Federal companies face backlash over position in hidden Darwin gasoline leak ‘scandal’

Federal authorities companies are dealing with a backlash over their dealings with gasoline big Santos, which allowed a serious methane leak to be stored secret from the general public for years.

The ABC this week revealed a design flaw in a storage tank on the Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas (DLNG) plant led to it leaking hundreds of tonnes of climate-polluting methane since its inception in 2006.

Despite this, Santos has been cleared to make use of the defective tank till 2050 for its new Barossa gasoline mission with out fixing the leak or measuring emissions, in what environmentalists have branded a “national scandal”.

This adopted recommendation to Santos over the leak from the federal Clean Energy Regulator and CSIRO, which neither company has been keen to element publicly.

The Clean Energy Regulator has advised the ABC it has no document of any recommendation to Santos, regardless of the corporate reporting the leak to it by electronic mail in 2020.

The CSIRO, which Santos engaged as “independent and respected experts” for what to do in regards to the leak, has refused to launch information of its recommendation on the grounds this might hurt its “commercial activities”.

The ABC’s revelations of the leak sparked criticism of the position of federal regulators from crossbench senators in Canberra, together with David Pocock and Monique Ryan.

Federal Greens chief Larissa Waters mentioned the celebration would name for an auditor-general assessment of “what is either a spectacular failure of regulators or a deliberate cover up by successive governments to protect a gas corporation’s profit margin”.

Senator Waters has additionally written to federal ministers questioning obvious inaction by the Clean Energy Regulator, in addition to CSIRO’s “financial relationship with Santos”.

‘No such paperwork exist’

An electronic mail obtained underneath Freedom of Information (FOI) exhibits that the day after Santos took management of the DLNG in May 2020, it requested the Clean Energy Regulator about tips on how to report a spike in estimated emissions from the leak.

Santos advised the regulator that its drone surveys on the DLNG tank “identified methane emissions of 832 tonnes per annum”, which was greater than what it had reported utilizing pointers underneath the National Greenhouse and Energy (NGER) scheme .

“We are seeking your confirmation that the drone monitoring results are not able to be used within NGER reporting?” it mentioned.

However, when the ABC utilized underneath FOI for any responses, the Clean Energy Regulator mentioned “no such documents exist”.

The Clean Energy Regulator mentioned it had “undertaken extensive searches of all relevant electronic and hard copy databases and filing systems for the documents you have requested, however has been unable to locate any existing documents that contain the information you are seeking”.

“Based on these searches, I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to locate any documents relevant to your request, but no such documents exist.”

In response to questions from the ABC in regards to the recommendation, the regulator mentioned it “does not generally comment on advice provided to individual regulated entities about their specific circumstances”.

The estimated leak was the equal of extra carbon emissions a yr than almost one in 4 corporations that reported to the Clean Energy Regulator in 2023-24.

CSIRO secrecy over ‘business actions’

Documents obtained underneath FOI present Santos additionally paid the CSIRO for recommendation on what to do in regards to the leak.

The firm engaged CSIRO as “independent and respected experts to provide a recommendation on the best course of action to take from here with regards to remediation and prevention”, an officer from the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority mentioned in a November 2020 electronic mail.

This was a “really good outcome as it is very similar to the recommendation we discussed and proposed”, the officer mentioned.

However, the CSIRO refused to launch particulars of its analysis to the ABC underneath FOI as a result of to take action might hurt its “commercial activities”.

“The research commissioned was carried out by CSIRO on a commercial basis, on a full cost-recovery basis, in direct competition with the private sector,” it mentioned.

“CSIRO’s undertaking of this commercial activity, and with it the experience, knowledge and trust gained, is also reasonably anticipated to generate similar commercial opportunities for CSIRO in the foreseeable future by virtue of increasing CSIRO’s attractiveness to industry stakeholders in this field.

“The launch of the analysis and evaluation described within the related doc would harm CSIRO’s potential to safe these future business alternatives, whereas additionally damaging its current relationships with business, inflicting a transparent detriment to CSIRO the place it’s working in direct competitors with the personal sector.”

Call for disclosure

In a letter to the federal minister responsible for CSIRO, Tim Ayres, Senator Waters said there was “no proof that [the agency has] taken any motion to restrict the leaking of methane or advise related departments or companies with these regulatory tasks”.

She called for the disclosure of CSIRO’s advice and all financial agreements with Santos.

“In mild of CSIRO’s position because the appointed monitor of the methane leak, on this event it provides rise to a notion that the explanation for his or her passivity and secrecy will be attributed to the monetary relationship between the CSIRO and Santos,” she said.

Senator Waters also wrote to Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen asking “what the [Clean Energy Regulator has] carried out to tell you on this persistent methane leak [and] the way it has been allowed to proceed”.

She requested, “If these emissions have been included in our nationwide greenhouse accounts, and what will be carried out by the federal authorities to require Santos to restore or substitute the leaking tank earlier than any shipments from Barossa arrive?”

The NT EPA has said the leak at DLNG poses no immediate threat to the community or the environment, and repairing it is a “business resolution for Santos”.

It says the methane emissions are a concern because they will contribute to global warming, but this was a matter for the Clean Energy Regulator.

Santos has mentioned the tank is protected and match to be used till 2050, that DLNG has all related regulatory approvals, and it reviews emissions consistent with nationwide pointers.