THE EFFECTS OF SCARBOROUGH GAS ON MARINE LIFE
Woodsides Scarborough Gas Project is going ahead this year. Construction of the Pluto 2 gas plant and Scarborough Pipeline will commence shortly. Traditional Owners are concerned about how construction will impact the environment on land and in the ocean.
According to retired CSIRO marine ecologist Dr. Russ Babcock anything that is placed on the seafloor will disturb marine life, however, there are other factors to take into account.
“Anything that you put on the seafloor is going to disturb the marine life that is there. It’s really a question of how big that impact is in the context of everything else that is happening in that region.” He said, “Sealife adapts to structure underwater in different ways depending on what sort of organism it is.”
The new pipeline is set to extend 55km further than the existing Pluto Offshore plant meaning the disturbance to marine life close to the shore will be minimal. The new pipeline will be laid on soft sand and mud starting 375km offshore. Woodside will monitor and minimize impacts to sea animals and plants as the pipeline is laid.
Woodside has recently come under fire from T.O’s for their promised gas supply to the Perdaman Urea Plant which will be built on aboriginal land and will require moving ancient rock art, however, the construction of Pluto 2 will not disturb any surrounding land or rock art.
The Perdaman urea plant was given the go-ahead by the Australian Government Department of Industries, Science, and Technology even after Perdaman included the removal of rock art in its assessment of the land.
It is unclear if the pipeline will affect the migratory patterns of whales and if there is a gas leak the harm to the environment is hard to gauge due to vast amounts of moving water.
“If there is a gas leak it’s a fairly short-lived impact because it’s in the best interest of whoever is extracting those hydrocarbons and it’s going to have an impact on the environment” said Dr. Babcock
There are concerns the gases released from the Woodside Gas Plant is damaging rock art in the area but the same gasses do not directly impact the ocean.
Dr. Babcock said, “Gas flares are likely to have relatively minor direct impacts on the surrounding waters.”
Woodside is working with traditional owners to ensure they are informed, however, recent attempts to meet with the community have been downscaled due to COVID in the area.
The Scarborough Gas Project will go ahead in 2022. The depth and vast area of ocean means that it is difficult to track how the pipeline will affect sea life but the soft mud and sand hold a smaller amount of life than the shallower parts of the ocean due to lack of sunlight.
Dr. Babcock said, “Sealife adapt to structure underwater in different ways depending on what sort of organism it so much of the seafloor apart from reefs is soft sand, mud, and silt.”
“As soon as you put something on the bottom you get a whole new type of community developing that relies on something to settle on.”
There is no doubt that some sea life will be disturbed while laying the Scarborough Pipeline, however, the impacts to the ocean surrounding the plant and large amounts of ocean leading to the Scarborough Offshore Plant are unknown due to that vast area and depth of water.
Woodside has been contacted for comment regarding the specifics of the pipeline.