Oil and gas giant Chevron has declined to say whether a growing legal dispute will delay or derail decommissioning of aging oil and gas infrastructure off the Pilbara coast.
Chevron Australia has engaged contractors to help dismantle its Thevenard Island facilities, off the Pilbara coast, 1400km north of Perth.
But the local council this week revealed details of an ongoing stoush with one of the contractors involved as well as the operator of a local port facility.
The Shire of Ashburton claimed Liberty Industrial and Onslow Marine Support Base (OMSB) carried out decommissioning activities in Onslow without necessary local government approval.
But OMSB has hit back, saying the shire's conduct was "inappropriate" and "well beyond" what it expected of local government enforcing planning legislation.
OMSB manages the wharf and landside services at the Beadon Creek Port in Onslow under a lease agreement with the WA government.
Its facilities are used by Liberty Industrial, which has been contracted by Chevron to assist with decommissioning.
The WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) issued a license to OMSB in September 2023 allowing for steel structures to be dismantled at the site before being transported to a waste facility.
OMSB said it installed a temporary, sub-surface liner to stop contamination of nearby waterways, while it carried out the work under the DWER license.
But in December, OMSB was issued a stop work notice by the shire, arguing the company did not have local government approval to carry out that work.
"Requesting development approvals for any decommissioning and waste processing activities suggests that we need to consult with the shire on planning matters for every Port campaign we handle," MSB Managing Director Andrew Natta said.
"Our existing approvals expressly permit servicing the resource industry and OMSB has provided the shire with detailed reasons for why it does not believe further approvals are required."
The Shire of Ashburton insisted it committed to delivering decommissioning in the Pilbara, but all parties must obtain and comply with necessary developmental approvals.
"The council has made it clear that they need to balance the need for development approval for these works and activities," Shire President Audra Smith said.
"It's important as it allows the local government to consider what impact the proposal may have on the area and ensure that any impact is adequately addressed."
The shire held a special council meeting this week and voted to consider legal options.
Mr Natta said the move was "disappointing" and OMSB had endeavoured to engage in good faith discussions with the shire.
"Decommissioning has always been a part of what we had to consider and what we were going to do — and the shire has always been very aware of that," he said.
Mr Natta said the matter was currently before the State Administrative Tribunal and it was "completely inappropriate" for the shire to publish extensive details on the matter.
"The shire's conduct is inappropriate and is well beyond what we would expect of a local government enforcing planning legislation," he said.
"To date, the shire has approached a range of third parties and made a range of representations in relation to OMSB that are not based in fact and have the potential to impact our reputation and commercial agreements."
Mr Natta was confident any legal challenge would not cause delays to the decommissioning of Thevenard.
Chevron Australia would not answer specific questions about the impact of the dispute on the decommissioning of Thevenard but a spokesman said the company was "committed to progressing decommissioning and rehabilitation activities in a timely manner".
The spokesperson said Chevron would "continue to support all parties in working together to find a solution".
Liberty Industrial did not respond to an interview request or a request for comment.
