The Federal Court has ruled against revoking an approval for Woodside’s Scarborough gas project in a case brought by advocacy group Doctors for the Environment (DEA).<\/p>\n
Concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, DEA in April launched legal proceedings to overturn national offshore regulator NOPSEMA’s decision to accept Woodside’s environmental plan for its Scarborough gas project.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for DEA argued the environmental plan was vague, uncertain and did not meet the NOPSEMA standard requiring proponents to reduce emissions to “as low as reasonably practicable”.<\/p>\n
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Woodside plans to process gas from the Scarborough development at its Pluto gas plant on WA’s Burrup Peninsula. (ABC News: Charlie Mclean)<\/p>\n
But Justice Shaun McElwaine said it was not the court’s role to scrutinise the merit of NOPSEMA’s decision.<\/p>\n
Justice McElwaine said the court’s job was simply to review whether it was “open” to NOPSEMA to approve the environment plan under the guidelines of Australia’s offshore laws.<\/p>\n
“I have concluded it was open to NOPSEMA to accept the environment plan as meeting the environment plan acceptance criteria,” he said.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Woodside said the decision reinforced the environmental credentials of the project.<\/p>\n
“Scarborough is expected to be one of the lowest carbon intensity sources of LNG delivered into north Asian markets,” a Woodside spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Three court cases in one week<\/p>\n
Justice McElwaine’s ruling brought an end to a week in which three separate challenges to Woodside’s planned gas extension in northern Western Australia were in the courts.<\/p>\n
A case brought by the Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA) against Woodside’s North West Shelf (NWS) extension project was heard in the WA Supreme Court today before it was adjourned until October.<\/p>\n
While the Scarborough project will supply the Pluto gas plant \u2014 which is a separate facility to the NWS \u2014 environmentalists consider all Woodside’s sites on the Burrup Peninsula in WA as one, which they’ve labelled the “Burrup hub”.<\/p>\n
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Judith Hugo from the Friends of Australian Rock Art says she feels empowered by the multiple legal cases lauched against Woodside’s WA gas projects. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
FARA is arguing the WA government’s approval of the NWS extension to 2070 violated the Environmental Protection Act, failing to consider the impact of the project’s contribution to climate change on the West Australian public.<\/p>\n
FARA co-convenor Judith Hugo said she was confident the case would succeed.<\/p>\n
“We feel there is a lot of legal action happening now around climate change and we feel the time is right to actually finally challenge the oil and gas industry,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s time for us as humanity to stand up and say enough is enough.”<\/p>\n
Also this week, concerns about Woodside’s impact on nearby world heritage listed rock art<\/a> that came before the Federal Court.<\/p>\n Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper asked the court to compel federal Environment Minister<\/a> Murray Watt to resolve a heritage application she lodged three years ago.<\/p>\n