❓ Hon Martin Aldridge asks about water quality testing related to Empire Oil and Gas NL's exploration permit 389. The Minister confirms testing is required but results are confidential.
AnsweredQoN 602Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
EMPIRE OIL
AND GAS NL — EXPLORATION PERMIT 389
602. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the
minister representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to exploration permit 389 held
by Empire Oil and Gas NL.
(1) Will the
minister please identify all wells that have been drilled within EP 389 and any
relevant departmental approvals granted?
(2) Is it a
condition of departmental approval that independent water quality testing be undertaken
within the permit area?
(3) If yes to
(2), what are the conditions on which the independent water testing is based?
(4) Is the
Department of Mines and Petroleum provided with access to the water quality
testing results; and, if it is, will the minister table all relevant results
relating to EP 389?
(5) Is it
normally a condition for onshore petroleum and geothermal approvals that
independent water testing take place?
AND GAS NL — EXPLORATION PERMIT 389
602. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the
minister representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to exploration permit 389 held
by Empire Oil and Gas NL.
(1) Will the
minister please identify all wells that have been drilled within EP 389 and any
relevant departmental approvals granted?
(2) Is it a
condition of departmental approval that independent water quality testing be undertaken
within the permit area?
(3) If yes to
(2), what are the conditions on which the independent water testing is based?
(4) Is the
Department of Mines and Petroleum provided with access to the water quality
testing results; and, if it is, will the minister table all relevant results
relating to EP 389?
(5) Is it
normally a condition for onshore petroleum and geothermal approvals that
independent water testing take place?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
The Department of Mines and Petroleum advises —
(1) Empire Oil
Company (WA) Ltd has drilled four wells in EP 389. These are Gingin West–1,
Red Gully–1, Gingin–3 and Eclipse–1. All wells were
approved under the provisions of the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources
Act 1967.
(2) Yes.
(3) The
Department of Mines and Petroleum directed Empire Oil to develop and implement
a groundwater sampling and analysis program to establish that, over time, there
was no risk to groundwater from hydrocarbon contaminated materials arising from
the petroleum activity.
(4) Yes, the
Department of Mines and Petroleum is provided with access to water quality
monitoring results. The minister cannot release this information as it is
considered confidential under section 112(4) of the Petroleum and Geothermal
Energy Resources Act 1967.
(5) The
requirement to undertake independent water testing is determined on a
case-by-case basis and depends on the risks that an activity poses to the
environment.
The Department of Mines and Petroleum advises —
(1) Empire Oil
Company (WA) Ltd has drilled four wells in EP 389. These are Gingin West–1,
Red Gully–1, Gingin–3 and Eclipse–1. All wells were
approved under the provisions of the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources
Act 1967.
(2) Yes.
(3) The
Department of Mines and Petroleum directed Empire Oil to develop and implement
a groundwater sampling and analysis program to establish that, over time, there
was no risk to groundwater from hydrocarbon contaminated materials arising from
the petroleum activity.
(4) Yes, the
Department of Mines and Petroleum is provided with access to water quality
monitoring results. The minister cannot release this information as it is
considered confidential under section 112(4) of the Petroleum and Geothermal
Energy Resources Act 1967.
(5) The
requirement to undertake independent water testing is determined on a
case-by-case basis and depends on the risks that an activity poses to the
environment.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.