Greenpeace Australia Pacific is appealing the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) decision to extend the life of Woodside North West Shelf (NWS) gas processing facility, on the grounds that the EPA has failed to properly consider the climate and environment impacts of extending the gas facility for a further 50 years.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, is calling on the Western Australian Appeals Convenor and Environment Minister Reece Whitby to review the EPA’s recommendations.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO, David Ritter, said they are opposing the extension of the North West Shelf project because of the enormous climate-related damage it will wreak on an already vulnerable environment.
“Given the scale of the likely climate harm, it is shocking that the EPA has refused to assess the environmental impacts from the project’s scope 3 emissions.”
Environmental Defenders Office Managing Lawyer Brendan Dobbie said although the NWS Extension is based in Western Australia, it is likely to have nationally and globally significant impacts, particularly with regards to climate change.
“The record number of appeals demonstrates an unprecedented level of public interest, and the appeal process will be expected to deliver procedural fairness for all objectors to ensure proper scrutiny of this project’s impacts. Decision-makers will be aware that there is a high level of interest across the country as to how the public’s concerns are addressed.”
Key information from the WA EPA recommendation:
- Ongoing operation of the North West Shelf Project to enable long-term processing at the project facilities, up to 2070.
- The proponent estimates that the Extension Proposal’s scope 3 GHG emissions from the third-party consumption of LNG, LPG, Domgas and condensate, will be approximately 80.19 Mtpa of CO2-e based on currently available and quantifiable information.
- With no mitigation, over the 50-year life of the Extension Proposal, total scope 1 GHG emissions are estimated to be up to 385 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2-e.
At the time of publication, the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority has received more than 320 submissions on the North West Shelf Extension.