New Zealand’s High Court has quashed the Environmental Protection Authority’s green light for Trans-Tasman Resources’ (TTR) experimental seabed mining operation off the coast of Pātea, in Taranaki and environmentalists are celebrating as the country’s only known population of blue whale ‘has been granted a reprieve from the imminent threat of experimental seabed mining’.
According to data provided by the environmental group Forest and Bird, the New Zealander company TTR was granted consent in October last year by the EPA to mine iron sand from the deep seafloor between South Taranaki and Golden Bay. The proposed activity covered 65 km² of seabed and would continue for up to 35 years.
This area is habitat for 34 species of marine mammals, including Hector’s and Māui dolphins, humpback whales, and New Zealand’s own population of blue whale. Trans-Tasman Resources were proposing to spend the next 35 years sucking up 8,000 tonnes of seafloor every hour. This activity would likely kill everything on the sea floor, and severely disrupt the habitat of blue whales and other sound sensitive creatures. The High Court agreed with us that TTR’s risk management model was actually ‘adaptive management’ or ‘suck it and see’ mining. This is prohibited under the EEZ Act, and in Forest & Bird’s view was a dangerous proposal to experiment on our ocean animals.
…explains Forest & Bird CE Kevin Hague.
Forest & Bird argued against TTR’s proposal at the EPA hearing and the High Court, alongside iwi, fishing, and other environmental groups.
On the other hand, Trans-Tasman Resources noted that the impact from its operations would not be significant, as the size of the mined area would be small compared with the extent of the surrounding ocean, Radio NZ reported.
Appeals in both directions are likely, Forest & Bird added.
