Australia: Energy giant Santos accused of covering up dolphin deaths after oil spill

Australian energy giant Santos has been accused of covering up the details of an oil spill that allegedly led to the death of at least three dolphins off northern Western Australia (WA) coast, last year. Furthermore, the whistleblower on the case has also sought protection after a statement by the anonymous company employee was tabled at the federal parliament by independent senator David Pocock, on Thursday (February 16). This comes after the oil and gas producer had claimed that the spill caused a “negligible” environmental impact.

In a statement, the anonymous whistleblower who is said to be a Santos employee witnessed the 25,000-litre oil leak near the Lowendal Islands in March 2022 from a hose Santos used to load a tanker moored off their Varanus Island Gas Plant. The account tabled by Australian lawmaker Pocock said it was a spill of condensate, a lighter form of oil 300 km off the coast of Karratha in WA.

Notably, the Lowendal Islands are known for their “pristine white sand beaches, gorgeous blue turquoise water and abundant marine and bird life,” as per a copy of the statement. It added that a subsea hose had been torn which was used to load an oil tanker parked a kilometre from the beach, went unnoticed for more than six hours and poured at least 25,000 litres of condensate into the ocean.

Additionally, the incident was not made public by the company or WA safety regulators till a month after it took place while the company claimed that it was a “minor spill” with “negligible” environmental impact. On the other hand, the anonymous whistleblower, recalling the oil spill said, “Tens of thousands of litres of oil in the ocean, dead dolphins and sea snakes. How was this negligible?”

They added that regardless of the efforts to “cease the spill”, dead dolphins, including a pup, were found “floating in dense sections of the oil spill” while in some areas sea snakes “writhed in agony”. Subsequently, the company employee also said they were shocked to read Santos’ public statement released a month later said it caused “negligible” harm to the environment while the energy giant has also since denied the responsibility for the dolphins’ death.

Along with the whistleblower statement, Pocock also tabled photos of the spill which showed oil in the water along with the tanker in the background, the torn-off subsea hose, and dolphins floating in the sea belly-up. Furthermore, the whistleblower also claimed that the company’s environmental assessors did not arrive on the island until a week after the incident and could not have known the actual scale of impact as it was “never checked”.

They also said that employees spoke up about the public comments internally while the senior executives of Santos knew or should have known that the “company’s deceptive conduct was contrary to its internal code of conduct and values and, possibly, the law.” After the incident, the company spokesperson, at the time, had said that the spill resulted in a light sheen on the sea surface covering a small area and that the “condensate evaporated naturally within 24 hours and the impact to the environment is negligible.”

Late last year when the news about the dead dolphins came to light, Santos’ spokesperson reportedly said that the authorities were made aware of the dolphins seen belly-up floating on the sea on March 20. However, they added that the dolphins could not have been killed due to the spill as they were found hours after the incident occurred.

“I felt strongly that Santos’ comment was baseless, designed to mislead and avoid accountability,” said the whistleblower. The Australian lawmaker while tabling the statement during the Senate estimates exchange with the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) said that he found both the testimony and footage “very distressing”, reported the Guardian.

He also went on to say how this raised serious questions about the regulatory systems and conduct of the parties involved and added, “I applaud the whistleblowers’ bravery in coming forward with this information and look forward to it being thoroughly investigated.”

Subsequently, NOPSEMA chief executive, Stuart Smith said that the spill did not happen in Commonwealth waters and was outside their jurisdiction. However, Smith added, that while he was not aware of the background, a dead dolphin would not be considered “negligible harm.” He added, “If any spill (in Commonwealth waters) causes the death of a dolphin that would be of concern to us,” as per the Guardian.

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