The UK multinational has been fined $8538 for causing an environmental nuisance after a flare released a plume of black smoke on March 10, the first of several incidents.
Further fines could be expected given subsequent black smoke events are still being investigated by environmental regulators.
The gas flares are designed to provide a safe means of dealing with gas that cannot be used in the LNG process and are authorised under conditions in BG’s environmental authority.
Two trains are now operating at QCLNG and one train started up at the Santos-operated Gladstone LNG recently. One further GLNG train and two trains at the Australian Pacific LNG project are still due to start, leading to an increase in flaring activity of CSG from the coal fields of the Bowen and Surat basins.
While a network of seven air quality monitoring stations across the Gladstone region to monitor contaminant levels at sensitive places such as residential areas have not exceeded air quality standards, the regulator is taking a hard line on early issues in an attempt to head off further problems.
The existing sensors were installed in the 1990s, prior to the CSG-LNG sector being established.
None are located on Curtis Island.
The state government is reportedly considering extending Gladstone's air monitoring network in response to recent events in an attempt to placate community concerns from community groups such as the Gladstone Conservation Council and Gladstone Region Environmental Advisory Network for more scrutiny and clarification related to the flaring incidents.
International Coal News sister publication Energy News understands that Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips’ plant invested in spending more than $10 million at APLNG on a technology that flaring will not be required.
The black smoke has largely been blamed on refrigerants such as ethylene used to chill the CSG into LNG. The smoke can be caused by the incomplete combustion of the feed gas.
