<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/07/offshore-oil-regulator-avoiding-scrutiny-over-approval-for-woodside-blasting-and-drilling>
"Environmental lawyers have raised concern the offshore petroleum regulator is
attempting to avoid scrutiny by not publishing its reasons for approving
seismic blasting and drilling for a major fossil fuel development in northern
Western Australia.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority
(Nopsema) granted approval for seismic testing and drilling of up to 10 wells
for Woodside’s $16.5bn Scarborough gas development last Friday.
Woodside has approval to start drilling for the gasfield, which is estimated to
cause between 880m and 1.6bn tonnes of emissions over its lifetime, from 13
December.
The approvals were granted two months after the federal court overturned the
regulator’s earlier approval for seismic testing after finding Woodside had
failed to properly consult traditional owners.
The Environmental Defenders Office, which represented Murujuga traditional
custodian Raelene Cooper in the federal court case, said it was concerned the
regulator had not published a statement of reasons for either of its decisions
last week."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
