EDO asks for extension deadline to hand Santos documents over its block on Barossa LNG project

The Environmental Defenders Office has sought an extension to hand over documents related to the failed legal attempt to block Santos’ $5.7bn Barossa LNG development.

The Environmental Defenders Office has sought an extension to hand over documents pertaining to the failed legal attempt to block Santos’s $5.7bn Barossa LNG development.

Earlier this year Santos secured a legal victory against the EDO, which acted for Simon Munkara who had sought an injunction against Santos’s plans to develop a 262km pipeline for new LNG wells in waters off the Northern Territory.

Mr Munkara claimed the pipeline would cause irreparable damage to First Nations people and their connection with the sea country.

Santos is seeking to recoup damages and has indicated it will pursue the EDO, the legal representatives behind the effort to block the pipeline, and others it deems as de facto claimants.

The Federal Court approved a request from Santos to see all communications the EDO had pertaining to the failed claim. The EDO opposed that, saying it was simply the legal counsel and should not be liable for claims.

If Santos finds evidence it went beyond that brief, it is likely to seek damages from the EDO.

The documents are due to be handed to Santos on Wednesday, but a spokesman for the EDO said talks had begun between the two parties over an extension. “There are negotiations at the moment about timetabling,” the spokesman said.

Santos declined to comment. Without the extension, the EDO would potentially be in breach of the ruling.

Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher has been blunt in his contempt for environmental activists using allegedly spurious legal claims to block developments.

It is unclear the extent of costs Santos is seeking to recoup.

The project is expected to meet its initial first gas timetable for 2025.

But a temporary injunction issued by the court before it ruled resulted in Santos paying tens of thousands of dollars for pipeline-laying ships that were unable to conduct the work.

Santos’s aggressive pushback appears to have altered the legal landscape.

On Monday the Australian Conservation Foundation dropped its legal bid to block Woodside’s $16.5bn Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia.

In 2022 the ACF asked the Federal Court to order a suspension of work on the project until an assessment was made about its potential effect on the Great Barrier Reef.

Woodside had secured approval for the project from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Managemental Authority, but the ACF said the project should be assessed by the federal environment minister under commonwealth laws.

If the ACF had been successful, the federal government could have considered the environmental impact, heightening the chance of the rejection.

Originally published as EDO asks for extension deadline to hand Santos documents over its block on Barossa LNG project