Woodside’s Scarborough pipeline at the centre of dangerous offshore incidents

Woodside Energy’s installation of a vital offshore gas pipeline for its $18 billion Scarborough gas project has been halted following a serious incident on Monday night which ripped a gaping hole in the pipeline. This comes on the heels of another incident reported by unnamed sources earlier this month, during which the installation vessel’s uncontrolled movements were violent enough to break the pipeline and send some sinking to the seabed. The Offshore Alliance Union says that this demonstrates that Woodside and its contractor are taking unacceptable shortcuts and has called for the offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA to take action immediately. 

Meanwhile and even as the Coalition vowed to end federal funding of the Environmental Defenders Office if they return to power, West Australian Premier Roger Cook has leapt to defend the law firm as an organisation with a critical role to play in making sure that the voices of people are heard in key debates around environment protections. 

And a wildlife filmmaker has recorded a world first glimpse of a newborn great white shark off the coast of Santa Barbara, in a vital clue for scientists who have been long attempting to identify where their breeding grounds might lie. 

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