PERTH/SYDNEY – 5 August 2024 – Following explosive revelations that the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has effectively deemed Woodside’s Browse project as too dangerous to go ahead, Greenpeace Australia Pacific today urged state and Federal Environment Ministers to urgently heed this advice and rule out this destructive fossil fuel project.

The Browse project is a key part of Woodside’s Burrup Hub proposal – the most climate-polluting fossil fuel project currently proposed in Australia today.

It follows reports today that the WA EPA provided advice to Woodside that outlined at length the dangers associated with the Burrup Hub, including the potential impact of a hydrocarbon spill on vulnerable green turtles and endangered pygmy blue whales.

If approved, the project would see Woodside destructively drill up to 50 wells around WA’s pristine Scott Reef, Australia’s largest oceanic reef system – home to endangered whales and turtles and thousands of corals, as well as species like the dusky sea snake that are being considered for listing as newly endangered species.

The predicted emissions from Woodside’s Burrup Hub are far greater than all other proposed fossil fuel projects currently undergoing Federal environmental approvals – resulting in 6.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its proposed 50-year lifetime, well beyond the timeframe that the world must move to net zero emissions.

The Browse project would require approval from both WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby and Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Comments attributable to Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter: 

“The Burrup Hub is an irredeemably bad project.

“These revelations today make clear what we’ve long known to be true—that Woodside’s disastrous Burrup Hub project, including its Browse site, is likely to be a disaster for our precious environment, our reefs and threatened species.

“It is impossible to drill a massive gas field while also protecting our oceans and our climate.

“The Federal Government is considering whether to approve this massive gas project that would risk irreversible harm, all for gas that will mostly be exported overseas, and won’t come online until at least 2032. 

“Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek should now put this project out of its misery, for once and for all.

“What will Minister Plibersek’s legacy be? Protecting our environment, or doubling down on gas well into the 2070s? This singular decision will come to define Labor’s legacy on environmental protection.

“We urge Minister Plibersek to do the right thing, and to choose a safe and sustainable future for our children over Woodside’s nature-wrecking pursuit of profit,” Mr Ritter added.

—ENDS—

Images of the Scott Reef are available for hi-res download here. Greenpeace AP representatives can be made available for interview on request.

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