Australia: growing fears about fracking chemical spills in the Northern Territory

Scientists and indigenous communities are concerned about the increase of fracking chemical spills by gas companies in the Northern Territory. The most affected area is the Beetaloo Basin, where a huge spill of contaminated fracking wastewater by Empire Energy-Imperial Oil in December killed trees, and grass, and polluted the soil with toxic metals. Recently indigenous traditional owners visited the site of the spill with environmental scientist Ian Wright (University of Western Sydney) to assess the long-lasting impact of the incident. Although he was not allowed a water test by Empire Energy, Professor Wright noticed the significant death of vegetation and, based on a report provided by the company, warned about the presence on the land of high levels of metals like strontium, barium, lithium, manganese, and zinc. These metals could percolate down through the soil and contaminate water sources. Empire Energy did not respond to this claim and said that the site had been visited several times by Northern Territory regulators who are compiling a report on the incident. However, Professor Wright and indigenous owners remarked that the December incident was not an isolated one. In the same month, Empire Energy reported another spill of over 4000 litres of drilling mud, which is used for lubrication during the fracking process, at a nearby well. Another company operating in the Beetaloo Basin, Tamboran Resources, also announced spills of drilling fluid and contaminated wastewater at one of its sites near Daly Waters in the final quarter of 2024. Empire Energy and Tamboran denied that these spills caused significant harm to the environment. The Environment Department supported their claims, but indigenous representatives complained that the Territory’s government is not tough enough toward gas industries.
Local authorities do not seem concerned about potential environmental issues created by fracking operations and are pushing for more gas exploration to fix energy shortages and support economic growth. Commenting on Empire and Tamboran’s projects in the Beetaloo Basin, gas industry body Energy Producers of Australia (EPA) said they would soon be included in the national grid. Empire Energy also plans to bring a mini processing plant in the area and connect it to the McArthur Pipeline near Borroloola in the coming months.