Thousands of kilometers of aging subsea pipelines in the Bass Strait could leak radioactive materials and heavy metals into the ocean unless they are removed and recycled, a parliamentary inquiry heard Tuesday.

The Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee is investigating the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure, focusing on the scale, ownership, and environmental risks of the subsea networks.

Fern Cadman, a fossil fuel industry campaigner for the Wilderness Society, warned the committee that roughly 800 kilometers of pipelines sit in the Gippsland offshore region. These lines contain naturally occurring radioactive materials, mercury, and hydrocarbons.

“Even if buried, eventually they will degrade, and all that is going to end up in the environment,” Cadman said.

Environmental advocates are pushing for full removal, rejecting industry claims that the process is too complex. Stan Woodhouse of Friends of the Earth testified that contaminants from corroding pipes could bioaccumulate in the marine food chain.

“If we leave it on the seabed, it will end up on our dinner plates,” Woodhouse said.

Beyond environmental protection, the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) is urging the government to view these pipelines as a "national resource" rather than waste. Jerusha Beresford, a sustainability adviser for the ASI, testified that the first phase of decommissioning will yield 60,000 tonnes of high-grade steel.

The ASI argued that keeping this scrap in Australia is vital for the transition to renewable energy, which requires roughly 400,000 tonnes of steel annually through 2030. Using scrap steel in domestic electric arc furnaces can reduce carbon intensity by up to 90% compared to primary production.

Beresford warned that without regulation, contractors might export the steel for short-term profit. Domestic processing, according to ASI modeling, creates 37 jobs and $4.8 million in value-add for every 10,000 tonnes—nearly quadruple the economic value of exporting the material.

The committee is expected to report its findings to Parliament by June 2026.