Fracking Could Cause Overflowing

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method used to extract natural gas from deep rock formations beneath the Earth’s surface. It involves drilling deep underground and injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the rock to release the gas trapped inside. That gas can then be used to generate electricity, heat homes and power industrial processes. But fracking has been controversial for decades, with concerns including groundwater contamination, air pollution, small earthquakes and potential risks to nearby communities.

In WA, fracking is banned across most of the state, with proposed and existing gas projects concentrated in the Kimberley. Now, new modelling has raised concerns about what could happen to wastewater produced during the fracking process. The modelling suggests wastewater ponds at the American company Black Mountain Energy’s proposed Valhalla gas project in the Kimberley could overflow during above-average rainfall, potentially posing a contamination risk to the Mart-u-warra Fitzroy River.

Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance, which campaigns against the environmental risks associated with coal and gas projects, has submitted the new evidence to the WA Appeals Convenor. Lock the Gate Alliance WA Coordinator Simone van Hattem says the modelling shows that if two wells were fracked in the same year and 70% of fracking water returned to the surface, “ponds would overflow in any year with higher-than-average rainfall.”

The modelling only assessed a one-in-200-year flooding event and did not consider more extreme scenarios, including the flooding experienced during ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie in 2022–23.

Isla Tomlinson chats with Lock The Gate Alliance WA Coordinator Simone van Hattem.