Environmental Impact Report Drilling, Completion and Well Production Testing in the Otway Basin, South Australia December 2018 EIR Drilling, Completion & Well Production Testing in the Otway Basin SA | December 2018 Document Control Revision # Purpose Author Reviewer Approver Date 0 Issued for submission SM SM SM 4/10/2013 1 Finalised following agency consultation SM BW SM 12/11/2013 2 Final DMITRE comments addressed TF SM SM 13/11/2013 3 5-year review update - draft for internal review ZB/MM SM TF 26/11/2018 4 5-year review update - draft for consultation BW SM TF 30/11/2018 EIR Drilling, Completion & Well Production Testing in the Otway Basin SA | December 2018 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Beach Energy Company Profile ............................................................................................... 4 1.3 About this document .............................................................................................................. 6 1.3.1 Scope ............................................................................................................................... 6 2 Legislative Framework .................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act .................................................................................. 8 2.1.1 Statement of Environmental Objectives ......................................................................... 9 2.1.2 Environmental Impact Report ......................................................................................... 9 2.1.3 Environmental Significance Assessment and SEO Consultation Requirements ........... 10 2.1.4 Activity Notification / Approval Process ....................................................................... 11 2.2 Other Legislation ................................................................................................................... 11 3 Description of Activities ................................................................................................................ 14 3.1 Well Site, Access and Camp .................................................................................................. 14 3.1.1 Well Site ........................................................................................................................ 14 3.1.2 Access Track .................................................................................................................. 14 3.1.3 Water Supply ................................................................................................................. 15 3.1.4 Camp ............................................................................................................................. 15 3.2 Drilling Operations ................................................................................................................ 15 3.2.1 Traffic Movements ........................................................................................................ 18 3.2.2 Fuel and Chemical Storage ............................................................................................ 18 3.2.3 Waste ............................................................................................................................ 19 3.3 Completions and Workovers ................................................................................................ 19 3.4 Well Production Testing ........................................................................................................ 19 3.4.1 Well Production Testing – Gas ...................................................................................... 19 3.4.2 Well Production Testing – Oil........................................................................................ 19 3.5 Well Decommissioning .......................................................................................................... 20 3.5.1 Decommissioning Following Drilling ............................................................................. 20 3.5.2 Decommissioning Following Production ....................................................................... 20 3.6 Site Clean-up and Reinstatement ......................................................................................... 21 4 Description of the Environment .................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Climate .................................................................................................................................. 23 4.2 Landform and Soils ................................................................................................................ 23 4.3 Petroleum Geology ............................................................................................................... 25 4.4 Bioregions ............................................................................................................................. 26 4.5 Flora and Fauna ..................................................................................................................... 26 EIR Drilling, Completion & Well Production Testing in the Otway Basin SA | December 2018 4.5.1 Vegetation Communities .............................................................................................. 26 4.5.2 Biodiversity Values ........................................................................................................ 27 4.5.3 Threatened Ecological Communities ............................................................................ 27 4.5.4 Threatened Flora ........................................................................................................... 28 4.5.5 Threatened Fauna ......................................................................................................... 28 4.5.6 Significant Migratory Species ........................................................................................ 29 4.5.7 Introduced Species ........................................................................................................ 29 4.6 Water Resources ................................................................................................................... 30 4.6.1 Surface water ................................................................................................................ 30 4.6.2 Groundwater ................................................................................................................. 30 4.6.3 Water Use ..................................................................................................................... 32 4.7 Land Use ................................................................................................................................ 32 4.7.1 General Land Use .......................................................................................................... 32 4.7.2 Conservation Areas ....................................................................................................... 33 4.8 Social Environment ............................................................................................................... 34 4.9 Indigenous Cultural Heritage ................................................................................................ 34 4.10 Non-Indigenous Cultural Heritage ........................................................................................ 35 5 Environmental Impact Assessment ............................................................................................... 36 5.1 Soil and Shallow Groundwater .............................................................................................. 36 5.2 Surface Water ....................................................................................................................... 37 5.3 Groundwater ......................................................................................................................... 38 5.4 Native Vegetation and Fauna................................................................................................ 40 5.5 Land Use ................................................................................................................................ 41 5.6 Landholders and Local Community ....................................................................................... 43 5.7 Cultural Heritage ................................................................................................................... 44 5.8 Economic Impact ................................................................................................................... 45 5.9 Environmental Risk Assessment Summary ........................................................................... 45 6 Environmental Management Framework ..................................................................................... 53 6.1 Environmental Objectives ..................................................................................................... 53 6.2 Responsibilities ..................................................................................................................... 53 6.3