Local Environment
By understanding the existing environment, Shell can assess how environmental aspects (or receptors) may be impacted by both planned and unplanned activities and develop effective management controls and mitigations.
Shell is continuing its research into the physical, biological and social environment surrounding the Prelude FLNG facility of both the activity area (the area containing the facility and associated infrastructure) and the widest area that could be impacted in a worst-case spill scenario, also called the planning area.
Physical
The facility is located around 475km north-north east of Broome in water 200m-300m deep. There are no key ecological features in the facility’s activity area.
Coral reefs and islands in the wider area are considered key ecological features. The closest of these is roughly 40km south-east of the facility. Normal operations and planned activities are not expected to affect these features. Any impacts from unplanned events are addressed in the relevant sections of the Environment Plan and in the Unplanned Events section of this website.
Timor Island and the Southern Indonesian Archipelago are located north of Prelude and the North West Australian coast is located south of Prelude. These coastal areas, on the outer edge of the planning area, contain environmental characteristics typical of coastal tropical locations.
Biological
Shell has referred to several independent resources when assessing the local species within and around the activity area and wider the planning area.
This research found a number of threatened and migratory species within the activity area and planning area including several species of whale, turtle and birds.
The Prelude Environment Plan provides detailed information on the different species potentially occurring within the activity area and planning area.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as well as local and international experts identify special areas which are important for the survival of threatened species (such as breeding areas or nesting areas). These areas are referred to as biologically important areas.
According to the Conservation Values Atlas there are no biologically important areas or critical habitats within the activity area. However, there are some in the wider planning area.
Species and habitat found within the planning area
| Species potentially occurring within activity area | Species potentially occurring within planning area | |
|---|---|---|
| Threatened species | 19 | 45 |
| Migratory species | 31 | 76 |
| Critically endangered species | 2 | 6 |
| Endangered species | 7 | 10 |
| Vulnerable species | 10 | 15 |
| BIA or critical habitat | Distance from the facility (km) |
|---|---|
| The inter-nesting and foraging habitats for green turtles | 23 |
| Whale shark foraging habitat | 33 |
| Breeding habitats for the red-footed booby, greater and lesser frigatebirds, the wedge tailed shearwater and white-tailed tropic bird | 60 |
| Closest known migratory route for blue and pygmy blue whales | 80 |
All other biologically important areas are more than 100km from the operational area.
Social and cultural
With the facility located some 200km from the Australian coast, there is very limited interaction with other users. Most contact is primarily with other marine users (mainly vessels, oil and gas facilities and commercial fishing).
Although there is a high volume of shipping activity in the vicinity of the activity area, almost all vessels are servicing either Prelude itself or INPEX’s Ichthys facility.
There are some instances of commercial fishing areas overlapping the operational area, but most commercial, recreational and indigenous fishing areas occur in shallow coastal waters out to about 150m water depth.
There are no World Heritage properties, National Heritage properties, Ramsar wetlands or sites of Indigenous or European cultural significance in, or adjacent to, the activity area.
The closest culturally significant area is along the Kimberley coastline, 162km away from the activity area and within the outer edges of the planning area.
There is a historic shipwreck 18km from the facility, but no known historical shipwrecks are located within the activity area.
