Adele Carles (Indep):
"
To add insult to this whole wound, we now find out that the government is paying only lip service to the actual appeals process at the very end of the process. Minister Marmion has recently announced the appointment of Dr Roy Green as an appeals committee. This is quite bizarre to my mind—“committee” is plural. It seems quite bizarre that an appeals committee of one is deemed an appropriate process when we know there is an unprecedented 244 appeals to be heard by this so-called committee.
I therefore call on this government to appoint a proper appeals committee of
at least two or more persons in accordance with section 108(1) of the Environmental Protection Act to give the appeals committee at least the perception of legitimacy in the eyes of the public at this stage.
I also believe that Dr Green may be too close to the EPA process. He has held prior roles as deputy chair of the EPA and chairman of the EPA review committee. To conclude, I would say that there is a strong sense of disbelief over what has taken place—the debacle of this process—and it really beggars belief that the government would appoint a one-man band at the very end of the day to tick off on such a controversial proposal.
After the consultation, Dr Green will prepare a report for consideration by Mr Marmion which will not be made public until the Minister has determined the appeals.
Than, undergo further assessment by the Federal Department of Environment and Minister Tony Burke before this proposed project and it's flawed corrupt process is final slayed to rest in the pile of other bad ideas of Barnet's, like his canal.
Photo Damian Kelly
Posts
http://www.kimberleypage.com.au/2012/09/opinion-sally-talbot-on-lame-duck-minister/#more-27314
ReplyDeleteTALBOT BACKS BROWSE AT JPP.
Environment Minister Bill Marmion must step aside until the Browse LNG project environmental assessment is completed, to ensure WA does not miss out on the biggest industrial development in its history, Shadow Environment Minister Sally Talbot said today.
Dr Talbot said Mr Marmion refused to respond to allegations he was complicit in a secret deal that allowed a single Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board member to determine the environmental assessment of the proposed James Price Point gas hub.
“The James Price Point gas hub development is extremely controversial and Western Australians have a right to expect a steady pair of hands to manage the environmental assessment of the proposal,” Dr Talbot said.
The longer this is dragged out the worse their business case becomes.
DeleteThe competition is really ramping up - everywhere.
"China has set October 25 as the bid deadline for a shale-gas exploration rights auction for at least 15 blocks spanning eight areas as the LNG importer tries to unlock its biggest natural gas resource."
"Bangladesh Govt Finalizes Model PSC for Offshore Gas Blocks"
"•An Australian oil prospecting company, Pancontinental, which is involved in drilling, said it has so far found approximately 52 net metres (about 170 feet) of natural gas pay at the Mbawa deep-water well
•The discovery in the deep sea could see Kenya join the ranks of Tanzania and Mozambique that are shaping up as potential rivals to major gas exporters such as Australia
•The discovery comes at a time when Kenya’s appetite for discovery of oil and gas is at an all-time high, following the Turkana oil discovery in March"
etc etc
So Talbot isn't worried about the environment at JPP - she's just worried Marmion will screw up the corrupt process.
ReplyDeleteWOODSIDE STUMPED AGAIN.
ReplyDeletePOOR SITE SELECTION CONTINUES TO DOG GAS GIANT.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201209/s3588309.htm
East Timor's Petroleum Minister says his country will veto the development of a gas field jointly owned with Australia if a pipeline isn't built to his country.
Part of the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field lies within the Joint Petroleum Development Area in the Timor Sea, which is controlled by both countries and is being developed by a consortium of oil companies, led by Woodside Petroleum.
Woodside's preferred option is to build a floating LNG plant at the gas site, but Minister Alfredo Pires says he won't allow the project to proceed unless his country is responsible for processing and exporting the gas.
"There's no other option for Greater Sunrise," he said.
"As resource owners, we've very much decided that the most favoured option for us is a pipeline to Timor Leste.
"And if the pipeline is not coming the direction of Timor Leste, let's just leave it for future generations."
Woodside Petroleum declined to be interviewed by the ABC.
VOELTE'S BIG MOUTH MAKES IT WORSE.APRIL 21 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/voelte-unleashes-on-east-timor-over-sunrise-project/story-e6frg9ef-1226042435258
"I could sell it to maybe one of our joint-venture partners, but that's giving up on this thing and Woodside doesn't give up -- we're a can-do company.
"And, by golly, we may have to do something some day to recover costs for our shareholders."
Mr Voelte's comments are likely to set back relations with East Timor even further and possibly make the task of Woodside's next chief executive in resolving the dispute even more difficult.
With just weeks remaining until he leaves Woodside, Mr Voelte made it clear yesterday that he had lost patience with East Timor's leaders over Sunrise and revealed he was unable to schedule a meeting with officials to discuss the dispute.
"For a government that was such great freedom fighters, 12 years later now, what's the measurement of this government on nation-building?" he said.
"Just what have they done in this area?
"By objecting to Sunrise being built, they must be objecting to promoting the quality of life and improving the livelihood of their people."
What to do with the jellyfish?
ReplyDeleteIf only they could eat oil.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/09/bp-wants-to-dig-up-beaches-to-remove-old-oil-from-spill/
“It’s basically land farming, it spreads things around, it doesn’t remove” the oil, she said. She said it also “disrupts the entire crust of the beach” and could lead to additional erosion. She said BP needs to be more surgical in its cleanup work and carefully remove tar mats.
BP said yesterday that the beaches would be sifted, rather than tilled, which they described as a gentler scrubbing of the beaches.
Garret Graves, a coastal aide to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, said the state was reviewing BP’s deep-cleaning proposal. But he accused BP of not doing a good enough job in finding what oil remained along the Louisiana coast before Isaac hit.
“BP continues to refuse to carry out any sort of monitoring program to help us find oil mats,” he said. “BP apparently feels that it is contrary to their interests to actually ‘find oil.’”
Utsler said BP has been diligent in its cleanup. “We stand ready,” he said. “We’ve proven our commitment over the past 29 months.”
Its cleanup and response costs over the last two years were more than $14 billion and more than 66 million man-hours have gone to protecting and treating the Gulf shoreline, the company has said. BP has been running TV ads touting Gulf Coast tourism and urging people to “come on down.”
..............
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/14842122/broomes-quivering-red-sea/
Blooms were then rare until 2000, when the jellyfish appeared in "unbelievable numbers" , creating a "red band" from Rottnest all the way to up to Derby: "Probably the largest jellyfish bloom on earth."
Since then, the jellyfish have bloomed almost every year in localised areas, with significant numbers in Broome since 2006.
While their diet is unknown, close relatives hoover up big amounts of plankton such as copepods, larvae and fish eggs, causing problems in the ecosystem.
"They not only eat the fish eggs, but also the food that the larval fish would eat, and this double whammy can have a huge impact," Dr Gershwin said.
"When they die in large numbers, they create a huge pulse of goo that makes the bacteria switch to producing a disproportionally huge amount of carbon dioxide."
Worldwide, blooms had been attributed to warming seawaters, overfishing, coastal construction and pollution, she said: "Whether that is what's happening in WA, I don't know."