Wednesday, February 6, 2013

6 February 2013

Interesting and useful comments from Burke on attached interview.

Makes it pretty clear the Feds are sceptical about the WA assessment so now would be a good time to crank up pressure on him to say the assessment has failed to meet the strategic assessment terms of reference and requirements of EPBC Act and needs to be redone (or else to just come out and say NO!)...


4 comments:

  1. It's a fair bet you are onto a winner here.
    It's an election year and lately we have seen a strange breakout of Green disease within Federal Labour,even Martin Ferguson caught it.
    Not only can't they afford to lose any votes to the Greens,but feel they can maybe steal a few back.

    But aside from the politics,Burke has taken some pride in his job in as much as he has shown himself to be very strict with the requirements under the act.As weak as it is,as he always mentions.

    So,Barnett and Woodside have played loose with the truth and that is where you should have a good win.But apart from that there are the conditions he will have to impose on this very sensitive site,in full world view now,and he will face further pressure on Walmadan created by the publicity the unfolding disaster of the Great Barrier Reef is creating.

    The worlds biggest living structure and the worlds biggest Humpback nursery.

    Woodside,and quite likely even Barnett in his more private moments,must be dreading this.

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  2. THIS IS NOT TO IMPROVE SAFETY !!!

    THIS IS SO THEY CAN DRILL IN EVEN MORE VERY DANGEROUS AREAS.

    AREAS WHERE THE PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE ARE VERY HIGH AND THE RISK OF EQUIPMENT FAILURE FAR GREATER.

    A BLOWOUT HERE WOULD DWARF ANYTHING EVER SEEN BEFORE.

    PITY THE POOR CREWS.

    Maersk Drilling and BP announced yesterday that they have signed a partnership agreement to develop conceptual engineering designs for a new breed of advanced technology offshore drilling rigs that will be critical to unlocking the next frontier of deepwater oil and gas resources.
    BP and Maersk Drilling will collaborate on concepts for deepwater drilling rigs that can operate in high-pressure and high-temperature reservoirs up to 20,000 pounds per square inch and 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
    The agreement is part of BP's Project 20KTM, a multi-year initiative to develop next-generation systems and tools for deepwater exploration and production that are beyond the reach of today's technology, which has a technical limit of 15,000 psi pressure and temperatures of 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

    ...

    "We are proud to enter into this partnership with BP and see it as recognition of Maersk Drilling's technological achievements and competencies. The technology developed will move the boundaries of the offshore drilling industry and will enable access to resources that are inaccessible with today's technology," says Claus V Hemmingsen, CEO at Maersk Drilling.

    ...

    BP’s Project 20K sets out its intention to develop technologies over the next decade in four key areas: well design and completions; drilling rigs, riser and blowout prevention equipment; subsea production systems; and well intervention and containment.

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  3. This guy is incredible.

    Kakadu to expand after ranger turns back on riches

    Northern Territory park ranger Jeffrey Lee is celebrating as the Federal Government moves to protect his land from uranium mining.

    For decades, Mr Lee, a traditional owner from the Djok clan who is the senior custodian of the land, had refused to allow the Koongarra uranium deposit to be mined.

    The deposit, in the heart of Kakadu National Park, is worth just under $2 billion.

    It was excluded from the park in 1979 so the uranium could be mined, and two years after that a mine was given environmental approval.

    But traditional owners fought the proposal - a fight that took Mr Lee to Darwin, Sydney and even Paris.

    He rejected several offers from French energy company Areva, campaigned, and won Koongarra a World Heritage listing last year.

    Mr Lee then asked the Federal Government to incorporate Koongarra into Kakadu, a process that Environment Minister Tony Burke started on Wednesday morning.

    "Today - this is the day. This is the moment that I was waiting for, (for a) very long, long time," Mr Lee told reporters at Parliament House.

    "I could be a rich man today. I could be a rich man. Billions of dollars... You know, you can offer me anything, but my land is a cultural land."

    Mr Burke described Koongarra as a "hole in the heart" of the national park.

    "There has always been, when you look at the boundary of Kakadu National Park, effectively a hole in the heart of it," he said.

    "If you go to the lookout where you're looking across to Nourlangie Rock and you look across from that lookout that thousands of tourists visit every year, the land you are looking at is Koongarra.

    "This legislation being introduced into the Parliament allows us to complete the legacy of work that was massively advanced during the years of the Hawke Labor government."

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