Fracking fluid spills revealed in the NT's Beetaloo Basin

Indigenous traditional owners and a water scientist are alarmed there have been more fracking fluid spills by gas companies exploring the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin.

Wuyaliya custodian Asman Rory said he was devastated after visiting the site of a 2,000 litre contaminated fracking wastewater spill by Empire Energy-Imperial Oil near Borroloola two weeks ago.

Mr Rory said he was surprised by the lingering damage from the December spill.

"Where the spillage was there was dead trees, dead grass, that's pretty concerning because of the contamination," he said.

He and other traditional owners were accompanied by University of Western Sydney environmental scientist Ian Wright.

"There was a very clear line of dead vegetation, it killed everything, the trees, the shrubs — and eucalypts are tough," Professor Wright said.

He said he was not allowed by Empire Energy to test fracking water on the well site, but was given a report by the company, seen by the ABC, listing a series of toxic metals present in its wastewater.

The report said the water contained high levels of strontium, barium, lithium, boron, manganese and zinc.

"I suspect some of that contamination will be residual pollution on the land," Professor Wright said.

Empire Energy provided a statement which said following the water spill "there have been multiple site visits from NT regulators who will make their reports public when complete".

The NT Environment Department told the ABC it was considering information it gathered and "will exercise its discretion to take any enforcement action it considers appropriate".

Concerns over new reported spill

Professor Wright and Indigenous custodians are increasingly concerned because Empire Energy has now reported to the Environment Department another spill that happened in December, of drilling muds, which are used for lubrication during the fracking process, at a nearby well.

In January, the company reported that on December 4, 4,700 litres of drilling muds leaked onto a well pad on its Carpentaria Pilot Project at EP187.

Empire Energy said that "doesn't have the potential to cause … significant environmental harm".

The other company operating in the Beetaloo, Tamboran Resources, has also reported spills of drilling fluid and contaminated wastewater at its Shenandoah South Beetaloo project near Daly Waters in the final quarter of last year.

In one incident, the company spilled 1,210 litres of drilling fluids on the Shenandoah South 2 well pad in November 2024, and 20 litres of that spilled off the well pad.

A spokesman from Tamboran said "none of these recordable incidents caused material environmental harm".

In another, in October 2024, it spilled 317 litres of drilling mud onto the well pad.

The Environment Department said all of the further incidents reported by both companies "are considered minor as they do not … have the potential to cause material or significant environmental harm".

Indigenous custodian Mr Rory said the NT government's regulation of the gas industry was not tough enough and the federal environment minister should investigate.

"There's not enough consequences," he said.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said her government was providing tough regulation.

"Our environmental protection system is robust and strong," she said.

NT Energy Minister Gerard Maley said he wanted the Beetaloo Basin developed as quickly as possible.

"As a very powerful person just recently said: 'Drill, baby, drill'," he told parliament last week.

Third-party merit reviews repealed

This week the government changed the law, removing the right of third parties like green groups to make legal applications to review the merits of government decisions, including fracking project approvals.

One such third party merit review application that was being pursued by the Environment Centre NT related to whether the CLP government adequately assessed contamination risks to surface water and aquifers when approving Tamboran's Shenandoah South project.

Asked if the federal government would investigate the Beetaloo spills, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek referred the question to her department, which said it was "a matter for NT government".

It added it had contacted the Beetaloo gas companies "to inform them of their obligations under federal environmental law".

Both sides of federal politics are keen for fracking to go ahead in the Beetaloo to fill looming gas shortages.

Gas industry body Australian Energy Producers (AEP) said Empire and Tamboran's small Beetaloo pilot projects would soon start supplying into the grid.

AEP NT director David Slama said Empire Energy was bringing in a mini processing plant and would connect to the McArthur Pipeline near Borroloola this year.

He said Tamboran was expected to use the planned Sturt Plateau pipeline to start supplying early next year.

"The gas that comes out of Beetaloo will not only service the Northern Territory, it will go to the east coast market and also to our Asian neighbours — Japan, Korea," he said.