Montara Oil Spill Inquiry Underway

The Australian Government has announced a comprehensive Commission of Inquiry into the Montara oil spill underlining Australia’s commitment to ensuring this issue is dealt with in an open and transparent manner.

The inquiry will examine events associated with the oil spill, including its cause, impact and the response effort and will make recommendations on measures, if warranted, to prevent such an incident occurring again. The Inquiry is due to submit its report to the Australian Government by the end of April 2010.

The Australian Government’s priority from the beginning of the leak was to contain the spill and minimise the impact on the environment with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) coordinating Australia’s clean-up response to the incident.

Continued surveillance by AMSA has not found any further oil released into the ocean since the flow of oil from the Montara wellhead platform ceased on 3 November. As a result, aerial surveillance ceased on 28 November.

Response operations included recovery and targeted spraying of dispersants. Dispersant accelerates the weathering and biological breakdown of oil at sea. It does not cause oil to sink to the seabed. Following further securing of the wellhead, all Australia’s domestic response operations ceased on 3 December.

To ensure that any environmental impacts from the oil spill are understood and appropriately addressed in the long-term, a robust, scientific monitoring plan has been agreed between the Australian Government and the company responsible for the wellhead platform.

Discussions are underway between the Australian and Indonesian Governments regarding monitoring of the oil spill’s impacts, if any, in Indonesian waters. An Australian Government delegation visited Indonesia on 10 November to brief Indonesian officials on the oil spill including clean up operations and environmental issues associated with the spill.

Australia will continue to act consistently with international law and our strong bilateral relationship in responding to this incident. More information on the Commission of Inquiry is available from: www.montarainquiry.gov.au

Media Enquiries:
Jenny Dee, Counsellor (Public Affairs) tel. (021) 2550 5290 mob. 0811 187 3175