Climate activists safely evacuate Woodside HQ with ‘gas leak’ hoax one week after Woodside endangers workers in Burrup Hub explosion

2.00pm Thursday AWST - Perth

Woodside headquarters in Perth remain completely shut down this afternoon after Disrupt Burrup Hub safely evacuated all staff by simulating a gas leak using safe, non-toxic ethyl mercaptan, also sold as ‘stench gas’, a substance typically used on mine sites to sound the alarm about an emergency.

Kristen Morrissey has been taken into police custody and is yet to be charged by WA Police after safely evacuating more than 2000 workers from Woodside’s Perth headquarters Mia Yellagonga at 10am AWST this morning, before dozens of firefighters and police swarmed the building and shut down all work.

This morning’s safe evacuation contrasts sharply with Woodside’s dangerous, unplanned evacuation of their Pluto project at the Burrup Hub last Saturday, following a large explosion that injured multiple workers at the plant and led to allegations of a Woodside cover-up by the workers’ union. 

This evening, Disrupt Burrup Hub will hold a public meeting explaining how and why to disrupt the Burrup as the campaign expands and opens up to new recruits (link here).

Musician Kristen Morrissey used harmless, non-toxic stench gas and yellow smoke plumes to safely evacuate Woodside’s Perth headquarters this morning. Ms Morrissey said the following during her action.

“All workers were safely evacuated from Woodside by Disrupt Burrup Hub this morning, which stands in stark contrast to Woodside’s activities at the Burrup Hub where they continue to endanger culture, climate and the safety of their own workers.”

“Our action today, using harmless, non-toxic ethyl mercaptan, or stench gas, serves as a potent warning of the dangers of gas to our culture and climate, and even to Woodside’s own workers. Today Woodside took precautionary measures over a harmless hoax - they must exercise the same caution with their expansion plans for the massive Burrup Hub gas project.”

“Woodside's Burrup Hub will produce 6 billion tonnes of C02 over its lifetime, and is already causing permanent damage to ancient, sacred Murujuga rock art. Within the past week, a large explosion at their Pluto gas plant also injured their own workers and led to a Worksafe investigation.”

“Disrupt Burrup Hub is all that stands between Woodside and business as usual on the Burrup. Anyone seeking real political change in Western Australia should join us at our public meeting tonight as we explain how and why to Disrupt Burrup Hub.”

The Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia is known as Murujuga to traditional custodians, a deeply sacred place that contains the largest, oldest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world. This priceless cultural treasure is currently nominated for UNESCO world heritage listing, but the sacred songlines and stories contained in these carvings are being damaged by emissions from the Burrup Hub and face total destruction within decades. Woodside has previously been responsible for the destruction of around 5,000 sacred rock art sites in the construction of earlier parts of its Burrup Hub mega-project, including the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG processing facility.

Woodside's Burrup Hub is the biggest new fossil fuel project in Australia. It consists of the Scarborough and Browse Basin gas fields, the Pluto Project processing plant, and other linked liquified natural gas (LNG) and fertiliser plants on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s remote north-west Pilbara region. The Burrup Hub is projected to produce more than 6 billion tons of CO2 by 2070, making it four times larger than the Adani coal mine and one of the biggest carbon bombs in the world.

On January 19, Joana Partyka, a ceramic artist and illustrator from Perth, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the colonial masterpiece ‘Down on His Luck’ at the Art Gallery of WA. The protest was subsequently endorsed by most descendants of ‘Down on His Luck’ painter Frederick McCubbin. On February 13, punk musician Trent Rojahn coated the Woodside building with a fire extinguisher full of high-pressure yellow paint and sprayed the slogan ‘Disrupt Burrup Hub’ across the glass at the entrance to Woodside’s corporate headquarters. On Tuesday February 21, graphic designer and mum of two Tahlia Stolarski sprayed the Woodside logo six times in yellow paint on the front doors of WA Parliament.

On April 28, Gerard Mazza and Tahlia Stolarski were charged with Aggravated Burglary ting to evacuate the Woodside AGM in Perth using harmless stench gas and smoke flares. On May 3, environmental activist Violet CoCo, the first person jailed under repressive new police powers legislation in New South Wales, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the front of the Perth Police Centre in protest at the escalating police crackdown on climate protest in Western Australia.