Land Clearing

27 June 2005

Pipeline fiasco highlights need for better government and industry planning

The cancellation of the Trans Territory Pipeline project is further proof that the energy infrastructure and industrialisation process taking place in the Top End is ad hoc and poorly planned, the Environment Centre NT (ECNT) said today.

The Environment Centre raised many objections to the Trans Territory Pipeline proposal in its submission on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), including concerns about threats to wildlife, erosion from watercourse crossings, the spread of weeds and feral animals along the route and lack of adequate consultation with Indigenous groups.

“ We also objected strongly to the uncoordinated way in which the environmental approvals process had been handled, with three separate EIS’s for the Alcan Refinery expansion, the Blacktip Project and the Trans Territory Pipeline”, said ECNT’s Freshwater Campaigner Dr Gary Scott.

“ None of our concerns about why it was absolutely necessary to build this pipeline all the way across the Top End were ever adequately addressed by the proponents or by government.

“ There was very little public debate about whether alternative supplies of energy, perhaps in the form of LNG or perhaps from an alternative pipeline route, could meet the needs of Alcan as well as provide improved environmental outcomes. Hopefully now we will get this debate, albeit belatedly.

“ Moreover, if gas from the Blacktip Field is still to come onshore, then the Territory Government should ensure that at least part of that energy supply is used to meet the domestic needs of Darwin”, concluded Dr Scott

Further comment: Dr Gary Scott 8941 7439 / 0439 373 386
Email: ecnt@octa4.net.au

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