A finding of hundreds of stone equipment submerged off the Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia has raised concerns of Woodside Petroleum’s plan for the USD11 billion gas pipeline project Scarborough, that the project would impact the submerged heritage.
Australia’s top independent gas producer will establish a pipeline connecting its Scarborough gas field to its Pluto gas plant on the Burrup Peninsula, while the two submerged sites are around 5 km (3 miles) of the planned project.
At the moment, Woodside is in talks with Deep History of Sea Country, which made the discoveries, and the Murujuga Aboriginal Corp (MAC), the indigenous landowners in that region, about its pipeline route.
The company recognized the potential for submerged heritage to exist. It has also done extensive archaeology and ethnographic cultural heritage and geotechnical surveys onshore and nearshore. Woodside said that the surveys showed one coastal archaeological site within the Pluto LNG foundation lease area which the company said remains intact and protected.
A spokeswoman of the company said that Woodside is in negotiation with MAC to develop a cultural heritage management plan for Scarborough and a plan for dredging and spoil disposal management.
Woodside has set a target for a final investment decision in 2021.
