Greens WA spokesperson for Climate Change, Robin Chapple MLC, once again called upon Western Australians to oppose the James Price Point gas hub.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) announced on their website on Wednesday 28 November that Woodside had sent them plans to build gas refineries, port and other infrastructure at James Price Point.
Woodside has requested these plans be considered a ‘derived proposal’ claiming that the work comes under the ‘Strategic Assessment’ that the State Minister for the Environment, Bill Marmion, has recently approved.
If the EPA agree that the work can be considered a ‘derived proposal’ then no more environmental assessment will be required. Only seven days is provided for public comment on this request.
Minister Marmion has removed the emissions requirements from the Browse development proposal, claiming that to include them would not be complementary to the Federal carbon pricing mechanism. However one of the requirements of a ‘derived proposal’ is to “demonstrate best contemporary practice (as defined in EPA Guidance Statement No. 55) for all construction and operational impacts (for example atmospheric emissions, marine emissions and noise)”.
“The Browse LNG precinct has the capacity to add up to 41 MTPA CO2-e to Australia’s emissions profile, as much as 52 percent of WA’s total emissions, with no abatement plan, which would deem it non-compliant with the requirements for a ‘derived proposal’ by the EPA’s own standards, Robin Chapple said today.
“I call upon the Western Australian people to make a submission to the EPA within the next week informing our government that they will not accept this development under these conditions.”
