This week, Earth Australia (FoEA) offered its congratulations to Esso Australia as the oil company rejected the movement to dispose of retired oil and gas into the ocean to form fishing reefs.
ESSO ditches Rigs to Reefs oil dumping
In Melbourne, an Esso spokesperson suggested that following the uptick in good environmental news, its retired oil platforms would be removed — including the long steel support structures or ‘jackets’ — from the ocean.
In doing so, Esso (owned by ExxonMobil) acknowledged scientific studies that disprove the creation of artificial reefs made from fuel waste. Esso is planning to remove 13 retired oil and gas platforms from Bass Strait in the next few years.
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Despite the positive steps to clean Australia’s oceans, industry regulators are demanding that Esso dredge around the pylons that need to be removed so that they can be cut off below the seabed. As such, supporters of FoEA suggested that the jacket pylons should be cut as close as possible to the seabed instead.
FoEA Offshore Fossil Gas Campaigner Jeff Waters stated:
Victoria needs steel to build wind turbines, and we can use renewable electricity to recycle the steel from the platforms. What we need now is a world’s best practice, state-of-the-art oil platform recycling yard, which will trap all toxins as the platforms are broken down, cleaned and recycled.
Waters also noted that a site in Geelong was being considered for a recycling centre and that the Australian government should commission the centre in order to improve the environment.
Waters noted:
It’s a $60bn national industry waiting to happen. The government should extend and raise the temporary oil and gas decommissioning levy to make the industry pay for it.
The FoEA are planning to lobby against the industry regulator, NOPSEMA, to ensure that no dredging takes place.
