PERTH, Tuesday 18 November 2025 — Two of Australia’s leading environmental organisations have said it’s “deeply disappointing” that the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) will not assess Woodside’s high-risk, high-cost and unproven carbon dumping (Carbon Capture and Storage) plans at one of Western Australia’s most diverse and important reef systems.
In September, the EPA accepted a joint referral by the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) and Greenpeace Australia Pacific on Woodside’s controversial Browse Basin carbon dumping project, but has today said it will not proceed.
Executive Director of the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) Matt Roberts said Woodside’s own modelling showed that an oil spill within the proposed Browse Basin gas field would completely engulf Scott Reef, which is in Western Australian waters.
“The impacts of spills could be catastrophic for WA’s oceans and coral reef systems, and the ongoing need for seismic surveys – involving blasting – creates unbelievable pressure on the species there,” Mr Roberts said.
“Offshore carbon dumping has been attempted around the world for decades and has failed. This dangerous and expensive experiment is the first of its kind in Australia and Western Australia and deserves the highest level of scrutiny.
“Carbon dumping is a failed technology — we’ve seen this with Chevron’s Gorgon project where less than three per cent of total emissions have been sequestered successfully. There are no examples of carbon dumping that have met targets or been delivered on time or on budget.
“Failed technologies should not be used to enable the development of new dirty polluting gas projects like Browse. We need much stronger commitments to abate carbon pollution, not false promises of storing these emissions – an out-of-sight, out-of-mind tactic.
“If anything goes wrong, it’s West Australians who will have to clean up Woodside’s mess.
“What is even more disappointing is that the WA government has removed the right to appeal ‘level of assessment’ decisions. There is now no mechanism in WA’s environmental laws to review or interrogate this decision, which we believe has serious implications for WA’s environment.
“There is clearly a lot of public concern about this proposal, with more than 1,200 submissions made during the seven-day public comment period; more than 98% of which called for the WA EPA to assess the proposal.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s WA Lead, Geoff Bice, said the proposal would turn pristine Scott Reef, off the Kimberley coast, into an experimental testing ground for carbon dumping, and is urging the federal government to reject the plans.
“Woodside has tried for years to push through carbon dumping near Scott Reef, threatening endangered and important species like the pygmy blue whale and the dusky sea snake. Scott Reef cannot be used as a laboratory for Woodside’s dodgy carbon dumping experiments.
“The environmental risks from this carbon dumping proposal are too big to ignore. After decades of research into this unproven technology and billions of dollars invested around the world, including here in Australia, there is little to show for it. Carbon dumping is expensive, experimental, and dangerous, and shouldn’t be allowed in WA waters.
“The next step is for the federal government to assess this carbon dumping proposal. We are calling on the Albanese government to look at this project for what it is – an unproven experimental project that means injecting carbon pollution into the ocean, threatening Scott Reef, Australia’s largest freestanding offshore coral reef, and risking WA’s coasts. The only responsible way forward is for the carbon dumping project to be rejected, and Woodside’s dangerous and polluting Browse gas project to be denied.
“If the WA government is genuine about wanting to reduce emissions, its focus should be on proven, cost-effective renewable energy technologies and phasing out dirty fossil fuels.”
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Carbon dumping (CCS) has never been allowed to take place in Australian waters and the Browse Scott Reef proposal cannot be the first dumping proposal approved under state or federal environment laws.
The alliance of environmental groups including the Australian Marine Conservation Society, CCWA, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Australian Conservation Foundation and Environs Kimberley have made it clear that ongoing seismic blasting from the carbon dumping project, and risk of CO2 blowouts, would have immediate impacts on Scott Reef and the surrounding ocean ecosystem, and is an unacceptable threat to this fragile marine ecosystem.