The Supreme Court of Western Australia today dismissed two proceedings brought against the Chairman of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) challenging the Pluto LNG and Karratha Gas Plant environmental approvals made in 2019.
The proceedings were commenced by the Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA), which alleged that approvals given by the WA state government to process gas, potentially including from the proposed Scarborough and Browse Basin gas fields, at the company’s existing LNG facilities were given in contravention of the Environmental Protection Act.
The dismissal was partly because of a delay in commencing the legal action, with WA Supreme Court Justice Jeremy Allanson stating in his published decision that in his opinion “the delay in this case is properly characterised as excessive and unwarrantable”.
The CCWA did not commence its legal action until December 2020, with the case heard in December 2021, after the WA EPA allowed Woodside’s Pluto and North West Shelf LNG plants to process gas from any field in July 2019.
CCWA executive director Maggie Wood said the organisation was disappointed by the decision.
She added: “From the outset, we have maintained that the EPA failed to properly assess Woodside’s Scarborough gas development and that unless this oversight was challenged, there would be no way for West Australians to know the damage it would cause to our environment.”
The CCWA has also commenced separate Supreme Court proceedings challenging the Pluto Train 2 project works approval, though a hearing date has yet to be set.
