Fracking failures hidden amid claims gas companies being “given free rein” in Top End

The Northern Territory government attempted to cover up a fracking company’s failure to comply with its environmental management plan when drilling between two underground aquifers, an environmental group says.

On Thursday the Department of Land, Planning and Environment (DLPE) responded to a Question on Notice from Greens MLC Kat McNamara about the activity of Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, during the process of drilling a well in the Beetaloo Basin.

Referring to reports by the NT Independent in May this year, McNamara sought to clarify with DLPE claims that Imperial had encountered three “incidents” during drilling in 2022. The department had previously reported information about the first two, but details of the third were left unspecified.

In its reply the department said “there was no incident,” but went on to confirm the company had failed to comply with its environmental management plan (EMP) and had previously been recommended for prosecution by DPLE.

The breach occurred when the company was drilling the Carpentaria 3H well in 2022 where it failed to isolate two underground aquifers, Anthony Lagoon and Gum Ridge, as required under regulations in force at the time.

DLPE said it became aware of the breach in December 2022 when it was asked by another department about the “naming conventions of the aquifers referenced in Imperial’s Well Barrier Integrity Validation (WBIV) report”.

“Through this process the Petroleum Regulations Unit within DLPE, became aware the aquifers for Carpentaria 3H had not been isolated as required under the EMP,” it said.

Companies attempting to drill through overlapping or adjacent underground aquifers are required to isolate the bodies of water to stop one from flowing into the other.

Where they are allowed to flow freely, water sources may become contaminated by hyper-saline water or other pollutants, natural processes can become disrupted and there can be profound changes to aboveground ecosystems that draw upon them.

DLPE said it had previously “investigated the non-compliance and recommended prosecution be pursued by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change”, a reference to Kate Worden in the previous Labor NT government.

“The minister did not agree to pursue this prosecution,” it said.

Following this the matter was referred to the Department of Mines and Energy which did not pursue the matter.

The existence of a 34-page briefing was identified by anti-mining group Lock the Gate through a Freedom of Information request. The application was refused on the basis it contained “deliberative matter”.

Renew Economy contacted DPLE for comment.

In its response to the Question on Notice, DPLE said it did not previously disclose the breach as “there was no breach of an environmental performance outcome or standard in the EMP” and “there is no obligation in legislation for public reporting of every instance of non-compliance.”

Hannah Ekin from the Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC) said it had taken the NT government three years and two administrations to answer basic questions about what happened despite multiple inquiries, describing the actions of the government as “definitely a cover up”.

“It shows what people have been saying for a decade: you cannot trust this industry to not cause damage to aquifers,” Ekin said. “This is one well, we’re finding out about this three years later and the government has done everything it can to avoid prosecuting and letting the public know.

“This company has been recklessly irresponsible and it’s super dodgy how they’ve tried to hide this from the public. [The NT government] have run us around in circles and they’ve refused any accountability.”

Ekin said Empire has since drilled four more wells and has plans to drill “thousands” more saying the situation suggested the government was “not capable or willing to adequately regulate” fracking projects to ensure there aren’t impacts on groundwater.

“The entire point of an Environment Management Plan is to ensure fracking companies abide by a set of rules and regulations,” Ekin says.

“If nothing happens when companies fail to meet these standards, fracking companies are effectively being given free rein to do as they wish. This puts Territorian communities and the precious water they rely on at risk.” 

Shortly after being elected the Country Liberal Party stripped the Arid Lands Environment Centre and the NT Environment Centre of public funding.