The WA Government is pushing for the creation of an industrial gas refinery on the Kimberley coast near Broome. If this proceeds, it will damage the environmental and cultural fabric of the Kimberley forever.
What the gas refinery would mean
- It would be Australia’s largest, and the world’s second largest, LNG producer
- The gas refinery would cover 25km² of land, equivalent to 1,200 Subiaco ovals
- The port area would cover 10km² of a Humpback Whale calving area
- There would be a 50km² ‘marine deadzone’[1] offshore from James Price Point because of the blasting and dredging for the port and pipelines
- 30 billion litres/year of wastewater generated by the refinery and the 6-8000 construction-worker town would be pumped into the pristine waters north of Broome
- An oil spill from the project area could arrive in Roebuck Bay and Cable Beach in 1-10 days
- 39 million tonnes/year of CO— equivalent to 20% of WA’s current COemissions from this one project.
Government documents make clear that, if the gas goes ahead, this could lead to wide-scale industrialisation of the rest of the Kimberley.
