Woodside, Australia’s biggest gas company, has a big problem that it’s trying to hide, and they’re looking to hide it in one of our most precious ocean environments.
We recently uncovered that Woodside has dumped a rusty, dilapidated oil tower near UNESCO World Heritage listed Ningaloo reef off the West Australian coast – and it’s now sinking into the ocean.
The oil tower from Woodside’s decommissioned Nganhurra oil rig is full of toxic chemicals such as plastic and polyurethane. These chemicals could leak into the pristine marine environment of Ningaloo Reef, famously home to whale sharks, pygmy blue whales and other spectacular and endangered ocean creatures.
The truly shocking thing is that Woodside doesn’t have a credible plan to prevent a potential environmental disaster.
Investigations by the environmental movement last year found that Woodside’s original “plan” was to sink the toxic oil tower to create an artificial reef at Ningaloo. This dodgy plan, which flouted Australia’s international ocean protection obligations, was abandoned after it attracted public outrage.
Then in January of this year, Greenpeace found correspondence between Woodside and the offshore oil and gas regulator that shows that the oil tower is slowly sinking into the sea, and Woodside’s plans are inadequate to deal with this potential environmental emergency.
Woodside’s failure to clean up its trash poses unacceptable risks to Ningaloo Reef, one of the world’s most precious and unique reef systems
Ningaloo is a marine biodiversity hot-spot, that could be devastated by a chemical spill. It’s home to whale sharks, the gentle giants of the ocean, and the site of some of the world’s most spectacular coral spawning events. It’s also home to more than 300 documented coral species, over 700 reef fish species, roughly 650 mollusc species, as well as around 600 crustacean species and more than 1,000 species of marine algae. It’s an ocean paradise we can’t afford to damage.
Woodside needs to get its oil and gas trash out of our oceans. Join the growing opposition to Woodside’s toxic plans, and sign our petition to tell them to cut it out.
