Slap Down to Seabed Mining proposal “Victory for common sense” – KASM The EPA’s decision to decline a proposal to mine black sand from the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight was heralded today by New Zealand’s only NGO focusing solely on the issue, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining. “This decision is a victory for common sense and environmental protection, for [read more…]
Author Archives: kasmorg
Second seabed mining consent application lodged
Fishing boats on the water at the Chatham Islands. Photo / Herald on Sunday Opponents to seabed mining are preparing for their second battle this year, with the lodging of a marine consent application for a phosphate nodule mining project on the Chatham Rise off the Canterbury coast. Chatham Rock Phosphate (CRP) yesterday lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority its [read more…]
Maui’s dolphins facing imminent extinction, research shows
New Zealand’s Maui’s dolphins could face extinction by 2031, new research shows. International Whaling Commission (IWC) scientists are scheduled to discuss the plight of the last 50 Maui’s dolphins again at their meeting in Bled, Slovakia this week. With less than 15 breeding females, Maui’s dolphins are among the rarest and most endangered mammals. Researchers claim fishing has progressively decimated [read more…]
Iron sands mining hearings to wrap up this week
Closing submissions on a company’s controversial application to 65 sq km of seabed off the South Taranaki coast are drawing to a close this week, following a lengthy round of hearings. Submitters including iwi, fishing companies, Government departments and environmental and recreational groups have raised their concerns about Trans-Tasman Resources bid, which is being called a “test case” that could [read more…]
Ironsands mining plan carries too many uncertainties: EPA
The environmental impacts of plans to mine ironsands off the ocean floor in the South Taranaki are too uncertain for regulators to know how to draft rules to manage them, staff from the Environmental Protection Authority say in a report ahead of final hearings on the proposal. TransTasman Resources is seeking a marine consent under new law governing New Zealand’s [read more…]
Mining application inadequate – iwi
Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui Trust chairman Haimona Maruera jnr spells out the iwi’s opposition. To his left are its other speakers, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Graham Young and Shi-han Ngarewa. Photo/Stuart Munro Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources came in for a pasting at a hearing to decide whether it can mine ironsand from the South Taranaki seabed. It had no chance [read more…]
‘Leave sea at peace’ plea to mine company
Trans-Tasman Resources has come face to face with two South Taranaki iwi vehemently opposed to seabed mining. The landmark hearing, run by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), has been under way in Wellington since early March, but yesterday submitters were heard in the affected region. The hearing is the first to be heard under new Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) legislation, [read more…]
Mining bid ‘could open flood gate’
People opposed to seabed mining off the North Island west coast say if an application to mine is successful it will open a flood gate of applications which will destroy the marine environment. Trans Tasman Resources wants to mine iron sands off the coast of Taranaki. The Environmental Protection Authority is hearing a request from Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) to [read more…]
EPA seabed mining hearing laws undermining democracy
Rules around the EPA’s decision-making process on the country’s first seabed mining application under the new Exclusive Economic Zone Act are undemocratic and make it nearly impossible for adequate public input, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) said today. Echoing the sentiments expressed by the Environment Defence Society this morning, KASM Chairperson Phil McCabe said the entire process appears to have been set [read more…]
Author questions company’s right to mine seabed
Trans-Tasman Resources has no right to mine 50 million tonnes of seabed material every year off the North Island’s west coast, according to children’s author Tui Allen. Allen, whose 2011 novel, Ripple, about dolphins was selected for the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair, told an Environment Protection Agency hearing in Hamilton on Monday that humanity did not own the ocean. “It [read more…]
