Tens of thousands oppose seismic testing

OPPOSITION to a plan to run large-scale seismic testing for oil and gas off the Victorian coast is getting louder, with more than 30,000 submissions sent to the independent regulator.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) closed the comment period in mid-August for the Environment Plan for the Otway Basin 3D Multi-client Marine Seismic Survey.

Proposed by multinational company TGS, the survey would be run across a 5.5 million hectare area off Victoria’s coast stretching from northern Tasmania to the South Australian border, and involve airguns blasting sound into the ocean every 10 seconds.

There has been considerable opposition to the plan to run the seismic survey, including from community groups, surfers, and local governments, who say the survey would disrupt endangered species, commercial fisheries, tourism and marine ecosystems in the area.

Opponents include the national Surfrider Foundation and its Surf Coast branch, which ran information sessions in Torquay and Barwon Heads in recent weeks.

In a media release last week, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) stated NOPSEMA had received a confirmed 30,785 submissions about the proposal “with the vast majority opposing it”, including 20,000 co-ordinated by AMCS itself.

Surfrider Foundation’s Surf Coast branch was one of the submitters to NOPSEMA, and secretary Darren Noyes-Brown said his group was “blown away” by the high level of community interest in the TGS proposal.

“30,785 submissions is a massive response given that only a few months ago, few people knew what seismic blasting is. It shows how effective the #SaveSouthernSeaCountry campaign has been and the value of networking with all the other environmental groups and concerned individuals.

“The community is now aware that the science shows this practice is harmful to marine life.

“Studies show that seismic blasting causes a decline in the immune systems of rock lobster and reduces their ability to right themselves, scallops exhibit increased mortality and severe and persistent stress, zooplankton (the foundation of life in the ocean) are destroyed within a 1.2km radius, and whales have been shown to be driven away from feeding and breeding grounds when seismic blasting is occurring.

“When people first hear about how loud seismic blasting actually is – 16 million times louder than blue whale sounds – and the damage it causes, they want to know why it hasn’t been made illegal.”

He said the strong response from the community, which he compared to the “Fight for the Bight” campaign against Equinor’s deep water drilling, and the “damning evidence” meant the federal government would not approve the TGS proposal.

“If not, we know that beach- and ocean-loving communities along the coast will respond enthusiastically to the summer of seismic action – paddle outs, anyone? – that we have planned.

“We will once again show that there is no social license for our oceans to be handed over to destructive foreign gas companies.

“With the overabundance of flaws in the TGS Environment Plan, we believe that the federal government will be derelict in their duty of care to allow such a damaging project to proceed.”