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Tuesday 20 September 2011

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Woodside in more bilby bother

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 James McGrath

WOODSIDE has more bilbies to deal with in its efforts to develop the James Price Point site, with environmental group Environs Kimberly claiming three baby bilbies have been sighted nearby.
While the bilbies were filmed outside the gas hub site, they were inside the area Woodside has been granted land clearing permits. Environs Kimberly said a group of protestors contacted visiting University of Melbourne ecologist Malcolm Lindsay to take photos of the baby bilbies. The group said that the presence of the three baby bilbies constituted a significant population. Environs Kimberly director Martin Pritchard confirmed the groups stance to EnergyNewsBulletin. We believe it does [constitute a significant population]. We believe its the only population on the Dampier peninsula and its the only live sighting of a bilby here since 1991, he said. However, Woodside said in a statement to ENB that this was not the case.

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We acknowledge that bilbies are likely to be found throughout the Dampier Peninsula, the statement said. The company said it had done thorough environmental examinations of the clearing site but had found no evidence of the bilbies before now. Environmental consultants have conducted numerous surveys in and around the proposed LNG precinct area and found no distinct populations or colonies of bilbies. These surveys have used a range of techniques including motion sensor cameras, trapping and transect walks. While Pritchard accepted that the bilbies could have migrated to the site since Woodside had done its environmental study, he said Environs Kimberly had evidence that burrows were nearly 100 years old, proving the pre-existence of bilbies at the site. Woodside confirmed it had been in contact with the group about its evidence, but said Environs Kimberly had not been forthcoming. Woodside has asked Environs Kimberley for details about this research, so that we can conduct further surveys to document any bilby population in the area, and ensure it is not impacted by our proposed development, it said. To date Environs Kimberley has not provided us with any detailed information about the location of this population. In response, Pritchard said while Woodside had indeed been in contact with the group, it was seeking assurances from the company that no clearing would take place before it forwarded any evidence it had. They have contacted me, wanting to talk to me. They did not request specific information, Pritchard said. What weve sought from them is assurance that no more bulldozing will take place. The other problem is that we dont actually hold the information. A group of community people who are campaigning near James Price Point asked the ecologist who was on holiday from Melbourne to help them. Environs Kimberly continues to lobby federal Environment Minister Tony Burke about stopping the development.

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EnergyNewsBulletin.net - Woodside in more bilby bother

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Woodside could not confirm to ENB whether it would put a stop to land clearing if clear-cut evidence of a bilby population at the site was found. Click here to read the rest of today's news stories.

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