The Northern Territory environment regulator is re-examining the licence conditions of major gas facilities in Darwin, after one of its biggest operators admitted to under-reporting toxic emissions.
In October, Inpex revealed it drastically under-reported several emissions in the 2023–24 financial year at its Ichthys onshore gas processing facility, including a 13,000 per cent increase in levels of benzene — a known carcinogen.
Levels of benzene remained high in the 2024–2025 reporting year.
The oil and gas giant has maintained levels of emissions were well within government guidelines and posed no increased health risk to the community or workers — though the error has triggered an ongoing investigation by the federal and NT governments.
In November, workers at Inpex spoke out against the company, alleging they were exposed to potentially dangerous air pollutants.
Last Tuesday, in a joint statement with the NT chief health officer, Paul Burgess, the NT Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) said following an independent review of Inpex’s emissions data, it had ordered a review of the gas facility’s licence conditions “to ensure they adequately address human health risks from air emissions”.
That includes Inpex’s Ichthys facility and Santos’s Darwin LNG facility.
On Monday, Inpex’s senior vice-president Bill Townsend said the company was “firmly committed to the safety of our people and the community, the protection of the environment, and the continued safe operations of Ichthys LNG”.
Santos declined to comment.
Calls for an independent, ‘modern’ review
Melissa Haswell, a professor of health, safety and environment at the Queensland University of Technology, said the renewed scrutiny was a “positive step”.
“It’s a step towards gaining more trust from the community that the NT EPA is taking this seriously,” she said.
“But we’ll see what the outcomes are, how they do it, and whether they allow the community to know what’s in the air they’re breathing.”
Professor Haswell said the review needed to be “modern” and must take seriously the potential health impacts of chemicals released from gas facilities, particularly given their close proximity to Darwin’s population.
“To have such a major error go without a very, very comprehensive follow-up would be just unthinkable,” she said.
Professor Haswell said an updated literature review was essential to determine what constituted safe levels of exposure to the chemicals, and that the reviews must be carried out by highly skilled, independent experts.
Santos’s Darwin LNG tank is set to be filled again as part of Santos’ Barossa gas project. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
In its statement, the NT EPA said it had engaged “air quality expert consultants” to review Inpex’s emissions data “to ensure accuracy and completeness”.
“The draft review was provided to the department on 17 December and is now nearing completion. It will inform further requirements for Inpex to address,” the statement said.
“To safeguard community health outcomes and provide evidence-based assurance, the chief health officer commissioned an independent human health risk assessment. The independent assessment will be completed in the new year.”
