Question On Notice No. 2374 asked in the Legislative Council on 13 August 2019 by Hon Robin Chapple
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment; Disability Services; Electoral Affairs
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to concerns raised by the community and the Conservation Council of Western Australia in relation to the Wheatstone gas project near Onslow, and ask the Minister:
(a) since operations commenced at the Wheatstone project, has air quality monitoring data been taken and supplied to the relevant State or Federal authority;
(b) if yes to (a), will the Minister table this data;
(c) if no the (a), why not;
(d) if no to (b), why not;
(e) since operations commenced at the Gorgon project on Barrow Island, has air quality monitoring data been taken and supplied to the relevant State or Federal authority;
(f) if yes to (e), will the Minister table this data;
(g) if no to (e), why not;
(h) if no to (f), why not;
(i) since operations commenced at the Wheatstone project, how many instances of black smoke (flaring) have been reported, by the proponent, to the relevant State authority:
(i) will the Minister give the duration, in hours, of these instances;
(ii) will the Minister also provide the density of the smoke, on the Ringlemann scale, as reported by the proponent to the relevant State authority; and
(iii) if no information is available to (i), why is this the case;
(j) will the Minister table the levels of particulates or volatile organic compounds, including BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylene, xylene), emanating from the Wheatstone facility, measured at all monitors, as reported by the proponent to the relevant State authority;
(k) if no to (j), why not;
(l) since operations at Wheatstone commenced, has gas or LNG been exported or supplied to the domestic market;
(m) if yes to (l), would the Minister table the volume of gas supplied to the domestic market over time;
(n) it has been stated that air quality monitoring for carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulphur dioxide measures have been met by the Wheatstone project. Could the Minister show how this is calculated:
(i) if air quality monitoring is calculated by averages, over how many days are the averages taken;
(ii) are emissions spikes recorded within the averaging period or outside;
(iii) if no to (ii), why not; and
(iv) would the Minister provide data relating to the spikes discussed in (ii);
(o) has a health analysis been conducted of all cumulative emissions and the impacts of these on the residents of Onslow and the surrounding areas;
(p) if no to (o), why not;
(q) if yes to (o), will the Minister table the data from this analysis;
(r) whilst limits for emissions are set by the Wheatstone project's licence to operate, what were the specific limits set, for emissions of any kind, during start-up and commissioning;
(s) if no to (r), why not;
(t) during the start-up period for the Wheatstone Onslow project, were CO2e emissions from the plant provided to the relevant authority:
(i) if yes to (t), what was the total emissions for the start-up and commissioning period;
(ii) if yes to (t), are the emissions given on a per month basis;
(iii) if no to (ii), why not; and
(iv) if yes to (ii), will the Minister table the information; and
(u) if no to (t), why not?
Answered on 17 September 2019
(a) – (t) A significant volume of information has been provided to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in regard to emissions from both the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects.
In preparing an answer for this question, 90 separate documents have been identified, in excess of some 2,500 pages. The information requested is too onerous to compile and I am not willing to dedicate valuable time and departmental resources to providing that level of detail.
However, I would like to offer the Honourable Member a briefing on the matter to endeavour to provide an answer to any specific questions he may have.