Burrup Peninsula industrial pollution has impacted Murujuga rock art: report

A long awaited scientific report suggests industrial emissions have damaged a globally significant ancient WA rock art gallery.

The report into the Indigenous heritage site of Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s north-west – near gas giant Woodside’s proposed expanded operations – sought to address years of scientific uncertainty over whether years of industrial pollution on the peninsula has affected the site, the subject of a World Heritage bid.

Traditional owner Raelene Cooper with a hand petroglyph on the Burrup Peninsula. The Murujuga cultural landscape contains the first ever artistic depiction of the human face and now-extinct megafauna.Credit: Save Our Songlines

The government released the report on Friday afternoon, a time in which announcements typically attract less media scrutiny, and thus provoking the ire of traditional owners and the Greens, and coincidentally the day before the five-year anniversary of Rio Tinto’s destruction of Aboriginal cultural heritage site Juukan Gorge.

The government said the program had delivered the largest and most reliable data set on rock art in the world, tracking air quality, rock surface chemistry, rainfall, and pH levels.

Key findings of included science showed “elevated porosity in an area near Dampier” during periods of significantly higher industrial emissions in the 1970s.

It also said further research was required to investigate these processes, including the role of microbial activity.

The report co-produced with Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation also found that key air pollutants had dropped since 2014 and that there was no evidence acid rain or deposition was damaging the rock art.

The report sets out interim Environmental Quality Criteria now being used to guide regulation of industrial emissions on the peninsula.

Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said successful development of the interim Environmental Quality Criteria could not have been achieved without the knowledge and support of the Murujuga Circle of Elders, Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation Board, rangers, 55 scientists, independent peer reviewers and a stakeholder reference group.

“The approach of the program is to achieve a transparent, risk-based and adaptive framework for monitoring and managing environmental quality to successfully protect the rock art on Murujuga from anthropogenic emissions into the long term,” he said.

Only hours before on Friday morning, Murujuga traditional owner Raelene Cooper had launched a fresh Federal Court challenge to the proposed long-term expansion of the Karratha gas plant.

A community march on the Burrup Peninsula in 2022. Credit: Save Our Songlines

The Mardathoonera woman is attempting to compel new Environment Minister Murray Watt to decide on a request she made in 2022 (to his predecessor Tanya Plibersek) to invoke federal ministerial power to intervene in projects that threaten significant Aboriginal cultural heritage.

She said on Friday afternoon that Watt should resolve this application before his decision on the North West Shelf project, a decision expected before May 31.

She also said he should visit the area and see the art for himself before deciding.

“The WA government has had months and months to massage this report into a condition they can release days before a North West Shelf decision is due, to justify the approval they are desperate for,” she said.

“We need independent experts not funded by government or industry to review these findings and see if they are being presented fairly.

“No one has time … clearly they don’t want it closely scrutinised to see if the claims made in the media release actually stack up.”

The Greens have also been agitating for the report’s release, finally releasing a statement on Tuesday demanding, “Where’s the rock art report, Roger?”

But Greens climate change and fossil fuels spokesperson Sophie McNeill also criticised the government for its ultimate timing.

“It absolutely stinks,” she said.

An emu petroglyph on the Burrup Peninsula. Credit: Save Our Songlines

“The real headline of the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Report is that it confirms there has been damage.

“The government has sat on this report for six months and then tried to play down this very significant finding.

”Significantly, the report also confirms that further investigations are needed; Minister Watt must not approve the North West Shelf extension and any further development at Murujuga until this incredibly important work is done.

”Is it also important to remember that this report was funded by industry and that they have been extensively briefed on its findings, long before the public was given a chance.

“There are 800 pages here of dense, scientific findings and we need to … look at them in detail before any decisions are made.”

Friends of Australian Rock Art Co-Convenor Judith Hugo said the report’s release timing was “concerning”. She urged Minister Watt to wait for independent review of the report before making any decision and to apply the precautionary principle in his decision.

The Albanese government on Friday released a statement acknowledging the “deep hurt and trauma” the destruction of Juukan Gorge in 2020 caused Indigenous people, and the loss it represented to all humanity.

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