Inpex's Ichthys LNG project has been under scrutiny for years due to its toxic emissions, which were found to be 'systematically underestimated'. This revelation has sparked concerns about public health risk assessments and environmental reporting, prompting investigations by both the territory and federal governments. The issue stems from Inpex's initial underreporting of benzene emissions by over 13,000%, a chemical known to be a class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. This underreporting extended to other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like toluene, which were also drastically revised upward. Inpex's senior vice president, Bill Townsend, assured the community that the company did not intentionally misreport, taking full accountability for unintentional errors. However, the NT Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) commissioned an independent review, finding widespread and persistent failures in emissions calculations, recording, and reporting, dating back to the project's start in 2018. The review highlighted 'systematic errors' in Inpex's reporting, with data quality issues permeating the system. Despite this, Inpex maintains its air emissions modeling is technically sound and compliant with guidelines. The NT EPA acknowledges the risks to human health are 'very low', but calls for a public inquiry into Inpex's operations, citing a breach of public trust. The controversy lies in the extent of underreporting and the potential impact on public health, leading to questions about the independence of Inpex's emissions data and the need for independent air monitoring.
