The NT Government says a decision on the future of the fracking industry is just weeks away. 

The Northern Territory government has released the findings of a three-year study into fracking in the Beetaloo sub-basin, stating that there are no new risks associated with the development of an onshore gas industry. 

The Strategic Regional Environmental and Baseline Assessment (SREBA) was a key recommendation from the 2018 Pepper Inquiry, and was committed to by the Northern Territory government before any production licences were issued. 

Completion of the assessment means the Northern Territory government is expected to make a final decision on whether fracking production will go ahead in the next few weeks, according to Environment Minister Lauren Moss.

“The inquiry itself said that the risks would be able to be mitigated if we implemented the 135 recommendations. That's the work that government's committed to,” she said. 

“This body of work should provide people with comfort that the Northern Territory government absolutely takes our obligation to appropriate, science-based decision-making seriously.”

However, there has been growing opposition from Indigenous groups, environmentalists, and pastoralists who are collectively worried about pollution, water use, threatened species, and carbon emissions.

The SREBA study examined water quality, aquatic ecosystems, baseline greenhouse gas emissions, and social and cultural impacts. 

It collected data from an area larger than Tasmania, consulted more than 200 people, and examined hundreds of underground water bores. Researchers from bodies including the CSIRO, University of Queensland, and Northern Territory government departments participated in the study.

The Beetaloo sub-basin was found to hold one of the world's richest ant populations, as well as a number of threatened species, including the Gouldian finch and the yellow-spotted monitor. 

The report also found that a previous risk assessment had identified 33 chemicals associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations in the Beetaloo “were of potentially high concern” and that any future groundwater-monitoring programs aimed at detecting contamination from onshore gas activities should be informed by these.

Despite opposition, the Northern Territory government argues that the development of an onshore gas industry is important for the jurisdiction's underdeveloped economy. 

However, one key recommendation to limit fracking emissions remains a way off.

Ms Moss was unable to confirm whether the Northern Territory government had succeeded in getting federal support, but would “have more to say about that in coming weeks”. 

“The safeguard mechanism and the comments that were made around that also have acknowledged that the federal government sees that it has a role in this,” she said.

The University of Queensland found that “water is a consistent and major concern for all stakeholder groups of the Beetaloo region”. 

Researchers conceded the pandemic had impacted their ability to reach people on the ground and highlighted “there is more work to be done”.

Critics say the completed SREBA offers “no reassurance” to communities wary of the fracking industry. 

Hannah Ekin from the Arid Lands Environment Centre said she was concerned the pandemic restricted researchers' ability to travel and obtain necessary data, and cited concerns about the total impacts a fracking industry poses to the region.

The information collected by the SREBA is described in detailed Baseline Reports for each of the study domains and summarised in the SREBA Regional Report for the Beetaloo Sub-basin is available here.