PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Wilderness Society of Western Australia has declared the proposed onshore gas hub at James Price Point “dead and buried” after the Western Australia Supreme Court ruled that the project’s environmental approval was unlawful.

In December, the Wilderness Society of Western Australia launched a court challenge against the hub’s environmental approval, after both the Environmental Minister and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) allowed the project to proceed.

The EPA’s approval, which was handed down in July last year, had been highly contested after it emerged that chairperson Paul Vogel was the sole assessor.

Supreme Court Justice Wayne Martin this week ruled in favour of the Wilderness Society’s arguments of a conflict of interest in the EPA process and that the Environmental Minister had erred in granting the project approval, despite the conflicts. 

The Wilderness Society campaign manager Peter Robertson said that the ruling had vindicated the many opponents of the James Price Point gas hub development.

“The James Price Point gas pipe dream is now dead and buried. Premier Colin Barnett must face facts, drop this unhealthy obsession and quit the compulsory acquisition process,” Robertson said.

He added that the ruling set a precedent and was a stark reminder of why final environmental approval powers should not be left in the hands of the states.

The proposed gas hub development at James Price Point would have seen the A$45-billion development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub that included three gasfields estimated to contain a combined contingent resource of about 13.3-trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 360-million barrels of concentrate. First gas production has initially been slated for 2017.

Dubbed the Browse LNG hub, the project was jointly owned by Woodside, Shell, BP, Chevron and PetroChina, which acquired its stake in the project through a $1.63-billion deal with BHP.

Earlier this year, Woodside dumped its plans for an onshore development at James Price Point, saying the project was no longer economically viable.

Despite this development, the state government purchased the land, saying it wanted to keep the area available for future projects.

The Supreme Court’s ruling allowed the Western Australian government to appeal the decision, but the Wilderness Society has warned that it would then cross appeal.