Onshore oil and gas tenements in the Kimberley, covering an area the size of the UK (24,000,000 hectares), is now under the control of just three mining companies. The three companies – Buru (funded by Mitsubishi); New Standard Energy (funded by Conoco Philips) and Kingsway Oil – control the massive mining tenements in the Canning Basin, South West of Fitzroy Crossing.

This massive increase in oil and gas tenements highlights that the proposed industrial complex at James Price Point is the first of many threats facing the Kimberley.

Buru Energy has recently commenced ‘tight gas’ fracking operations just 80km from Broome (Yulleroo field) without any environmental impact assessment - thanks to the WA EPA refusing to assess it. The EPA and WA Government Ministers claim that environmental assessment isn’t necessary because the industry is regulated by the WA Mines Department but this ‘regulation’ was recently exposed as a myth by the WA Auditor General.

Buru has also announced “possible” fracking operations later in 2012 in its Yulleroo and Valhalla fields, near Fitzroy Crossing. In typical cowboy fashion, retiring WA Mines Minister Norman Moore recently crowed about the intensity of fossil fuel activity in the Kimberley – activity that he knows is not subject to environmental assessment or effective regulatory oversight.

Conservation groups including the Wilderness Society continue to call for an immediate moratorium on fracking in WA, including the Kimberley.

Another coal mine?

Rey Resources is currently in the process of seeking environmental approval for an initial 70 million tonne coal mine on the edge of the recently National Heritage-listed Fitzroy River (Mardoowarra). The company has previously stated that the total resource to be extracted is somewhere between 500 million and 8 billion tonnes of coal.

If the new coal mine gets approval, in the face of strong opposition from environment groups and local Traditional Owners, Rey plans to truck the coal to Derby (8 road trains per hour, 100 tonnes each, 24 hours per day) for export to India.

Not only are each of these fossil fuel projects of serious concern in their own right, the cumulative and downstream impacts are even more concerning. Despite WA Premier Colin Barnett’s ‘small target’ strategy of claiming that building an LNG precinct at James Price Point (JPP) is not part of a larger Kimberley industrialisation agenda, the facts speak for themselves.

Most of the companies exploring for onshore gas in the Canning Basin have clearly indicated that they see the potential for piping gas from their fracking operations to JPP for processing. Even Stormin’ Norman Moore has stated as much!

Mining and processing fossil fuels is emerging as one of the biggest threats to the unique environmental and cultural heritage values of the Kimberley and we need to ensure that such short-sighted pressure does not destroy the region forever.