Conservation group Environs Kimberley is calling on the WA Environmental Protection Authority to reject Texan-owned fracking company Bennett Resources’ push to frack twenty wells in the catchment of the National Heritage listed Fitzroy River.
The company, a subsidiary of Black Mountain, lodged an application with the EPA last week to drill and frack up to 20 gas wells 51 kilometres west of Fitzroy Crossing, in the catchment of the Fitzroy River.
That’s despite the EPA terminating an earlier proposal by the company to drill and frack six wells near Fitzroy Crossing because, according to the company, two years of baseline environmental studies was required.
Environs Kimberley Director, Martin Pritchard said, “We call on the EPA to clarify why, less than two months after Bennett Resources' six well proposal was terminated due to a lack of baseline data, the company now has a much larger proposal on the table. Surely two years’ worth of studies haven't been completed in under two months."
“This is a highly polluting industry and not fit for the world-renowned Kimberley. The EPA should reject the proposal as it did for the previous six well proposal.
“The three wells that have been fracked in the Kimberley since 2010 have all had problems, including well integrity issues, gas leaks and radioactive wastewater pumped to the surface.
“We can’t risk this industry in a place where companies are unable to guarantee that there won’t be water pollution.
“We know that when fracking gets started it soon turns into hundreds if not thousands of wells. It happened in the USA, it happened in Queensland, and it will happen here too if Black Mountain gets a foothold. We can’t have that happening here. It would destroy the landscape of the Kimberley, destroy the habitat of threatened species and damage the biggest industry we have here, tourism.”