ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT Drilling, Completion and Initial Production Testing in the Otway Basin, South Australia November 2013 Prepared by: and: RPS Beach Energy Limited Level 6 ACN 007 617 969 33 Franklin St 25 Conyngham St ADELAIDE 5000 GLENSIDE SA 5065 T: 61 8 8410 4000 T: (08) 8338 2833 F: 61 8 8410 6321 F: (08) 8338 2336 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] W: www.rpsgroup.com.au W: www.beachenergy.com.au A397B-Otway Basin Drilling EIR; Rev 2 / November 2013 RPS Aquaterra Pty Ltd (ABN 49 082 286 708) Beach Energy Environmental Impact Report – Otway Basin Drilling Document Status QA Release Issue Version Purpose of Document Orig Review Review Date Review Approval Date Rev A Draft for Beach input SM BW 30/8/2013 BW SM 30/8/2013 Rev B Issued for final Beach internal SM/TF BW 25/9/2013 BW SM 25/9/2013 review Rev C Summary & minor edits included SM/TF/BW BW/SM 26/9/2013 SM SM 26/9/2013 Rev 0 Beach review edits included SM TF 4/10/2013 SM SM 4/10/2013 Rev 1 Finalised following agency SM TF/BW 12/11/2013 BW SM 12/11/2013 consultation Rev 2 Final DMITRE comments TF SM 13/11/2013 SM SM 13/11/2013 addressed Beach Energy Environmental Impact Report – Otway Basin Drilling Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Beach Energy Company Profile ........................................................ 1 1.3 About this document .......................................................................... 3 2 Legislative Framework .............................................................................. 4 2.1 Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act ............................................ 4 2.1.1 Statement of Environmental Objectives ............................. 4 2.1.2 Environmental Impact Report ............................................ 5 2.1.3 Environmental Significance Assessment and SEO Consultation Requirements ............................................................... 5 2.1.4 Activity Notification / Approval Process ............................. 6 2.2 Other Legislation ............................................................................... 6 3 Description of Activities............................................................................ 9 3.1 Well Site, Access and Camp ............................................................. 9 3.1.1 Well Site ............................................................................. 9 3.1.2 Access Track ...................................................................... 9 3.1.3 Water Supply .................................................................... 10 3.1.4 Camp ................................................................................ 10 3.2 Drilling Operations ........................................................................... 10 3.2.1 Traffic Movements............................................................ 12 3.2.2 Fuel and Chemical Storage ............................................. 13 3.2.3 Waste ............................................................................... 13 3.3 Completions and Workovers ........................................................... 13 3.4 Initial Production Testing ................................................................. 13 3.4.1 Initial Production Testing – Gas ....................................... 13 3.4.2 Initial Production Testing – Oil ......................................... 14 3.5 Well Abandonment .......................................................................... 14 3.5.1 Abandonment Following Drilling ...................................... 14 3.5.2 Abandonment Following Production ................................ 14 3.6 Site Clean-up and Reinstatement ................................................... 14 4 Description of the Environment ............................................................. 16 4.1 Climate ............................................................................................ 16 4.2 Landform and Soils.......................................................................... 16 4.3 Petroleum Geology .......................................................................... 17 4.4 Bioregions ........................................................................................ 18 4.5 Flora and Fauna .............................................................................. 19 4.5.1 Vegetation Communities .................................................. 19 4.5.2 Biodiversity Values ........................................................... 19 4.5.3 Threatened Ecological Communities ............................... 19 4.5.4 Threatened Flora.............................................................. 19 4.5.5 Threatened Fauna ........................................................... 20 4.5.6 Significant Migratory Species ........................................... 21 4.5.7 Introduced Species .......................................................... 22 4.6 Water Resources ............................................................................. 22 4.6.1 Surface water ................................................................... 22 4.6.2 Groundwater .................................................................... 23 A397B-Otway Basin Drilling EIR-Rev2.doc Page i Beach Energy Environmental Impact Report – Otway Basin Drilling 4.6.3 Water Use ........................................................................ 24 4.7 Land Use ......................................................................................... 24 4.7.1 General Land Use ............................................................ 24 4.7.2 Conservation Areas ......................................................... 25 4.8 Social Environment.......................................................................... 26 4.9 Indigenous Cultural Heritage ........................................................... 26 4.10 Non-Indigenous Cultural Heritage ................................................... 27 5 Environmental Impact Assessment ....................................................... 28 5.1 Soil and Shallow Groundwater ........................................................ 28 5.2 Surface Water .................................................................................. 29 5.3 Groundwater .................................................................................... 30 5.4 Native Vegetation and Fauna .......................................................... 31 5.5 Land Use ......................................................................................... 33 5.6 Landholders and Local Community ................................................. 34 5.7 Cultural Heritage .............................................................................. 35 5.8 Economic Impact ............................................................................. 36 5.9 Environmental Risk Assessment Summary .................................... 37 6 Environmental Management Framework .............................................. 47 6.1 Environmental Objectives ................................................................ 47 6.2 Responsibilities ................................................................................ 47 6.3 Environmental Management Procedure .......................................... 48 6.4 Job Safety Analysis and Permit to Work ......................................... 48 6.5 Induction and Training ..................................................................... 48 6.6 Emergency Response and Contingency Planning .......................... 48 6.7 Environmental Monitoring and Audits .............................................. 49 6.8 Incident Management, Recording and Corrective Actions .............. 49 6.9 Reporting ......................................................................................... 49 7 Stakeholder Consultation ....................................................................... 50 7.1 Community Consultation ................................................................. 50 8 References ............................................................................................... 52 9 Abbreviations and Glossary ................................................................... 56 Appendix 1: Flora and Fauna Information Appendix 2: Environmental Risk Assessment Tables Appendix 3: Invitation to Public Meeting Appendix 4: Community Consultation Presentation Appendix 5: Agency Consultation Comments and Responses A397B-Otway Basin Drilling EIR-Rev2.doc Page ii Beach Energy Environmental Impact Report – Otway Basin Drilling Tables Table 1: Temperature and rainfall records for Station #026091 (Coonawarra) .. 16 Table 2: Temperature and rainfall records for Station #026026 (Robe) ............. 16 Table 3: EPBC Act-listed threatened ecological communities potentially occurring within the area ..................................................................... 19 Table 4: EPBC Act listed plant species recorded in the area ............................. 20 Table 5: EPBC Act listed fauna species recorded or potentially occurring in the area ...................................................................................................... 20 Table 6: Listed migratory species recorded in the area ...................................... 21 Table 7: Population by Local Government