Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Agency cleared EPA error - The West Australian

Agency cleared EPA error - The West Australian


he disastrous decision to let conflicted Environmental Protection Authority board members deliberate on the Kimberley gas hub was endorsed by the public sector's standards commissioner Mal Wauchope, it has emerged.
The Opposition now wants an audit into whether advice to other agencies on conflict management was similarly flawed, heaping further pressure on Mr Wauchope, whose statutory role is under review by a parliamentary committee.
EPA chairman Paul Vogel was criticised in August after Chief Justice Wayne Martin ruled his decision to allow board members to deliberate, but not vote, was outside the law.
Days later, Woodside walked away from a land-based processing plant in favour of floating LNG technology.
The embarrassing gaffe meant two board members with conflicts of interests were allowed to discuss the project until just four months before the EPA's July 2012 decision to approve the onshore gas processing hub.
But Justice Martin's judgment reveals Dr Vogel was not the only person who incorrectly decided some disclosures of pecuniary interests did not prevent members from deliberating.
A document Dr Vogel prepared on his conflict management plan was annotated: "Advice on the above strategy was sought from the Public Sector Commissioner. His office believed it to be reasonable given the circumstances."

3 comments:

  1. WOW you just gotta love this.....


    American Petroleum Institute launches Web-based map tracking US LNG projects

    Monday, 14 October 2013


    The American Petroleum Institute has launched a new Web-based map tracking LNG export projects, including those waiting for approval from the Federal government.


    ...........


    It actually shows ALL LNG worldwide and works just like Google Earth.


    ............................



    from Energy Tomorrow

    Check out API’s new web-based interactive map that can be used to track U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, including those waiting for federal approval. The map shows the location of the proposed projects, and clicking on the respective balloons opens a window with detailed information about the project’s export capacity, jobs that could be created, capital investment and more. Shrink the map down a bit and you can see proposed international LNG export projects.

    Tracking these projects is important as U.S. policymakers work through the export issue. While the Energy Department has approved four projects over the past two and a half years – including three this year – more than 20 remain on hold, delaying benefits to the U.S. in terms of jobs, economic stimulus and an improved trade balance.

    Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations: “America is leading the world in natural gas production, but to unlock the full economic benefits for U.S. workers, the Department of Energy must act quickly on the permits needed to sell our exports abroad. Accelerating the approval process would send a strong signal that the administration is serious about doubling U.S. exports and help to generate the economic benefits the president is seeking.”

    The next site expected to be reviewed is on Quintana Island near Freeport, Texas, where the applicant is requesting added export capacity for a facility that will attract more than $3 billion in capital investments and create more than 3,000 construction and engineering jobs. The application was submitted in December 2011.

    Milito: “There is a global race to build this infrastructure and secure a competitive position in the international market. These terminals would allow other nations to purchase a valuable American product, support U.S. exports, and help reduce global emissions.”


    ............



    https://api.maps.arcgis.com/apps/StorytellingTextLegend/index.html?appid=aa7b306e4769400fbc69989d9cbcbea4


    Just load up the maps and away you go.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kinder Morgan plans liquefaction build-out and more deals with the 14 Gulf projects

    Tuesday, 15 October 2013


    Kinder Morgan, the largest US natural gas pipeline operator, said it was going ahead with a "liquefaction build-out" at two LNG terminals in Georgia and Mississippi as it seeks permits for non-Free Trade Agreement countries.


    .......................




    Canadian Indian tribes hold their first LNG summit with Japanese ambassador invited

    Friday, 11 October 2013


    The native Indian tribes of the Canadian province of British Columbia have held their first LNG summit attended by ministers and the ambassador of Japan, the largest buyer of LNG, to discuss the projects being built around them and how they can benefit.


    ............................



    Greenpeace Starts Legal Challenge to Stop U.K. Shale Wells

    Environmental group Greenpeace started a legal challenge to shale-gas exploration in the U.K., encouraging landowners to use trespass laws to block drilling.

    Drilling horizontally under peoples land is illegal without the owner’s permission and property holders can block drilling by formally declaring their opposition, Greenpeace said.

    “If someone drills under your home without permission it is a trespass,” John Sauven, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. “This case is about people explicitly declaring they do not give that permission. This will make it extremely difficult for companies to move ahead with any horizontal drilling plans.”

    Greenpeace is opposed to drilling techniques that started an oil and gas production boom in the U.S., claiming they risk polluting water supplies. Exploiting shale reserves relies on a combination of drilling horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing, the process of using a pressurized mix of water, sand and chemicals to force fuel out of rocks.

    The U.K. said in June the Bowland basin, which stretches from the east to the northwest, may hold as much as 1,300 trillion cubic feet of gas. An extraction rate of 10 percent, typical in U.S. fields, will meet the country’s demand for almost 50 years. The government has encouraged explorers through lower tax rates as it tries to cut reliance on imports and reserves decline in the North Sea.

    “This country pioneered subsurface infrastructure,” Francis Egan, chief executive officer of Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., a shale explorer, said in a statement. “All of our existing subsurface underground rail, water, gas, telecommunications and electric development has historically succeeded in legal coexistence with surface property rights.”

    IGas Energy Plc (IGAS), another shale driller, said it “informs all local landowners under whose land laterals will be drilled in accordance with current law.”

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

    Alan
    Hazardous gas

    ReplyDelete