Santos ‘disappointment’ over $3.6bn Narrabri gas project delay
A deadline for the IPC to make a recommendation has been extended to September 30.
Santos has expressed its disappointment over a delay to its $3.6bn Narrabri gas project, after the NSW Independent Planning Commission was granted nearly four extra weeks to assess the controversial development while a public comment process will be reopened to consider new material.
A deadline for the IPC to make a recommendation has been extended to September 30, from the original September 4 deadline, following a request for more time by the independent body to the state’s Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
Santos has been frustrated over the longwinded regulatory hurdles after first submitting its environmental impact statement for Narrabri in February 2017 and said it was disappointed by the delay.
“Santos is disappointed that a decision on the project has been delayed, however, no one can now say they have not had ample opportunity to have their say on the project,” a Santos spokesman said.
The IPC asked for extra time after a record seven-day public hearing and 10,000 submissions were received.
It has also been forced to re-open the public comment process until August 21 after Santos produced new economic modelling on the project, while the NSW Planning Department responded at length on Friday to new questions posed by the IPC. Written submissions had previously closed on August 10.
The Department of Planning laid out detailed answers on issues including ecologically sustainable development, intergenerational equity, conservation and water issues.
The Australia Institute had earlier this week called for the public comment process to reopen following Santos’ late submission.
“Santos’s last-minute rewrite of its economic modelling smacks of desperation following the comprehensive criticism of its economic case it received at the public hearings,” the Australia Institute’s principal adviser Mark Ogge said on Friday.
The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility dismissed Santos’ new economic modelling.
“Santos’ additional submission to the NSW Independent Planning Commission is simply a waste of time for the commission, and for the thousands of people who have already made detailed submissions demonstrating that Santos has its facts wrong, and also has its economics wrong,” ACCR climate director Dan Gocher said.
The 850-well proposal received a record 23,000 submissions on its environmental impact statement, with 98 per cent opposed to the project although about a third of local submissions supported the development, the Department of Planning said.
The facility received sign-off from the NSW government in June, with the IPC process the final hurdle faced by the gas producer.
Santos has previously referenced the NSW Chief Scientist’s 2014 inquiry into coal seam gas, concluding the fossil fuel can be safely extracted from coal seams with the right safeguards and controls.