In much the same way a discussion on the environmental impacts of shale drilling in the US, sparked in part thanks to Gasland, set off a torrent of community concern over hydraulic fracturing, the virulent outrage is being harnessed by those against the practice in seeking a moratorium on fraccing in Western Australia.

Chief among those pushing for a moratorium is Greens MP Alison Xamon, who has made the issue her pet project.

She has repeatedly railed against the formative shale gas industry in WA, with particular concern directed towards drilling in the state’s Mid West by the likes of AWE and Norwest Energy.

The potential frac that has caused the most fracturing between the anti and pro-fraccing brigade is Norwest Energy’s proposal to frac Arrowsmith-2.

It was not so much the frac causing concern but the decision (or non-decision) on the part of the state Environmental Protection Agency not to assess the action.

The EPA decided the action was so insignificant it did not even need to assess it, drawing the condemnation of the Greens and drawing an appeal against the decision not to assess.

With the appeal taking months before the state environment minister finally rejected the objection, Norwest Energy and its partners were not able to access fraccing equipment from the Cooper Basin within a key window.

It is but an early setback in what could be a game-changing drilling campaign.

The wider shale potential of WA could be huge too, surpassing its hallowed offshore sector.

The much bandied-about figure about WA’s shale potential is one provided by the US Energy Information Agency.

It estimates the state may have 288 trillion cubic feet of gas below its feet.

The shale in WA is thought to be in two main basins, the Canning in the state’s northwest (close to a slew of LNG projects) and in the Perth Basin in the state’s Mid West region.

Each region has its own complications.

For the Canning Basin, while there are fewer landholders to deal with and the land prospective for shale is pastoral rather than cropping land, it is also largely flood plains.

For an industry facing heat for letting produced water sit in frac ponds, the perception is that massive amounts of rain could result in brackish water being spilled onto surrounding land.

In the Perth Basin, farmers have already contended with the mining industry and they see the prospect of shale drilling as another impost on their industry.

The amount of water needed for frac jobs is of massive concern to farming groups in the state, especially given the drier climate of the west.

The Mid West is shaping as a key battleground between shale proponents and those who want nothing to do with it.

It is also where a rerun of arguments used to dissuade landholders from cooperating with CSG companies could be used to mobilise against the industry.

Xamon’s latest call came in the WA Legislative Council on June 13, arguing many of the same points that are being debated on the eastern seaboard.

Her concerns included the recent tack of questioning the structural integrity of casing around aquifers as a key cause of potential contamination to potable water sources.

She told EnergyNewsPremium that the WA government was attempting to differentiate CSG and shale drilling by highlighting the depth at which the respective fracs are being done, which makes not a lick of difference when it comes to the wellhead.

“They’re saying because the frac is being done at greater depth there’s less chance of a frac going wrong, less chance of methane contamination in potable water sources … the problems which have been emerging have been about problems at the wellhead,” Xamon said.

“Depth is irrelevant where the wellhead is concerned.”

The possibility of casings leaking was also a large part of Gasland maker Josh Fox’s latest anti-fraccing film, The Sky is Pink.

Xamon and farmer groups in the Mid West also point to the crisscross of wells in Chinchilla as an example of what they can expect if shale gas is given the green light.

She also lambasted the WA EPA for not assessing a grand total of 62 proposals put to it so far.

While Xamon argued the independent regulator was not doing its job, WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore argued a decision not to make a decision was still a decision.

Whoever said semantics were not important?

Project proponents have to submit a drilling application, environmental management plan and a safety management plan to the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum before having their application assessed.

Xamon is sceptical the guideline is being followed to the letter.

She went as far as to suggest state Environment Minister Bill Marmion should be able to direct the EPA to take a closer look at fraccing.

“[The EPA have] indicated that they’re not going to assess the current fracs because they’re proof of concept and what they’ve basically said is that once the industry has reached a certain scale or size, then they’ll start assessing,” Xamon said.

“My response to that is that they’ve been spectacularly unclear about at what point the industry needs to be at before it will start assessing.

“Is it 10 wells, is it 100, is it 1000?”

Xamon wants the EPA to step in earlier and take a look at hydraulic fracturing as a whole, instead of just assessing individual applications (or not assessing them as the case may be).

“The regulatory framework for ensuring best practice is being reviewed now so it just seems logical to me that if we’re trying to do this now because there are risks involved, sure the EPA should be in on this now,” she said.

“I know they’ve got a lot on their plate … but there is scope for them to do a broader look at fraccing in general.”

Xamon said the industry would go ahead in the state, in contrast to her eastern states colleagues who seemed at the very least convinced that fraccing could not be undertaken safely no matter the circumstances.

“I’ve been one of the first people to admit that fraccing can be done safely,” she said.

“I’m not saying fraccing is 100 per cent dangerous because it’s not.

“I’m not delusional. I know shale will go ahead but we are in a unique position to be able to get our regulation right before it ramps up.

“The reality is that the sheer number of fracs which are required to drain a gas field means that percentage-wise you’re more likely to have an incident and that’s why you need ongoing monitoring and a regulatory framework which works.”

Her argument, similar to that used in the east, is the regulatory system should be set in stone and proven effective before any fraccing takes place in the state.

Hence the call for a moratorium.

Moratorium may be a dirty word for those seeking to promote the industry but one has to ask the question whether it would make sense to slap one on the industry right now in order to promote its long-term future in the state.

Tomorrow we explore the concept of a moratorium in WA and what all parties have been doing to shape the unconventional debate in WA.

This article first appeared in ILN's sister publication EnergyNewsBulletin.net.