Comments on Resource Consent Decision
Buller Conservation Group comment:
Our biggest worry is that regional council will not monitor the consents, let alone punish Solid Energy for breaches. Our experience with WCRC is they are so slow that a pollution event is over and the opportunity for a conviction has passed by the time they are on site. Even worse, WCRC's first instinct is to protect the polluter and keep the mine or factory (eg Talleys) in full production despite the pollution.
So the main action taken by council is to sit down with managers and work out a plan to beat the complainants - whether they be local residents or green NGOs.
So even tho the decision on Cypress allows for strict monitoring of mine water discharges, if WCRC does not punish SE the pollution will continue.
This is what happens at Stockton on a day to day basis. Solid Energy has KILLED Mangatini Stream, but the pollution still pours in on an hourly, daily, weekly basis.
BCG believes the worst env effect of Cypress is greenhouse gases/climate change. This was not addressed by the commissioners. (5m tonnes of coal when burnt produces 13m tonnes CO2)
West Coast F&B comment:
We have no confidence that the 5 to 6 pr of roa/great spotted kiwi on the pit footprint can be transferred to a new home. To our knowledge it has never been done with this species and a recent effort with Fiordland kiwi ended in failure and one bird died.
The snails stand to lose 10% of their habitat. They are nationally endangered so there is a lot of legislation protecting them. Again we have no confidence that the measures planned will help their survival.
