The most recent Annual Offshore Performance Report from regulatory body NOPSEMA [1] reveals that despite 10,500 litres of petroleum being released into the ocean, no public announcement of the spill was made.
In addition no fines or other form of punishment were given to the operator, which NOPSEMA also refuses to name.
“It looks very much like whoever wrote the tax laws for oil and gas, which saw them pay zero dollars last financial year, also wrote the environmental safety regime,” Greenpeace senior campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said.
“Australians, and especially those who rely on the ocean for their livelihood, should be deeply concerned by reports that the national oil regulator has withheld information from the public about a 10,500 litre oil leak for over twelve months.
“There's absolutely no justification for continuing to keep the company involved or the location of the oil spill a secret. NOPSEMA must immediately make the identity of the company involved and the location of the spill available to the public.
“When you consider that the US oil industry had only three spills over 8,000L in 2016 despite producing thirty times the oil that Australia does, it shows what a farce claims by our industry to have a safe record are.”
Pelle pointed out that the report also showed that hydrocarbon leaks had increased by 28 per cent but that inspections by the regulator had actually gone down by 27 per cent.
“Either NOPSEMA has inadequate resources to conduct inspections or it believes the industry is best left to regulate itself,” he said.
“In either case the public and the environment is sold short and it's clear the way we manage oil and gas drilling needs to be reformed.”
“NOPSEMA's performance report should be a wake-up call to the government and to anyone who has the bad luck of sharing the marine environment with the oil industry.”
Pelle said NOPSEMA’s inspection and enforcement policies must be reformed to ensure they held fossil fuel companies to account.
“When you combine this with their failure to punish ExxonMobil for a recent spill [2] the lack of any meaningful enforcement action is staggering and incomparable to most extractive industries,” he said.
”There has to be a deterrent to prevent companies from routinely and repeatedly having accidents that cause oil to leak into the environment. When there is an accident NOPSEMA does nothing more than remind operators they should be complying with their environment plans.
“In contrast, fishermen who catch too many fish, even by accident, get fined.
“This repeated failure from our government and regulatory agencies is a stark reminder of why we cannot trust them to drill in the Great Australian Bight.
“That accidents occur so frequently without action being taken should be enough to reason to stop Bight exploration in its tracks. At the very least it should see improvements to oversight fast-tracked before companies like Chevron submit their plans to drill.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
[1] https://www.nopsema.gov.au/news-and-media/no-fatalities-or-major-injuries-in-offshore-oil-and-gas-in-2016/
[2] Last week an “improvement” notice issued by NOPSEMA revealed it had failed to take action against ExxonMobil for a spill on their platform.
The notice found staff had not responded to the spill in accordance with regulations due to a lack of training and no access to proper equipment.
Despite being “satisfied on reasonable grounds that the titleholder named above has contravened and is likely to contravene again” no punitive measures were taken against ExxonMobil.
https://www.nopsema.gov.au/assets/Published-notices/A549511.pdf
For interviews contact:
Simon Black
Greenpeace Senior Media Campaigner
0418 219 086 / simon.black@greenpeace.org