Letter to the Editor, The West Australian
Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA) is seriously disturbed by Woodside’s recent massive advertising blitz on its ‘go-ahead’ plans for its Scarborough gas proposal when it is far from receiving final approval for this project.
Well known for its battering ram tactics, Woodside might also be accused of greenwashing with its ‘Good for WA’ claim, when FARA knows, from recent communications with the company’s Feedback department, that there has been no tangible progress towards adopting effective emissions reduction technology on either its Pluto or North West Shelf LNG plants.
There is already available relatively cheap, easy to instal scrubber technology (Catalytic Reduction technology) which can reduce emissions down to near zero. This is such a win-win solution, would only cost Woodside 2% of one year’s profit according to Macquarie Bank energy analysts – so why will they not adopt it?
Murujuga / the Burrup peninsula contains the world’s most ancient 50,000 year old gallery of petroglyphs (rock art engravings) and corrosive damage to them will take hundreds if not thousands of years for the slow growing patina, in which the images are carved, to reform.
FARA is particularly anxious that Woodside plans no reduction to its corrosive chemical NOx and SOx emissions which have been proven, by numerous peer-reviewed published scientific studies, to continue to damage the fragile patina of the world heritage-nominated rock art. (Woodside’s astronomical uncontrolled carbon emissions and their effect on climate change are another equally disturbing subject.)
Instead, Woodside and the WA government deny this science and continue their same tired argument that there will be no conclusive evidence that the rock art is being damaged until their very extended and expensive rock art monitoring program comes up with its final results in about 2027.
How ironic that this monitoring program has already concluded that there is increased acidity right across the Burrup peninsula – but that probably doesn’t fit with the government’s plans to get as much industry as possible approved on the Burrup peninsula before UNESCO reconsiders our second application for World Heritage listing, and inevitably puts an embargo on further industrial development.
History will indeed be a harsh critic of Woodside and the WA government if this application fails again and allows them to continue their greedy exploitation of our gas resources, with minimal financial return to the WA people, and at significant cost to our unique irreplaceable Aboriginal cultural heritage.
FARA wishes NOPSEMA and ultimately the Federal Minister for the Environment wisdom in their deliberations – never before has the future of WA, our national heritage and the health of our planet needed true leadership to shine through and counter the obscene influence of the oil & gas lobby.
Judith Hugo & Susan Swain, Co-convenors
Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA)
