Gas weighs heavily on Barrow wildlife
Ancient legend celebrates turtles stoically holding up the earth. For some people at least, the only thing Australian turtles are holding up now is development.
Incredulity has characterised the tenor of many media reports on the giant Gorgon gas proposal: how could the flatback turtle, a creature previously unknown to even Western Australia's Premier, suddenly threaten this project? It's gas and jobs and royalties or saving a turtle with a name only a mother could love.
A juvenile flatback turtle - one of the many species threatened by the proposed Gorgon natural gas project
© WWF-Australia/Scott WHITING
Of course, in reality, the options are often not so clear-cut; development and conservation are not always entirely mutually exclusive. One example is Barrow Island itself. With some notable caveats, as the Environmental Protection Authority has noted, many would agree that current oilfield operations on Barrow Island have been one of the better examples of the coexistence of development and environment.
The problem is that Gorgon liquefied natural gas represents a very different proposition from existing operations on the island nature reserve. The Gorgon (Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil) project would be orders of magnitude bigger than the existing operation, by the measure of the workforce alone.
It is also a very different type of operation from the current one which is essentially a lacework of pipelines and sporadic outcrops of oil-pumping, nodding donkeys.
The proposed Gorgon plant requires the building of much larger and more complex infrastructure with the attendant quarantine risk to what is the last major refuge for many threatened species, including numerous marsupials. Despite efforts by Chevron to devise effective quarantine systems, the formidable difficulties inherent in this endeavour have led numerous scientists to conclude that, in the words of the EPA: "The residual risk of the introduction of non-indigenous species to Barrow Island Nature Reserve is environmentally unacceptable...".
The golden bandicoot is one of Barrow Island's many threatened species
© Jiri Lochman/Lochman Transparencies
Also new would be a port in a pristine area previously earmarked for inclusion in the surrounding marine park. Scientists are only just beginning to draw back the veil but already it is clear that this is a magnificent tropical marine environment of international importance. It has coral reefs and myriad habitats for crucial stages in the life cycles of many species, including the flatback turtle.
Contemplating the enormous dredging program to provide for shipping lanes, with impacts the EPA stated would be "unprecedented" in WA, it was left with little alternative but to recommend against the proposal on this count too, as it did on other grounds.
So flatback turtles have been bearing more weight on this issue than is reasonable given the EPA's advice.
In countless discussions WWF has had with Chevron about this project over the years, it is clear that the company's staff made an effort to overcome many of the problems previously identified by the EPA. Sometimes of course, goodwill is just not enough. Therefore, the message is clear, and we hope it will be heard for the sake of this and future generations, that with available technology and knowledge, the project as proposed on Barrow Island Nature Reserve cannot reasonably be accommodated.
However, we believe that a review of other potential sites in the region - particularly on the mainland - might well bear fruit. The decision to narrow the scope of options to Barrow Island was made some years ago. It might now behove the government to undertake a comprehensive review of all feasible sites, with a better understanding of environmental, social and economic imperatives.
This approach, done well and inclusively, could also create the impetus for the first thorough planning exercise to identify 'go', and 'no-go' areas for all forms of development in the Pilbara and Kimberley. As we know, Gorgon is but one of a long line of major developments that will soon face the approvals process. To create more certainty for all proponents and the community - in this region of world-class ecological and economic assets - scientifically-informed planning would be one of the best investments government could ever make.
How you can help
You can help protect Barrow Island by signing our international petition to the Gorgon consortium. Tell them to halt plans to locate the gas plant on the island and instead look to alternative mainland locations.
