The following is an edited version of some of the key points made by each agency.
Conservation Commission of Western Australia
"The Commission recognises that the potential economic value of the proposed Gorgon gas development is high and may result in significant economic and social benefits for Australia. Thus as well as presenting its view based on the principle that national parks and nature reserves are not appropriate places for locating industrial developments, the Commission has taken the position that additional advice on future vesting and management of the nature reserve, and on net conservation benefits should be provided to aid Cabinet in making its decision based on detailed consideration of environmental factors in association with social and economic factors.
"Barrow Island Nature Reserve has an area of about 23,000ha and is the second largest island off the Western Australian coast. It I best known for its abundant mammals; however, it also has a rich bird and reptile fauna, a unique and valuable assemblages of subterranean animals and valuable vegetation communities. Introduced stock or feral animals have not grazed its vegetation and introduced predators have not affected its animal assemblages. Barrow Island Nature Reserve is probably the largest island in Australia and one of the largest land masses in the world that has no introduced animals.
"It is in this context that decisions to be made with respect on granting access to the nature reserve for the Gorgon gas development should be seen. Given the risks to the biodiversity conservation values of Barrow Island Nature Reserve, to grant even in principle approval should only be contemplated on the basis of an overwhelming case that such development must occur at this location and time. The Commission believes that such a case has not been made."
The Environmental Protection Authority
"The EPA considers that, from an environmental point of view, alternative sites to Barrow Island could be found acceptable in the sequence (most to least desired location) of brown-fields mainland sites, greenfields mainland sites and Thevenard Island. Trimouille Island could be considered, provided marine values could be adequately protected."
"At this stage, there is little concrete information on which to base a judgement about the risk to conservation values from quarantine breaches for a proposal of the scale proposed by the Gorgon Venture.
"While the current quarantine system on Barrow Island has served the historic level of operations reasonably well, the level of activity projected for the new proposal woul require unprecedented levels and types of quarantine effort. Given the yet to be defined and untried nature of the intensity and combinations of controls likely to be required, the EPA's level of confidence in their success is currently low."
"The risk of a condensate spill from the gas delivery line, or from tanker operations, requires careful consideration. Similarly the potential for direct impacts or the introduction of exotic marine pests to an area proposed as a marine conservation reserve deserves careful scrutiny."
"The EPA recommends that the risk of carbon dioxide leakage at the point of injection and by leakage from underground storage should be specifically investigated with a view to determining the risks to the natural environment of Barrow Island."
"Having weighed up the environmental values, the limited available data about risks, and the current level of knowledge on their management, the EPA is of the view that the proponent has failed to demonstrate that establishing a gas processing complex on Barrow Island could achieve an acceptably low level of risk to Barrow Island's outstanding environment and unique conservation values."
Department of Industry and Resources (via a commissioned report by the Allens Consulting Group)
"The Gorgon JV's proposal would produce a very high level of economic benefits, with GDP and consumption raised significantly above their projected levels under a business-as-usual situation. Although the GJV is foreign-owned, major community benefits would be delivered by the taxes appropriately levied on the profits and rents accruing from the development of an Australian resource. The benefits to the Commonwealth's budget, however, would be much higher than the projected budgetary gains for Western Australia.
"Although the GJV is seeking in-principle approval to establish gas-processing facilities on Barrow Island, the final form of the development has yet to be determined. While the LNG/DOMGAS operation proposed by the GJV offers major economic benefits, these would be even greater if a GTL facility, such as that proposed by Sasol Chevron, were incorporated into the project.
"Finally, on the key question of location, Barrow Island possesses clear commercial advantages over the alternatives. Trimouille Island is ruled out for commercial reasons as a consequence of past nuclear contamination. A site on Thevenard Island would only be viable if very high levels of government assistance were provided. While we cannot rule out the possibility that, at some time in the future, commercial circumstances could change and agreement could be reached to share facilities on the Burrup Peninsula, on the basis of existing cost information this would be very difficult to achieve.
"In the current circumstances, therefore, and on the basis of the information available to us, we conclude that Barrow Island represents the only commercial option for monetising the substantial national asset represented by the Gorgon resource."
