2020 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release - nominated areas for comment

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To whom it may concern,

I am writing to express my concern for the 2020 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release. Upon hearing of yet another exploration release off our pristine Ningaloo waters I began to think, will this be the tipping point for the diverse Ningaloo ecosystem. Eco tourism, commercial and recreational fishing already plays its roll in upsetting the fine balance this World Heritage area needs to function sustainably, the Great Barrier Reef is a fine example of how delicate, but crucial corals can be completely devasted by human interference.

Born in Busselton 1989 my affiliation with the area began shortly after in 1993, with my first of many family holidays up the North West coast to the Cape Leveque Peninsula. An area that has recently overcome a bid to install a gas pipeline at James Price Point. The annual holiday soon found its way to the Ningaloo National Park area, with my father a keen surfer and recreational fisher combined with mums love of everything outdoors, a great sense of appreciation and fulfilment was instilled in me with regards to sheer beauty and diversification of the reef. I have memories of being 6 years old and snorkelling for the first time while staying at Gnaraloo Station, first entering the water you are overwhelmed by the patches of neon coral and colourful fish darting between, my second emotion was fear. The ocean is immense, it harbours life that dwarf me, and I feel so vulnerable. This feeling is short lived as I look behind, see my father close by and feel mostly at ease. Years later as an adult continuing to recreationally enjoy the area I no longer fear the ocean and its creatures. I fear the effects oil and gas industry may have on this world heritage site.

I struggle to see the benefits of short-sighted oil and gas projects proposed only kilometres from wildlife sanctuary zones and eco-tourism operations. It feels like the origins of a Stephen King novel, seismic vibrations caused by exploration drilling alter Whale Sharks migration pattern causing multiple tourism operators to close down, oil spill kills sea grass within Shark Bay Sanctuary releasing tonnes of stored CO2 into atmosphere, Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay hatchery see decline in fish stocks due to the environmental effects of oil and gas industry resulting in commercial fishing ban with strict recreational laws enforced.. It all seems slightly dystopian, but I see these as possible plot lines that could play their course.

To help educate myself on some of the potential issues that could arise with drilling for fossil fuels in the area I took the time to read the Shark Bay World Heritage Property Strategic Plan 2008 – 2020. On page 70 of the report it states “The WA Minister for the Environment sought advice from the Environmental Protection Authority under S.16 (e) of the Environment Protection Act regarding environmental aspects of petroleum exploration and extraction activities within the Property. The section 16(e) report was completed in October 2003. In summary the report states that petroleum exploration and extraction in the Shark Bay World Heritage Property is incompatible with the maintenance of natural and cultural heritage values.” The time frame within the Strategic Plan is now coming to an end, but I feel the findings are even more valid in the progressive society we live in today. People’s decision making and morale compass is no longer blanketed by the thirst for oil and gas profits. We value our natural and cultural heritage sites throughout the state and see the worth in protecting them to ensure prolonged economic and environmental prosperity for the state’s occupants and the thousands of tourists that visit each year.
Whale shark tour operators in Exmouth alone take 30,000 plus people on their boats per year, these tours educate international travellers and local tourists on how to best care for the marine park whilst visiting. With research completed on how the seismic testing done for drilling exploration effects zooplankton and echolocating mammals, I feel it is essential for the whale shark industry and its international tourist pulling power to be given the best chance to continue sustainably.

Blue carbon storage is a major role the diverse seagrass beds of the Ningaloo, Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay play in the effort to control climate change. It seems counterintuitive to risk releasing tonnes of stored carbon in the pursuit of fossil fuels. These seagrass beds also provide the ideal hatchery for many fish, crustacean and mollusc species all of which are commercial and recreationally fished. These factors can’t be ignored, it would be and economic and environmental disaster if the existence of these seagrass beds were put in jeopardy.

There is significant community concern about oil spills and micro leaks that quite often occur during the mining and exploration of fossil fuels. Catastrophic spills feel like a yearly occurrence somewhere on the globe, these are well documented and the public is well aware. Small spills and micro leaks happening on most drill rigs are generally less reported. In 2016 an undisclosed company (not public information) reported a 10500L oil spill off the North West Shelf over a two month period. The fact that regulating bodies like Nopsema don’t legally name companies involved in these spills leaves a real grey area for accountability. The Guardian published an article on the 18/05/2017 which expert in offshore safety Anthony Hopkins says “They should release the names of companies concerned because one of the values of this is the naming and shaming approach – that companies that know they will be named in the case of an incident like this, they are going to be less likely to do it.” When companies get a licence to drill for oil and gas, they produce a safety case that is supposed to demonstrate how they will minimise risks of spills. Those are also not disclosed by Nopsema.

In closing I hope the preservation of this world heritage site and the thousands of West Australian owned businesses which rely on it are put before the need to conduct exploration drilling. People are looking for a government who is willing to look beyond fossil fuel contracts and move towards renewable resources, especially when in close proximity to fragile ecosystems.
Thank you for your consideration of my submission, if you wish to contact me about the contents of my submission I can be reached at [redacted]

Sincerely
Sam Morgan

Supporting sources

World Heritage profiles for Shark Bay and the Ningaloo Coast
Recent report on Shark Bay's vulnerability to climate change:
https://www.wamsi.org.au/sites/wamsi.org.au/files/HeronEtAl_2020_CVI-SharkBay-report_FINAL_0.pdf
Impacts of seismic testing on zooplankton:
https://www.nature.com/news/air-guns-used-in-offshore-oil-exploration-can-kill-tiny-marine-life-1.22167 ; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0195 ;
https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/news/news-items/new-research-reveals-impact-of-seismic-surveys-on-zooplankton
Impacts of seismic testing on larger animals and mammals:
https://www.saveourmarinelife.org.au/campaigns/seismic-blasting/
Spill modelling from previous exploration/production proposals:
( https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/whale-sharks-worse-off-in-worst-case-ningaloo-oil-spill-model-20110308-1bmj7.html
Guardian article 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/18/australian-oil-well-leaked-into-ocean-for-months-but-incident-kept-secret