Australian oil spill impact: call for independent review

Jane Bardon, ABC News 18 Sep 09;

The Federal Opposition is calling on the Government to pay for an independent organisation to carry out environmental monitoring of an oil spill off the Kimberley coast.

At least 1200 tonnes of oil have leaked from the Montara well head, 130 kilometres off the north-west coast of Australia.

The rig's manager, PTTEP Australasia, says it will be weeks before the leak can be plugged.

Fishermen and environmental groups do not believe the Government is doing enough surveying of the environmental impact in the area.

The Opposition's environment spokesman, Greg Hunt, says it should pay for an independent organisation, such Charles Darwin University or James Cook University, to carry out a survey of marine life.

"What we're seeing now is a big gap, a wall of silence, in relation to environmental monitoring," he said.

"So let's have an immediate environmental monitoring body appointed, such as a university.

"And let's have a genuine deep review into what happened here, how it happened and whether there are better ways to prevent it."

The Northern Territory Environment Centre says proof the oil slick is killing birds gives more weight to calls for new protected marine areas in the region.

Speaking from the shore of Fannie Bay in Darwin, the centre's director, Stuart Blanch, says the oil spill has raised serious concerns.

"I'm looking out over the water and about 70 metres offshore I can see a dugong," he said.

"It's coming to the surface, then slowly going back down to the bottom to feed ... and then coming up again.

"And a marine oil spill, if that happened here in the harbour or washed into the harbour, animals like dugong would be in big, big trouble and that's why we need a network of marine parks."

The company responsible for the oil spill says it is making progress in its plan to stop oil leaking, but it will still take about three weeks to complete.

The company plans to drill an oil well parallel to the Montara well, intersect it, and then inject mud into the leaking well.

It says it expects to have drilled 1600 metres of the 2.6 kilometre deep relief well by Sunday night.

Timor Sea Oil Spill May Worsen, Australian Conservationists Say
Ben Sharples, Bloomberg 18 Sep 09;

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- An oil spill from a leaking well off Western Australia that has polluted the Timor Sea with 1,200 metric tons of oil may worsen and is a “major ecological disaster in the making,” a conservation group says.

“This is a disaster that risks blowing out further in terms of its scale and impact on the ocean,” Darren Kindleysides, director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said in an e-mailed statement today. The spill has covered 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles), with 400 barrels a day leaking from the Montara field, the group said.

Oil, gas and condensate started seeping into the Timor Sea Aug. 21 from a leak 3,500 meters below the ocean floor during drilling by the local unit of Bangkok-based PTT Exploration & Production Pcl. The Thai company said today halting the flow by drilling a relief well to plug the leak with mud is expected to take a further three-and-a-half weeks to complete.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority observations indicate the size of the spill is reducing, Lauren Tindale, Perth-based spokeswoman for PTTEP Australasia, said by phone. The authority is coordinating the clean up effort and PTTEP has said it will cover the cost.

The government’s response to the spill is insufficient, Australian Greens party Senator Rachel Siewert said in a separate statement today. The spread of oil may affect commercially important fish stocks, the marine ecosystem and coral colonies around Ashmore Reef, about 840 kilometers west of Darwin and 610 kilometers north of Broome, Siewert said.

The relief well is expected to reach a depth of 1,622 meters on Sept. 20, PTTEP said in its statement.