The WA State Government has introduced legislation into the WA Parliament to open up the vast and spectacular Kimberley region to toxic gas fracking at a scale never seen before in Australia!
The proposed laws would promote the development of thousands of gas fracking wells across the unique Kimberley region.
Without consultation or environmental assessment, these laws would commit the state of Western Australia to supporting an industry that will have a devastating impact on the cultural and environmental values of one of the most precious places on Earth.
In his rush to see this legislation passed as soon as possible, Premier Barnett has even attempted to suspend usual Parliamentary process in an attempt to rush the bill through!
Use the form opposite to send an urgent message asking your local Member of Parliament to vote this appalling legislation down
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Photo Damian Kelly
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http://caha.org.au/the-human-cost-of-power/
ReplyDeleteThe Human Cost of Power
by CAHA
September 11th, 2013
Film Screening
A new short film, ’The Human Cost of Power’, produced by award winning science journalist, Alexandra de Blas will be previewed at a public forum in Melbourne on Wednesday 18th September 2013.
The film, ‘The Human Cost of Power’ explores the health impacts associated with the massive expansion of coal and unconventional gas in Australia.
The public forum will feature expert speakers including University of Melbourne researcher Dr Jeremy Moss, climate scientist Professor David Karoly, Friends of the Earth campaigner Cam Walker, and Dr Jacinta Morahan from Surf Coast Air Action.
The Human Cost of Power is produced for the Climate and Health Alliance and the Public Health Association of Australia.
The forum is supported by the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Melbourne.
The public forum and film screening will be held from 6.00pm-7.30pm at the Laby Theatre, Room L108, Physics South Building 192, University of Melbourne on Wednesday 18th September 2013.
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7,500 songbirds killed at Canaport gas plant in Saint John
About 7,500 songbirds, possibly including some endangered species, were killed while flying over a gas plant in Saint John late last week, officials have confirmed.
About 7,500 songbirds, possibly including some endangered species, were killed while flying over a gas plant in Saint John late last week, officials have confirmed.
It appears the migrating birds flew into the gas flare at Canaport LNG between Friday night and Saturday morning, said Fraser Forsythe, the company's health, safety, security and environmental manager.
The birds were drawn to the flame like moths, an extremely unusual event, according to Don McAlpine, the head of zoology at the New Brunswick Museum.
"They would circle in around that and of course with a large flame like that and high temperatures, they wouldn't need to get terribly close to become singed or burned."
The weather conditions were foggy and overcast at the time, which may have contributed to the incident, said McAlpine.
Not much is known about how such birds navigate at night, but officials believe they are attracted to light, particularly red or flashing lights, he said.
The flare tower at the Canaport liquefied natural gas receiving and regasification terminal is about 30 metres tall and the size of the flame varies, depending on weather conditions. It is typically higher amid low-pressure systems.
Flaring is part of the standard operation at the east side plant, located on Red Head Road, and is designed as a safety release system. It is used to maintain normal operating pressure by burning off small amounts of excess natural gas.
An estimated 6,800 birds were killed, while several hundred more were injured and had to be put down. "There were too many birds to count," said McAlpine.
"A crude estimate at this stage suggests about 7,500 birds died," he said. "There's certainly more than 5,000 and probably less than 10,000 birds affected."
McAlpine is still examining several hundred of the dead birds, which are being stored in a freezer, to try to identify their species.
There were a large number of red-eyed vireos, several types of warblers, including parula, black-and-white, magnolias and redstarts, as well as a few thrushes and rose-breasted grosbeaks, he said.
It's possible there may have also been some endangered species, such as the olive-sided flycatcher and Canada warbler, which are on the federal government's species at risk registry, said McAlpine
More at : http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/7500-songbirds-killed-at-canaport-gas-plant-in-saint-john
APPEA: New Industry Minister an Experienced Appointment
ReplyDeleteThe Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) congratulated Ian Macfarlane MP on his appointment to the position of Federal Minister for Industry.
Macfarlane is a welcome appointment as he brings a wealth of experience, having previously held ministerial responsibility for the regulatory oversight of oil and gas industry operations from 2001-2007 in the Howard Government.
