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Woodside Petroleum said on Dec. 21 an environmental body had decided to challenge approvals given to the company to process gas at two offshore oil and gas projects in Western Australia.

The Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) will legally challenge the government of Western Australia and Woodside in the state’s Supreme Court over approvals to process gas from the North West Shelf and Pluto LNG facilities, the company said in a statement.

The conservation group had said the state’s approvals for the facilities could allow billions of tons of carbon pollution from the company’s proposed Burrup Hub LNG expansion.

Pollution from the new projects could also damage Aboriginal engraved rock art at Murujuga, the Conservation Council said, touching a sensitive issue in the wake of Rio Tinto’s destruction of sacred Aboriginal caves for an iron ore mine.

The move opens a new front for the CCWA in its long-running campaign against fossil fuel projects, previously targeted at coal and coal seam gas.

“Australians deserve clarity on the environmental impacts of projects that are being approved,” said Tim Macknay, managing lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office, who is representing the council.

“The public needs to be confident that any changes to project approvals are being properly assessed and not simply rubber-stamped by the government.”

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the Perth-based firm would “vigorously defend” its position, noting that the CCWA was taking the matter to court a year and half after the approvals were granted.

Offshore