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September 8, 2026 \u2014 3:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Fracking wastewater ponds could overflow under higher-than-average rainfall conditions that are common in the Kimberley, environmental groups warn, as new documents raise fresh fears of a contamination threat to a nearby major waterway.<\/p>\n Texan mining company Black Mountain Energy\u2019s proposed Valhalla Gas Project in the Kimberley includes plans to drill and frack up to 20 exploration wells, which WA\u2019s Environmental Protection Authority approved in January.<\/p>\n However, new evidence submitted to the WA Appeals Convenor shows Black Mountain Energy\u2019s own modelling found wastewater ponds at the project could overflow into the Martuwarra Fitzroy River.<\/p>\n While evidence of that potential was submitted to the federal Environmental Protection Authority by the mining company, it was not included in submissions to the state body which approved the project<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Appeals Convenor is now reviewing more than 8000 submissions made<\/a> following that decision.<\/p>\n Lock the Gate Alliance WA coordinator Simone van Hattem said the group had submitted the company documents regarding potential flooding to the state EPA as part of the appeals process.<\/p>\n She said the documents raised questions about whether wastewater ponds could safely contain fracking water full of \u201ctoxic chemicals\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBlack Mountain Energy\u2019s modelling, which was completed after the state\u2019s environmental watchdog assessed the project, shows that if two wells were fracked in the same year and 70 per cent of fracking water returned to the surface, ponds would overflow in any year with higher-than-average rainfall,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe modelling only assessed up to a 0.5 per cent Annual Exceedance Probability flooding scenario, equivalent to a one-in-200 year event, but didn\u2019t model worst-case scenarios, such as what occurred during ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Kimberley is vulnerable to increasingly frequent extreme rainfall and flooding events. If fracking water ponds overflow, they could release contaminated water into waterways connected to the Martuwarra Fitzroy River.\u201d<\/p>\n In its submission to the Appeals Convenor, Lock the Gate also supplied data about the quality of fracking water from two wells previously drilled in the area, published by Buru Energy in 2018.<\/a><\/p>\n The Valhalla project was previously held by Buru Energy and Mitsubishi, with fracking wells already drilled.<\/p>\n The data from Buru Energy showed extremely high salt concentrations that were toxic to land and aquatic animals, and high levels of the metals boron and barium, Lock the Gate\u2019s submission stated.<\/p>\n A Black Mountain quarterly activities report from April 2023 also stated the area in and around Project Valhalla \u201cexperienced catastrophic flooding in early January 2023\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is expected that river and soil moisture levels will remain high longer than typically occurs making access to the full survey area unlikely until later in the year,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n In response to questions from this masthead, a Black Mountain Energy spokesperson said the company\u2019s Valhalla Project had undergone a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d assessment by the WA EPA, which recommended its approval.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project is also currently being assessed through the Commonwealth environmental approvals process,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cBlack Mountain sets its own high standards for environmental management and sustainability and is committed to developing the Valhalla Project responsibly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to work cooperatively and transparently with the relevant State and Commonwealth authorities and respect the statutory approvals processes currently underway.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to provide any information regulators require and allow those processes to take their course.\u201d<\/p>\n Another perspective Environs Kimberley director Martin Pritchard said an oil and gas wastewater pond had overflowed in the Kimberley before at a well site.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot risk this in the catchment of the National Heritage-listed Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPotentially radioactive wastewater laden with heavy metals would be a disaster for the river.\u201d<\/p>\n The EPA said it was unable to comment given the appeals process remains ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/e12c9cc9515e5da011201c9923e74779d52e9370a4cb94813c59773dab291bc1.jpeg\")
A flooded Buru Energy well pad back in May, 2018. There are concerns a similar flood could occur with Black Mountain\u2019s proposal. <\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/b9aed11b4d733f5b1ccb673fd65f4c2c817a9125e16e054fbb90cdd5e7eab3c7.jpeg\")
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Holly Thompson<\/a> is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 8, 2026 \u2014 3:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-884060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884060","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=884060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}