Frequently asked questions

Location of the Precinct

Middle Arm is in Darwin Harbour across the Elizabeth River from Palmerston and opposite East Arm Port.

It is 13km south of Darwin’s CBD as the crow flies, or about 40km by road. It is already home to the Channel Island power station (that supplies power to Darwin and Katherine regions) and the Weddell power station.

INPEX’s Bladin Point LNG plant and Santos’ Darwin LNG plant both currently process natural gas into liquefied natural gas at Middle Arm  – both companies are committed to net zero emissions including planned carbon capture and storage projects.

Any industry located at the Precinct will be developed through a strong regulatory framework, use the most up-to-date technology and ensure its processes and products align with strong sustainability and design criteria (e.g. low-to-zero emissions).

Read more about the industry types.

The Precinct is being developed sustainably and in compliance with contemporary environmental regulations.

A number of overarching sustainability principles have been embedded in the Precinct planning and design and an Outcomes Framework will be developed to ensure best practice sustainable development for MASDP.

Some opportunities for MASDP to develop and operate sustainably are:

• Undertaking a Strategic Environmental Assessment to understand, plan for and mitigate, manage or avoid where possible the cumulative effects of a fully developed Middle Arm Peninsula.
• The Precinct will support the use of renewable energy.
• Master planning and maximising the use of shared infrastructure to reduce impacts and share capital costs, as well as enable circular economy opportunities.
• Engineering design will consider opportunities for beneficial reuse of waste, discharge and emissions.
• Infrastructure sustainability ratings will be determined for the planning and design phases of the Precinct.
• Targeting a low emissions precinct, including carbon capture and network that support decarbonisation to net zero.
• Increasing self-sufficiency in supply chains and manufacturing capacity to provide an opportunity to build local manufacturing and national capabilities.

Consideration of storm surge zones

The draft Environmental Impact Assessment is currently being prepared by the MASDP project team.

As part of this work, the MASDP Program is assessing the location of infrastructure to achieve flood immunity, which mitigates risks to MASDP or surrounding areas, due to MASDP, as a result of storm surge inundation.

The public exhibition period for the draft EIS will be the public’s opportunity to review the storm surge technical reports, potential impacts and mitigation measures.

Strategic environmental assessment

Regulation is about making sure any project is the right thing for everyone; communities, economy, environment and for future generations. The Precinct is being assessed as a strategic proposal under both Territory and Federal legislation.

The strategic environmental assessment sets the framework for development. The comprehensive process will deliver certainty for both business and community, outlining the types of development activity approved to occur, and the conditions under which they may operate. It is a rigorous assessment that considers the regional and cumulative impacts of a programme of multiple projects over decades.

Any industry located at the Precinct must meet strict environmental standards and conditions, use the best available technology, ensure its processes and products align with strong sustainability and design criteria, and undertake consultation with Traditional Owners as informed by the cultural heritage management plan. Approval of the program at the level of strategic assessment does not provide approval for individual proponent activities. Individual proponents will still have to complete an approval notice application process on top of demonstrating they comply with the program. This process will include consulting with the community, including Traditional Owners.

Timeline of the development

The Precinct will be developed gradually over many years.

The strategic environmental assessment is in progress and covers development over a 50-year period from the date of approval.

The NT Government plans to commence construction of enabling infrastructure, after gaining all necessary approvals, by 2026.

The timeline for the construction and operation of common use infrastructure, and individual industrial facilities within the Precinct will be proponent driven, and subject to the strategic approval and project-specific approval notices.

Currently, the Department of Logistics and Infrastructure are preparing the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Program. These will be published for public comment and feedback.

The Department will then complete a supplementary EIS, and this will be published for comment and feedback.

Interested industries (proponents) who want to locate themselves in the Precinct, will develop and submit their approval notice application to the NT EPA. Approval notice applications will be published for public comment and feedback.

Health

A Human Health Impact Assessment (HHIA) is being conducted for the MASDP as part of the strategic assessment process.

The HHIA studies the potential impacts on human health associated with air quality, the effects of dust, noise and vibration, risks from biting insects, and navigation and safety risks.

The HHIA findings will be discussed in the published draft EIS. The draft EIS will present an assessment of the potential human health impacts associated with the Precinct development, and address how those impacts will be avoided or mitigated to a level that is in accordance with Australian Standards and Guidelines.

The information in the chapter will be presented for the purpose of allowing the community and stakeholders to comment and provide feedback, and to enable the NT EPA to evaluate whether the controls that are proposed will allow the objective for human health to be met.

Commitments associated with further studies, monitoring and management will be identified in the chapter.

Studies for this development

• 136 environmental studies such as:
  • air quality assessment
  • water quality assessment
  • marine ecology study
  • human health impact assessment
  • noise, traffic and visual amenity studies
  • flora and fauna conservation strategy
  • social impact assessment
  • archaeological study
  • economic impact assessment.
• 235 concept designs such as:
  • jetty engineering design
  • module off-loading facility design
  • marine navigation and traffic study
  • shipping channel dredging studies
  • shared infrastructure designs such as roads, water and electricity supply, product corridors, drainage, wastewater treatment, land layouts, governance framework models.