❓ Hon Sophie McNeill questions the Minister for the Environment regarding the Black Mountain Energy Valhalla Project, focusing on CO2 emissions, radioactive wastewater management, and liabilities related to radioactive material release during fracking operations. The Minister defers to the ongoing EPA assessment and publicly available documents.
AnsweredQoN 645Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Black Mountain Energy Valhalla project—Radioactive
material
645. Hon Sophie McNeill to the Minister for the
Environment :
I refer to the Black Mountain Energy Valhalla Project,
which proposes to drill and frack up to 20 natural gas extraction wells
west of the Martu Warra Fitzroy River in the Kimberley. I note that radioactive
material was previously detected and reported in flowback fluid analysis from
one of the wells at this site.
(1) Approximately how many tonnes of CO2e will be
emitted if the Valhalla fracking project is approved?
(2) Noting the remoteness of the Kimberley, what
plans and procedures are in place to manage, store and dispose of radioactive
wastewater from fracking operations and prevent serious environmental impacts?
(3) What liabilities would Black Mountain hold if
any radioactive material is released through drilling and fracking operations
into the environment?
material
645. Hon Sophie McNeill to the Minister for the
Environment :
I refer to the Black Mountain Energy Valhalla Project,
which proposes to drill and frack up to 20 natural gas extraction wells
west of the Martu Warra Fitzroy River in the Kimberley. I note that radioactive
material was previously detected and reported in flowback fluid analysis from
one of the wells at this site.
(1) Approximately how many tonnes of CO2e will be
emitted if the Valhalla fracking project is approved?
(2) Noting the remoteness of the Kimberley, what
plans and procedures are in place to manage, store and dispose of radioactive
wastewater from fracking operations and prevent serious environmental impacts?
(3) What liabilities would Black Mountain hold if
any radioactive material is released through drilling and fracking operations
into the environment?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) The Valhalla proposal is still
under assessment by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and has not
received any approvals under the Environmental
Protection Act 1986 . The information sought is contained within the
proponent's environmental review document, which is publicly available via the
EPA's website. If the member wants us to print all that off and table it, we
are happy to do that for her. Any unauthorised releases subject to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 would be
investigated and action taken in line with the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation's compliance and enforcement policy.
for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) The Valhalla proposal is still
under assessment by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and has not
received any approvals under the Environmental
Protection Act 1986 . The information sought is contained within the
proponent's environmental review document, which is publicly available via the
EPA's website. If the member wants us to print all that off and table it, we
are happy to do that for her. Any unauthorised releases subject to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 would be
investigated and action taken in line with the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation's compliance and enforcement policy.
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.