Turtles, toxic PFAS and quarantine: Probes target Chevron’s Gorgon

By Peter Milne | WA Today | October 18, 2023

Read the full article by Peter Milne (WA Today)

"Western Australia’s environment regulator is investigating environmental failures of Chevron’s Gorgon gas project on the Barrow Island nature reserve off the Pilbara coast, to determine if the US giant has broken the law.

Beach erosion where turtles nest, contamination of soil and water with toxic “forever chemical” PFAS from firefighting foam, and breaches of strict quarantine intended to preserve the island’s ecosystem are all in the sights of the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.

In 2003, the WA government gave Chevron permission to build an $88 billion gas export plant on the island it described as “one of the oldest and most valuable biodiversity conservation reserves in the world” despite the objections of its own Conservation Commission.

Barrow Island has been a nature reserve for 113 years and is home to more than 100 species of birds, 13 mammal species, 44 different reptiles and almost 4000 different plants."