The Federal Court will hear arguments next week regarding the validity of NOPSEMA’s acceptance of Woodside’s Production Environment Plan (EP) for its Scarborough Gas Project.
Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) initiated legal proceedings in April, challenging the national offshore oil and gas regulator’s decision to accept the Environment Plan that Woodside had submitted.
On June 6, the Federal Court made a maximum costs order, limiting the amount that NOPSEMA and Woodside could recover in legal costs if DEA’s case were unsuccessful to $80,000. This enabled DEA to proceed to a hearing.
DEA Executive Director Kate Wylie said:
“DEA believes that NOPSEMA may have acted unlawfully by accepting this EP without fully understanding how the impacts of the Scarborough gas project will be managed.
“Woodside acknowledges that there is uncertainty about whether gas from the Scarborough project will displace even dirtier fuels.
“DEA will contend that Woodside’s proposed controls in this EP are so vague and uncertain that NOPSEMA did not meet its own tests for whether an EP can be approved.
“Controls placed on offshore gas projects are critical in managing impacts on our environment and community.
“We have asked the court to set aside NOPSEMA’s decision.
“DEA has taken this action in the broader context of a global climate emergency, which has profoundly harmful consequences for the health of billions of people around the world.
“The scientific consensus and the advice of the United Nations is that new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with a safe climate and human health.
“Sadly, governments around Australia continue to approve coal and gas projects against such advice.
“In these circumstances, the least our government can do is to ensure such projects are subjected to thorough scrutiny to ensure proposals meet the legal standards enacted by our parliaments.
“If government agencies fail to meet their own legal standards in their assessments, it is incumbent upon civil organisations like DEA to hold them to account.”
CONTACTS
Doctors for the Environment Australia | Media and Communications Lead Carmela Ferraro | 0410 703 074 | carmela.ferraro@dea.org.au
Environmental Defenders Office | Media Adviser James Tremain | 0419 272 254 | james.tremain@edo.org.au