions of climate-changing CO2 into the atmosphere than our estimated emissions budget under the Paris Agreement[1].
“The Premier Roger Cook is playing around the edges, while the Kimberley heads to becoming unlivable according to the climate modeling the WA Government itself uses.” [2]
“The Premier is pouring taxpayer money to fix up climate-change disasters, while at the same time allowing an oil-and-gas fracking industry to operate, which would produce globally significant climate-changing carbon pollution. This is wrong. If we want a resilient future, then these types of industries must be banned.”
Photo: Fitzroy River bridge, 2023 floods - Andrea Myers
[1] Climate Analytics Western Australia's gas gamble - implications of natural gas extraction in WA
[2] WA Government Western Australian Climate Change Projections (2021)
Billion dollar flood – fossil fuel polluters like Woodside should pay, not taxpayers
The WA state government's mid-term performance review has revealed that the January 2023 floods in the Kimberley will cost taxpayers over $869 million dollars.
The announcement comes on a 45C day in Fitzroy Crossing.
Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley (EK) is calling on the State and Federal governments to recoup the cost from fossil fuel companies who have made billions in profits over the past year, while driving worsening climate impacts. EK is also calling on the WA and Commonwealth governments not to approve new gas projects in the Kimberley, including proposals by Buru Energy and Woodside.
EK Director of Strategy Martin Pritchard said, "The January 2023 floods have had a devastating impact on communities in the Kimberley’s Fitzroy Valley with many people losing all their possessions and homes. It’s now been revealed that this flood has come at a cost of what's likely to be over a billion dollars to taxpayers and private businesses.
"The State and Federal governments need to recognise that fossil fuel-driven climate change comes at an enormous cost to communities, taxpayers, private businesses and the natural environment and we know what and whom is causing this – oil, gas and coal companies."
The revelation of the enormous cost of the flood comes on a 45C day in Fitzroy Crossing with the next 10 days predicted to be above 40C. Fitzroy Crossing will be unliveable in the next 50 years with CSIRO and BoM data projecting 225 days over 40C a year if we continue on the current emissions trajectory.
“Catastrophic climate events like floods and heatwaves have been predicted for years and now we are bearing the enormous costs of burning fossil fuels while oil and gas companies like Woodside make billions in profits. There’s something very wrong with this picture and it’s clearly not sustainable for the environment nor taxpayers.
“We are calling on governments to firstly stop the damage by preventing new fossil fuel projects like Buru Energy's Kimberley onshore gas proposal and Woodside’s offshore Browse project and second, to instigate a ‘Climate Change Disaster Levy’ on fossil fuel companies that can be used to plan for climate change disasters as well as fund recovery work.
"Woodside has put a measly $750k towards flood recovery while making billions in profits and wants to open up more gasfields that will fuel climate change for another 50 years. They are throwing spare change at Western Australians suffering from floods, heatwaves and fires while pocketing enormous profits for themselves.
“We cannot open up any new oil and gas fields if we want a safe climate.”
Photo of Fitzroy Crossing bridge collapsing in 2023 flood: Andrea Myers
Support for Kimberley clean energy welcomed — and more must be done
Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley has welcomed the promised investment of $19 million for clean energy, including support for the Kimberley Communities Solar Saver programme.
“We welcome this announcement by the State Minister for Energy Bill Johnston and Commonwealth Minister for Energy Chris Bowen of support for clean energy in remote communities,” said Environs Kimberley Director of Strategy, Martin Pritchard.
The Kimberley’s heating climate, the result of burning fossil fuels, is a serious threat to people’s wellbeing and the environment, and more affordable clean energy is essential for the health of communities.
“There is a further opportunity to transition to clean energy much more quickly by replacing fossil-fuel burning with renewable energy. Horizon Power has already said that the Broome gas-fired power station can operate on 80% renewable energy. This would provide jobs, greatly reduce emissions, and be cheaper than to keep running on fossil gas.
Having 80% renewable energy in Broome is far better than what is currently being proposed by Buru Energy, who want to open a new gas field next to the Martuwarra Fitzroy River. This would inevitably lead to the industrialisation of the West Kimberley and a huge surge in methane and carbon pollution.
What we need now is for the WA Minister for Energy, Bill Johnston, to commit to the change before the current gas contract runs out in 2027,” said Mr Pritchard.
Photo: Broome Boulevard Shopping Centre Solar Installation
Photo Credit: Paul Bell
Kimberley Extreme Heat Forecast: Unprecedented Rise of Days Over 40°C
New research shows that the Kimberley region is set to experience a dramatic increase in days over 40 degrees if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced in line with the Paris Agreement.
The report, by the Australia Institute using CSIRO and BoM data, shows the projected increase in extreme heat days for towns like Broome, Derby and Bidyadanga, will have devastating effects on the Kimberley’s Indigenous communities, outdoor workers, industries and ecosystems.
The report shows that without a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions:
- Extreme heat days above 40°C could increase from an average of 6 days per year to 62 (2 months) by 2090 in Broome.
- Extreme heat days above 40°C could increase from an average of 14 days per year to 168 (5.6 months) by 2090 in Derby.
- Extreme heat days above 40°C could increase from an average of 10 days per year to 94 (3 months) by 2090 in Bidyadanga; the largest remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia.
- Extreme heat days above 40°C could increase from an average of 35 days per year to 204 (6.8 months) by 2090 in Kununurra.
“As things stand, a child in a town like Kununurra could expect over half their year spent in 40°C days or over by the time they can access a pension,” says Richie Merzian, Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program Director.
“Extreme heat conditions can have serious health ramifications, especially for the very young and the elderly, including heat stroke and even organ failure which can result in death.
“Also particularly vulnerable to the extreme heat will be miners, construction workers, tourism operators and agricultural workers, who are vital to the Kimberley economy, and often undertake heavy work in already hot conditions that are set to worsen severely.
“The region’s Indigenous population already face disproportionate rates of chronic illness and poverty, increasing extreme heat will mean people’s health will deteriorate further.
“Fortunately these climate projections are not inevitable, if emissions are reduced in line with the Paris Agreement, these increases in heat can be largely avoided.”
Martin Pritchard, Executive Director Environs Kimberley, says “Kimberley residents have just sweltered through one of the region’s hottest months, with temperatures 3.2 degrees above the historical November maximum temperature average, and 7 days above 40 degrees in Broome already this November alone. By 2090, the entire Kimberley region will be experiencing extreme heat of the likes we have not seen in Australia before.
“The Kimberley has one of Australia’s largest shale gas reserves and we now know that we cannot frack it and burn it if we want safe temperatures into the future. It has to stay in the ground if we want to avoid dangerous climate change.”
The report is available here:
HeatWatch - Extreme heat in the Kimberley
CALL ON THE MCGOWAN GOVERNMENT TO BAN FRACKING HERE