Beetaloo fracking case court recap
This is public interest litigation in action...
This week, we were in the Federal Court representing Lock the Gate in their landmark case challenging fracking in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo sub-basin under the EPBC Act’s strengthened ‘water trigger’.
Hundreds of people tuned in to watch the proceedings unfold on the court’s livestream, and many more followed the case in the news and on social media.
The outcome of this case could have big implications for how fracking and unconventional gas projects are regulated in the Beetaloo Basin and how our national environment laws are implemented.
What happened in court?
This week, the Federal Court held a four-day hearing in a landmark legal challenge brought by Lock the Gate, represented by Environmental Justice Australia.
The hearing before Justice Owens began with Lock the Gate’s barrister outlining the legal framework and explaining what’s at stake with Tamboran’s Shenandoah South pilot fracking project. Tamboran B2 Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of American-based company Tamboran Resources, plans to drill and frack 15 gas wells in the Northern Territory's Beetaloo sub-basin — south-east of Darwin near the culturally and ecologically significant Lake Woods and Elliott region.
Lock the Gate’s barrister outlined that under Australia’s national environment laws – specifically the ‘water trigger’ – a company can’t go ahead with an unconventional gas project if it’s likely to significantly impact a water resource, unless the project has been referred for assessment by the federal government.
He told the court that in undertaking its Shenandoah South pilot fracking project, Tamboran is drilling through critically important underground water sources – especially the Gum Ridge Aquifer which he said is part of a complex groundwater system that supports local ecosystems and is used for drinking water and livestock.
Lock the Gate is concerned that in undertaking this project, Tamboran risks impacting this important groundwater resource. Their barrister told the court that the community group is seeking an injunction to prevent the project going ahead unless assessed and approved under Australia’s national environment laws.
Tamboran argued that it is carrying out the project in accordance with its approval from the Northern Territory government including the relevant safeguards imposed, and that the federal water trigger doesn’t apply in the circumstances.
To get to the bottom of this the Court will have to determine whether Tamboran B2’s proposed fracking project is likely to have a significant impact on protected groundwater. To help with this, this week the judge heard from four expert witnesses - two petroleum engineers and two hydrogeologists. The hydrogeologists were asked to explain the groundwater systems in the region, the significance of the Gum Ridge Aquifer, and the geology of the area where Tamboran wants to drill. The petroleum engineers were asked to explain more about the location and characteristics of the target gas reservoir, about the process of constructing unconventional gas wells and of hydraulic fracturing to release shale gas for commercial sale.
You can read a more detailed summary of each day of the hearing here:
The water trigger is a legal safeguard built into Australia’s national environment laws — the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act).
It was first introduced in 2013 in response to growing public concern about the impact of large coal mining on water resources. It requires projects that are likely to significantly impact water resources to be referred to the Federal Government for assessment — regardless of state or territory approvals.
In 2023, the Albanese Government introduced an update to the law to extend the water trigger to cover all forms of unconventional gas, including shale gas projects like Tamboran B2’s Shenandoah South Pilot project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a method used to extract gas trapped deep underground in shale rock. It involves drilling a well down into the earth, then horizontally into the gas-bearing rock layer. A high-pressure mix of water, sand and chemicals is then pumped down the well to fracture the rock and release the gas.
In shale gas fracking projects like Shenandoah South Pilot, this process is repeated many times across each well.
Fracking is a highly intensive and challenging method of gas extraction. As the evidence in the case before the Court has indicated, the activity can bring with it serious environmental risks, including groundwater contamination. Experts in the case gave evidence about how chemicals used in fracking fluid, as well as substances released from deep underground, can leak into groundwater if well infrastructure fails.
Groundwater is fresh water stored underground — in cracks, pores and layers of rock, soil and sand beneath the surface. It’s part of a vast, interconnected system that feeds rivers, springs, wetlands and ecosystems.
In the NT, groundwater is often the only reliable water source for communities, pastoral properties, and entire ecosystems. This week the Court heard about one of the most important of these systems – the Gum Ridge aquifer – which is a massive underground water source that supports agricultural activities, town water supplies and groundwater dependent ecosystems (including stygofauna and vegetation).
This is the first legal case to test how the “water trigger” in Australia’s national environment laws applies to fracking.
The case tests whether federal water protections apply to an unconventional gas project in the Beetaloo Basin that has begun work without federal approval.
The outcome could have major implications for water protections and the regulation of unconventional gas activities across the country.
What next?
The hearing will return in August for final submissions from both parties. After that, Lock the Gate will await the court’s decision – a judgment that could influence how fracking projects are scrutinised under national environment law going forward.
Who is Lock the Gate?
Lock the Gate is a national grassroots organisation made up of more than 240,000 supporters and around 140 local groups who are concerned about risky coal mining, coal seam gas and fracking.
These groups are located in all parts of Australia and include farmers, First Nations peoples, conservationists and urban residents.
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