Protesters act out opposition

More than 80 Broome residents staged a theatrical protest outside Woodside’s Coghlan Street office in Broome last Wednesday.

Protesters costumed as Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman, Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and threatened greater bilbies, lugged a drill rig and prop aquifer in front of the energy company’s town office.

It was a tongue-in-cheek demonstration of protesters’ concerns gas refineries would adversely affect Broome’s water resources by siphoning out eight billion litres of water a year.

Broome community anti-gas movement spokesman Wil Thomas said Broome sandstone aquifer was already struggling to deal with current groundwater extraction of six billion litres a year.

“Woodside want to take a further eight billion litres of water out of the ground – which is nearly one-and-a-half times the current use by the 18,000 residents of Broome,” he said.

“One of the financial concerns is apparently that they’re getting it for nothing while the ratepayers in Broome pay such a huge amount of money for their water.”

Protest organisers Gas Free Kimberley said Woodside’s test-pumping from the Broome aquifer would draw five million litres water a day for a minimum of seven days.

A Woodside spokesman said the company’s hydrological and environmental studies would assess whether the Broome aquifer was a viable and environmentally sustainable source of water for use during the construction phase of the proposed Browse liquefied-natural-gas development.

“Any application to temporarily draw water from the Broome aquifer will be subject to review and assessment by the Department of Water,” the spokesman said.

He said the department only approved applications that had been deemed sustainable.

“If groundwater resources are unviable, a desalination plant may be used to supply water during the construction process,” the spokesman said.

“To meet the development’s operational water requirements, it is anticipated that a permanent desalination facility, powered by electricity generated from natural gas and drawing water from the sea, will be constructed.”