This comes after, in May this year, NT minister, the Honourable Kate Worden, approved Tamboran Resources’ Shenandoah South E&A Programme, which includes the drilling of 15 new wells and is the largest-ever fracking proposal the NT has ever seen.

Despite key concerns from the NT community around impacts on water resources – contamination of groundwater from stimulation fluid, flowback water or chemicals is a well-known risk of fracking – in late April, the NT government signed a gas supply agreement with Tamboran Resources for 40 terajoules of gas per day for nine years, with the option to extend for a further six years. The Shenandoah South project is intended to service this agreement; however, the deal was signed before environmental approvals had been given.

This is the first legal challenge to a fracking environment management plan under new third-party merits review provisions enacted under the Petroleum Act.

In its legal proceedings, ECNT is seeking orders that NTCAT set aside the approval for the environment management plan. The grounds for this review, ECNT said, include that approval did not “adequately assess contamination risks to surface water and aquifers”.

ECNT executive director Dr Kirsty Howey said that it is “crucial” that the approval be properly scrutinised in light of the extensive risks of fracking.

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“Territorians won’t stand for risks of damage to our precious water. We’ll do everything we can to protect our ancient underground aquifers, and the incredible springs and rivers that they feed. This is the largest fracking proposal ever approved in the territory, and it’s crucial it gets the scrutiny it deserves,” she said.

“We will argue that the approval should be set aside due to unacceptable risks and impacts on surface water and groundwater, including Cambrian Limestone Aquifer, which sustains flows to iconic waterways like Bitter Springs and the Roper River.”