The state's Legislative Council's Environment and Public Affairs Committee, headed up by MP Simon O'Brien, is the latest in a long line of state and federal reports that find the use of fraccing is safe enough, if the oil and gas industry abides by strict regulations and doesn't attempt to cut corners.
The committee, which started looking at WA's emerging unconventional gas industry in 2013 in response to community concern, said it has examined wells that had been fracced over the past 50 years, listened to concerns over protection of groundwater, chemical disclosure requirements and obtaining a social licence to operate.
It concluded that the truth lies between the industry's point of view that the risks are exaggerated and activists views that fraccing should be banned if there is any risk.
The committee found there was a low level of trust of both industry and regulators amongst the community, so operators and regulators must be informative, upfront and candid when consulting with the public.
It also found baseline monitoring had improved over the years, but should be mandatory and that the regulator does a good job at assessing the risks, however the penalties, ranging from $4000 to a maximum of $10,000, are inadequate.
It also found the regulations are not open and transparent enough, and recommended they should be changed, and that all fraccing proposals be assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
And while there are sufficient safeguards and water source protection policies in place to protect public drinking water without the introduction of a 1.5km buffer zone between water source areas and unconventional gas activity, the Water Corporation needs to be consulted in any fraccing operations.
The committee also found that APPEA's Land Access Roundtable was a "worthy initiative" to bring land owners and resource companies to the negotiating table, but more needs to be done to ensure that land owners' rights were protected.
Other recommendations are for a new working group to draft legislation for a statutory framework for land access agreements between land owners and resource companies using Queensland's Land Access Code as a guide; that the government ban the use of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene during any hydraulic fracturing operations; that the policy of public disclosure of chemicals used in any hydraulic fracturing activity be formalised in subsidiary legislation; and fresh water use in fraccing should be discouraged.
The committee found that concerns for the industrialisation of the Kimberley and the Midwest have been over-stated, that there have been no significant well failures to date, and none damaging to the environment, and that the state's robust system in place for the monitoring of abandoned wells will overcome issues of lost or orphan wells polluting the environment such as has been experienced in the US.
The committee recommended that the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012 be expanded to cover petroleum sector to better deal with any legacy issues.
It also found that there is negligible risk of induced seismicity, which has caused issues in Europe and the US, but that the Department of Mines and Petroleum's policy of not permitting reinjection of wastewater into aquifers should continue, especially during fraccing.
Despite the promise of tighter regulations and higher fines, Australia's peak oil and gas body welcomed the report.
APPEA chief operating officer - Western Region Stedman Ellis said the report was a "strong vote of confidence in the oil and gas industry" and called for an end to scare campaigns against fraccing in WA.
Ellis said it was notable that the Conservation Council of WA, in particular, had been singled out by the committee for making claims about the industry that were "greatly over-stated".
"The committee has carefully considered the evidence, it has listened to all sides of the debate and it has unanimously concluded that any concerns about fracking can be addressed through robust regulation and ongoing monitoring," Ellis said.
"This mirrors the findings of numerous other inquiries and reviews here in Australia and overseas which have found that with careful regulation and industry best practice, fracking can be done safely.
"The public can take confidence from the fact that the committee has broadly endorsed WA's existing regulatory framework for onshore gas while making a number of sensible recommendations to enhance safeguards.
"APPEA and its members will continue to work with the state government, landowners and other key stakeholders to ensure the shale gas industry is developed safely and sustainably for the benefit of all Western Australians."
