David Braithwaite
ESSO Australia won’t need to complete an environmental effects statement for the onshore component of its carbon storage project off the Wellington coast.
State Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has decided an EES is not required for the onshore component of the South East Australia Carbon Capture and Storage Project.
The project includes the development of new carbon dioxide facilities at the existing Longford Gas Conditioning Plant, a new CO2 pipeline between the Longford GCP and valve site three and use of the existing Bream Pipeline from valve site three to the edge of state waters, three nautical miles from low water line off Paradise Beach.
This is part of a larger project which extends into Commonwealth waters and seeks to compress, dehydrate, transport and store carbon dioxide in the depleted Bream oil and gas reservoir.
The project will predominately utilise existing facilities and infrastructure, with new proposed facilities located on land that has previously been disturbed or land within the existing Longford plant boundary.
While the project has the potential for adverse effects, the minister determined they were unlikely to be complex and uncertainties could be investigated readily through existing statutory requirements and approvals.
This includes the development licence and operational licence approval processes under the Environment Protection Act 2017, Pipelines Act 2005 and Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010 – each will readily enable the appropriate and transparent examination of these potential effects, according to the minister.
Residual effects on other environmental values, such as noise, air quality and traffic, and Aboriginal cultural heritage are also unlikely to be significant and can be readily addressed via respective existing statutory requirements, according to the minister.
The effects on native vegetation were not considered significant due to the siting of the project predominately within areas of previous disturbance. Minimisation and offsets for the impacts to native vegetation and biodiversity values can be addressed in accordance with policy as part of required approvals.
An Esso spokesperson said proven technologies like carbon capture and storage were critical to help meet society’s lower-emission goals.
“The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency agree that CCS is one of the most cost-effective ways to decarbonize emission-intensive sectors, including chemicals and refining, cement production, and the iron and steel industries,” the spokesperson said.
“(Esso’s parent company) ExxonMobil is a global leader in CCS and we have cumulatively captured more CO2 than any other company – 120 million metric tons – accounting for approximately 40 per cent of all the anthropogenic CO2 that has ever been captured.
“The Gippsland Basin is renowned globally as a world class oil and gas basin, and has all the characteristics to be the same for carbon capture and storage as has been recognized by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
“This is why in 2022 we announced we were undertaking the South East Australia Carbon Capture and Storage Project to determine the potential for CCS in the Gippsland Basin.
“We continue to actively work this project to help Australia reach its decarbonization goals.”
Environment Victoria senior climate and energy advisor Kat Lucas-Healey said carbon capture and storage was unproven technology deployed to prolong the burning of fossil fuels.
“The project presents unmanaged risks to locals and will lock in decades of seismic blasting if it goes ahead,” she said.
“The project will use old pipelines that were never built for transporting carbon dioxide and which are known to rupture, including ductile fractures that can destroy long sections of pipeline and endanger lives.
“Despite the dangers, Esso did not assess the risk of pipeline rupture in their application.
“If the project goes ahead, it will likely require seismic surveys over decades to monitor the storage for carbon dioxide leaks.
“Seismic surveys are one of the biggest threats to endangered marine species including the pygmy blue and southern right whales, which migrate and forage off Gippsland.
“Esso didn’t consider the impacts of seismic surveys in their application either.
“It’s now essential that the Commonwealth government ensures Esso’s project is subject to rigorous assessment.
“The urgency of climate action means that we must de-carbonise using options that work and are available now.”
