Gecko award winners

The winners of Golden Gecko Awards for Excellence in the Minerals and Petroleum Industries to recognise excellence and leadership have been announced. Winning awards in 2005 were BP Refinery Kwinana and Wesfarmers Premier Coal. Cer-tificates of merit were awarded to Woodside Energy, BHP Billiton and URS Australia. A Golden Gecko Award also symbolises company or individual commitment to go far beyond basic compliance with regulations, and provides public and industry recognition for their efforts. BP Refinery Kwinana reduced particulate emissions by 72 per cent with an innovative application of filter technology that has reset the benchmark for particulate emissions. Faced with a legacy of a long coal mining history in Collie, Wesfarmers Premier Coal was recognised for demonstrating its commitment to sustainability principles with three innovative rehabilitation programs which included the development of: • a recreational lake; • a motor sports and driver training complex; • an aquaculture precinct for research and economic development. Woodside was commended for its efforts in minimising environmental disturbance while successfully completing the large scale Trunkline System Expansion Project in the environmentally sensitive area of the Burrup Peninsula. Through active and genuine consul-tation, BHP Billiton and URS Australia were commended for implementing a transparent process to identify a potential project site with environmental, safety and social benefits. BHP Billiton engaged URS Australia to conduct a site selection pre-feasibility study into the possible development of a land-based liquefied natural gas plant on the Pilbara coast of Western Australia. Now in its 14th year, the Golden Gecko Awards are considered the highest environmental accolades achievable in the Western Australian mining and petroleum industries.