Strike Energy is proposing a 20-60 year gasfield development called West Erregulla between Mingenew, Three Springs and Irwin in the Mid West.
WA’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has opened two parts of this plan for public comment.
Even with no fracking plans yet, this project will have an impact in an area where there are multiple expanding gasfields and exploration.
COMMENT ON PART 1 West Erregulla Gas Processing Plant
COMMENT ON PART 2 West Erregulla Field Development Program
These plans include drilling two new gas wells, building pipelines from four existing wells and the proposed two new wells to a new upstream facility that is the first stage of processing the gas, and then transferring that gas to the West Erregulla Gas Processing Plant commissioned by Strike. Another 11 future wells were shown on a company schematic image last year.
Image below shows the projects Strike Energy is undertaking in the Mid West. Other companies are also exploring or expanding in the area, including at North Erregulla/Lockyer Deep near Mingenew.
Impacts include air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, risks to underground and surface water from chemical spills, significant water usage, toxic wastewater ponds, noise and light through the night, and harm to wildflowers and animals including Black Cockatoos from the combined clearing of up to 128 ha of native vegetation across the two projects. More information is below.
Let the EPA know - we don’t want the Mid West full of industrial gasfields!
PART 1 GAS PLANT Have your say by following this link to the EPA Consultation site: GAS PLANT COMMENT
PART 2 FIELD DEVELOPMENT Have your say by following this link to the EPA Consultation site: FIELD DEVELOPMENT COMMENT
Steps to make your comment after selecting the part 1 or part 2 comment link above:
- Click “make your submission here”.
- Enter your name and email address. You can leave the ‘Organisation’ box blank.
- Make a short comment. There is no required minimum length, you can just write one sentence, or a full page A4 page. You can copy the tips below if you like. Alternatively you can upload your comment using the ‘choose file’ function.
- Tick the box at the bottom, then click ‘Continue’ (this is the end, but one more click needed!)
- Click ‘Submit’ on the next page.
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Note: Anyone can make a comment, but if you have a link to the region, we suggest mentioning if you're a farmer, resident, landcarer, teacher, Traditional Custodian, tourism operator etc.
Writing tips for both proposals might be;
- The high level of public interest and concern regarding gasfield development in the region.
- It’s a twenty or more year gasfield development, starting with six wells and developing potentially into tens or hundreds more gas wells.
- The failure to address cumulative impacts of the existing gas wells, new gas wells, processing plants, plus gas exploration and development happening in neighbouring areas including Waitsia, North Erregulla/Lockyer Deep and surrounds.
- The project is proposed on unallocated crown land with significant biodiversity values, and the project will cause fragmentation, increase the spread of weeds and risk the spread of dieback into a dieback-free area.
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The project will clear native vegetation that is known or likely habitat for important plants and animals, including:
- Moderate quality Carnaby’s Cockatoo foraging habitat.
- Known habitat for the threatened Sandplain Duck Orchid.
- The project will impact adjoining landholders and farm land, through air pollution, light and noise impacts, and increased risk of bushfires and weeds, without any rights for the community to say no or to veto the project.
- It will potentially impact on groundwater levels, as well as having the potential to contaminate surface water and/or groundwater
- The company understates the impacts, and we believe they should address the 20+ year total footprint, including on EPA factors such as air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, human health, and social surroundings.
- The project will lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions at a time when even the International Energy Agency (IEA) has asserted that: "if governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal”
Gas Plant
- 90 hectares of clearing.
- Scope 1 Emissions: 96,319 tCO2e per year.
- Scope 3 Emissions: 127,020 tCO2e per year.
If you would like to read through the company submitted documents to the EPA please follow this link: GAS PLANT INFORMATION
Field Development
- 38 hectares of clearing.
- Scope 1 Emissions: 13 t CO2-e per year.
- Scope 3 Emissions: 1,732,654 t CO2-e per year.
If you would like to read through the company submitted documents to the EPA please follow this link: FIELD DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION
Image below: The Diagram we found in Strike's original document submitted to the EPA, showing another 11 wells the company plans to drill. They’ve since deleted them from their recent documentation. Red text added by Frack Free WA, as well numbers/letters were hard to read in original.
Image below: The Diagram we found in Strike's new document, where they have deleted the 11 extra wells from this schematic.
Image below: Map of region (southern Mid West, Yamatji country) showing this proposal, and where the North Erregulla exploration is happening, and the Waitsia. There are other wells and exploration plans in the area also.