APPEA Chief Executive David Byers said: “Mr Macfarlane has a deep understanding of Australia’s oil and gas industry, its importance to the nation’s economy, and its increasing importance upon the international energy stage.
“APPEA looks forward to not only working with Mr Macfarlane, but also Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and Minister for Environment Greg Hunt, to maintain our industry’s continued growth and to address the major challenge of Australia’s sliding global competitiveness.
“A high-cost local environment and the emergence of new LNG competitors in East Africa, North America and elsewhere are making it much harder to win market share and attract investment. It is critical that steps are taken to ensure Australia secures its share of the next wave of global oil and gas projects.”
APPEA recently released its assessment of the policy priorities that require the attention of the new Government. These include:
◾Fiscal stability
◾The need for market-based energy policy
◾Maintaining industry access to resources
◾Red tape and green tape reduction
◾Developing viable labour markets that encourage mobility, flexibility and productivity.
About $200 billion is currently being invested in oil and gas projects across Australia and there is enormous potential to secure our next wave of investment through sound and workable policy solutions that address regulatory duplication and increased competition from overseas.
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From above article :
“APPEA looks forward to not only working with Mr Macfarlane, but also Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and Minister for Environment Greg Hunt, to maintain our industry’s continued growth and to address the major challenge of Australia’s sliding global competitiveness."
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Gas Flows from Proteus‐1 Well (Australia)
ReplyDeleteThe Proteus‐1 ST2 exploration well, located within the Browse Basin has been production tested following the confirmation of a gas discovery on 30 August, 2013.
The successful flow test of the Proteus‐1ST2 well has produced a strong flow of condensate bearing gas with a maximum flow rate of 7.3 MMscf/d measured through a 16/64” choke with a flowing well head pressure of 4457psi.
The test was conducted in 4‐1/8” diameter wellbore over the entire open hole section between 4920‐5250mRT in Jurassic aged rocks of the Plover and Montara Formations. In order to maintain hole stability, flow rates were constrained and initial analysis indicates that significantly higher flow rates would be achieved with appropriate infrastructure in place.
A Condensate‐Gas Ratio in the range of approximately 19‐22 bbl/MMscf was measured at surface. The measured condensate ratio is the highest yet recorded from the Poseidon project exploration campaign and 10‐20% higher than the ratio measured in the Boreas‐1 well. The gas also contained approximately 12% CO2, near the lower concentration levels found to date in the Greater Poseidon Area.
At 06:00 hrs WST today the test string was being pulled from the hole. Since the last progress update the wireline logging program was completed prior to installing well testing equipment. Wireline logging was successful in acquiring a high quality data set for ongoing field studies.
Impact of the discovery
Based on an analysis of the well test data, Karoon is highly confident that future production wells drilled adjacent to the Proteus‐1ST2 location could flow at commercial rates in excess of 100 MMscf/d. Along with Kronos‐1 (located 17 kilometres west of Proteus‐1) and Boreas‐1 (located 10 kilometres north west of Proteus‐1), Proteus‐1ST2 isthe third well in the Greater Poseidon Area that has been production tested, proving that development wells will produce gas at commercial rates.
The Proteus‐1ST2 discovery of younger well‐developed good quality gas bearing sands in the Jurassic age formations open up the potential for further prospectivity adding to the older Plover Formation volumes discovered to date.
ConocoPhillips is the operator of the WA‐314‐P, WA‐315‐P and WA‐398‐P Browse Basin permits containing the previously announced Greater Poseidon gas discoveries. Karoon Gas Australia Ltd holds a 40% equity interest in permit WA‐315‐P and WA‐398‐P, and a 90% interest in permit WA‐ 314‐P.
Proteus‐1 ST2 isthe third well in the exploration program. Proteus‐1ST2 is located in permit WA‐398‐ P on a large tilted fault block approximately 14 kilometres south south east of the Poseidon‐1 discovery well.
The Transocean Legend semi‐submersible rig is drilling the exploration well, which is operated by ConocoPhillips.