{"id":511275,"date":"2026-03-01T07:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T07:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511275\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T07:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T07:03:11","slug":"indepedent-review-of-inpex-ichthys-lng-project-finds-emissions-were-systematically-underestimated-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/511275\/","title":{"rendered":"Indepedent review of Inpex Ichthys LNG project finds emissions were ‘systematically underestimated’ for years"},"content":{"rendered":"

An independent review has found that toxic emissions from Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project have been “systematically underestimated”, a failure the report says compromises public health risk assessments and environmental reporting.<\/p>\n

The report \u2014 commissioned by the NT’s Environment Protection Authority \u2014 details missing documentation, “fundamental deficiencies” in emissions calculations and sources of pollution that were not reported at all.<\/p>\n

The findings come as Inpex faces separate territory<\/a> and federal government investigations<\/a> after last year revealing it had drastically under-reported toxic emissions from the Ichthys LNG plant on Darwin Harbour in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

Gas giant Inpex under investigation after admitting to pollution error<\/a><\/p>\n

The NT government has opened an investigation into oil and gas giant Inpex after the company admitted it has been under-reporting potentially toxic emissions from its flagship Ichthys LNG plant on Darwin Harbour.<\/p>\n

Inpex originally reported just four tonnes of benzene \u2014 a chemical classified by the World Health Organization as a class 1 carcinogen \u2014 but in October revised the figure to more than 500 tonnes, an increase of more than 13,000 per cent.<\/p>\n

Other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) linked with health risks, including toluene, were also drastically revised upward.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Inpex’s senior vice president Bill Townsend told the ABC the company “assures the community it has not intentionally misreported on this matter”.<\/p>\n

“The company takes full accountability for the unintentional errors reported to the NT EPA,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Hats<\/p>\n

Inpex’s Bill Townsend said Darwin’s air quality monitoring shows there is “no increased health risk” to the community, including their workforce. (ABC News: Matt Garrick)<\/p>\n

Mr Townsend added that “ongoing air quality monitoring in the Darwin region has consistently shown emissions levels are well within government guidelines”.<\/p>\n

“Meaning no increased health risk to the community, our local workforce or the environment from the Ichthys LNG facility,” Mr Townsend said.<\/p>\n

‘Systematic errors’ in reporting<\/p>\n

Following Inpex’s admission that it miscalculated emissions, the NT Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) commissioned independent consultants, Air Environment, to review the company’s data, reporting systems, and air quality.<\/p>\n

The report, provided to the NT EPA last week<\/a>, found widespread and persistent failures in how emissions were calculated, recorded and reported, dating back to the start of production in 2018.<\/p>\n

While Inpex consistently reported emissions data to the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), the report found its internal Emission Management and Reporting Tool contained “systematic errors”.<\/p>\n

The report found “data quality issues permeated the reporting system”, with inconsistent data entry procedures and missing documentation to support how emissions were calculated.<\/p>\n

“The systematic underestimation of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, particularly from acid gas removal operations, represents a significant compliance and environmental reporting issue,” the report stated.<\/p>\n

Both formaldehyde and ammonia \u2014 chemicals considered hazardous to human health<\/a> \u2014 were not reported to the NPI in 2024 despite meeting reporting thresholds, while emissions from moored ships, fuel storage and liquid gas storage were, in some instances, entirely omitted.<\/p>\n

Inpex workers raise fears over toxic chemical emissions and oil spills<\/a><\/p>\n

An Inpex worker has spoken out, raising fears of exposure to dangerous air pollutants and claims of a toxic workplace where staff concerns are brushed aside.<\/p>\n

While the current government investigations are probing emission reporting errors from 2023-24, the report found there had been “systematic underestimation” of emissions “since production” began in 2018 and that historical submissions needed to be corrected.<\/p>\n

The report also raised concerns that its air quality assessment was limited to a single part of the facility \u2014 the Acid Gas Removal Unit \u2014 and said broader health risk assessments would be “significantly constrained” by this.<\/p>\n

It also warned that reliance on Inpex’s own emissions data raised questions about independence.<\/p>\n

“The identified deficiencies suggest the current emission estimation method is fundamentally inadequate for accurate public reporting of industrial emissions from this major LNG facility,” the report stated.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Inpex’s Mr Townsend said “there has been no change to the view that Inpex’s air emissions modelling is technically sound” and that the gas giant was compliant with “applicable air quality guidelines”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The independent report into Inpex found “systematic underestimation of emissions that has persisted since production commenced”. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

A second independent review, which focused on assessing human health risks,<\/a> was also finalised this month, finding the risk of harm from exposure to benzene and toluene “was low”.<\/p>\n

However, the report \u2014 commissioned by the NT chief health officer \u2014 noted that their assessment was also limited to a single area, and recommended future reviews encompass the entire facility to ensure “a more complete understanding of potential exposures”.<\/p>\n

NT EPA says risks to human health are ‘very low’<\/p>\n

In a statement released on Friday<\/a>, the NT EPA acknowledged the air quality report found Inpex’s documentation and quality checks “were not adequate”.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the authority said the risk to human health remained “very low”.<\/p>\n

The authority said assessments showed that current levels of benzene and toluene were below health\u2011based guideline values and considered acceptable under Australian health policy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The NT’s EPA say assessments show current levels of benzene and toluene are considered acceptable under Australian health policy. (ABC News: Matt Garrick)<\/p>\n

The NT EPA said it endorsed the review’s recommendations, which included a second human health risk assessment and a facility-wide air quality assessment.<\/p>\n

The report stated the “systematic underestimate of emissions that has persisted since production” required “retrospective assessment”.<\/p>\n

‘Public trust has been eroded’<\/p>\n

John Zorbas, the Australian Medical Association’s NT president, said the report supported widespread public views that independent monitoring of the Darwin air-shed was needed “to ensure the air we breathe is safe”.<\/p>\n

“Public trust has been eroded and we can’t expect individual companies to act in our best interests,” Dr Zorbas said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

John Zorbas says independent monitoring is needed to ensure resident’s are safe from pollution.\u00a0 (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

“Independent air monitoring is the only way to keep the public safe and to prevent this kind of under-reporting from happening again.”<\/p>\n

Kirsty Howey, director of the the Environment Centre NT has called for a public inquiry into the operations of Inpex, saying the NT EPA’s assertion that there is a low-risk to human health “cannot be trusted”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kirsty Howey, director of the Environment Centre NT has called on the NT EPA to hold a public inquiry into\u00a0the operations of\u00a0Inpex.\u00a0 (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

“This is a major breach of trust by Inpex, and the NT EPA has been asleep at the wheel yet again.”<\/p>\n

The NT EPA’s investigation into potential breaches of environmental laws at Inpex remains ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An independent review has found that toxic emissions from Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project have been “systematically underestimated”, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,13442,256204,256200,146792,256203,256202,256201,17188,16795],"class_list":{"0":"post-511275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-emissions","12":"tag-environment-centre-nt","13":"tag-ichthys-lng-project","14":"tag-inpex","15":"tag-inpex-darwin","16":"tag-inpex-news","17":"tag-nt-environment-protection-authority","18":"tag-nt-government","19":"tag-oil-and-gas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}