# Woodside's gas plan threatens reef and whales, EPA warns

> Australia's largest fossil fuel company faces rejection of its Browse basin project over risks to endangered species and coral ecosystems.
- Title: Woodside's gas plan threatens reef and whales, EPA warns
- Summary: Australia's largest fossil fuel company faces rejection of its Browse basin project over risks to endangered species and coral ecosystems. Western…
- Keywords: woodside energy, browse basin, scott reef, western australia, environmental protection authority, endangered species, gas drilling, green turtles, pygmy blue whales, oil spill risk, news, world
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/27/endangered-turtles-and-exceptional-coral-at-risk-from-woodsides-gas-drilling-in-wa-watchdog-says
- Published: 2026-10-26T14:00:45+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: woodside energy, browse basin, scott reef, western australia, environmental protection authority, endangered species, gas drilling, green turtles, pygmy blue whales, oil spill risk, news, world
## Woodside plans Browse basin gas project
Woodside Energy, Australia's largest fossil fuel company, wants to drill for gas off Western Australia's north-west coast about three hundred kilometres from the Kimberley coast.
## Scott Reef ecosystem at stake
The Browse basin sits above Scott Reef, home to more than one thousand five hundred species, many unique to the area. Scientists warn the project could significantly damage this ecosystem.
## EPA draft letter sharply criticises plan
A draft letter from Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority written in two thousand twenty-three, seen by the Guardian, criticised Woodside's proposal, saying plans to protect endangered turtles and blue whales would be ineffective.
## EPA recommends rejecting the project
In February two thousand twenty-four, two months after the EPA board discussed the draft letter, the EPA sent Woodside a letter saying its preliminary view was to reject development of the vast gas reserve.
## Oil spill risk cannot be reduced
The EPA warned it may be impossible to reduce the risk of an oil spill to an acceptable level.
## Woodside adds shear ram technology
In response to the near rejection, Woodside added explosive-driven shear rams to its drilling plans to seal a leaking well in seconds, reducing a highly unlikely blowout to about twelve hours.
## Chevron rejected the same technology
Not all companies have faith in shear ram technology. In two thousand twenty-four, fellow Western Australia gas exporter Chevron rejected pyrotechnic shearing technology for its own wells, describing it as unproven and impossible to test…
## Sandy Islet threatened by subsidence
The EPA draft letter said Sandy Islet, critical to endangered green turtles, would be threatened if the seabed subsided after gas extraction. About one thousand turtles breed there each year.
## Woodside commits to new protections
Woodside said it would change its plans so no wells would be drilled within twenty kilometres of Sandy Islet and would restrict gas flaring, which produces bright light that confuses turtle navigation.
## Whales face significant impact
The EPA board was told noise, traffic and vessel strikes would have significant impact on pygmy blue whales migrating between Timor and southern Australia.
## Greenpeace says measures insufficient
Glenn Walker, Greenpeace head of nature, said Woodside's plans did not go far enough and relied on fanciful and unproven technology to prevent catastrophic oil spill. He called for regulators to reject the project.

> It would be a major backflip for both the WA EPA and the national EPA to now recommend approving this project.
## Key takeaway

Western Australia's environmental watchdog warned in 2023 that Woodside's Browse gas project could cause irreversible damage to Scott Reef and endangered turtles, recommending rejection before the company added safety measures.