March 13, 2024
Seabed miner accused of low energy response to EPA
Environmentalists and iwi will rally outside at the TSB Events Centre in Hāwera this morning to mark the start of hearings on TransTasman Resources’ reapplication for consent to dig up the seabed off the south Taranaki coast.
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining chair Cindy Baxter says after having its consent quashed by three different courts, the Supreme Court has sent the Australian-owned company back to the Environment Protection Agency to show its activities will cause no material harm.
She says rather than putting any effort into showing it can meet that test, it seems to be banking on the government’s new fast-track legislation to get its project across the line.
The company still hasn’t done a single survey of marine mammals, seabirds, nor anything else that lives in the waters of the South Taranaki Bight to ascertain how they might be affected by seabed mining.
While the application covers 66 square kilometres, Trans Tasman Resources new parent company Manuka Resources is telling potential shareholders it intends to develop a 700-square km area.