Lack of goodwill shows on mining hearings

Laurel Stowell

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is less than accommodating - if not unfair - in refusing to hold hearings on seabed mining in the area likely to be most affected.

Trans-Tasman Resources' application to mine nearly 66 square kilometres of South Taranaki seabed has its first hearing on February 16. The matter will be heard by a committee of the EPA.

The EPA created expectations during the 2014 hearings on Trans-Tasman Resources' earlier ironsand mining proposal.

Then it spent two days at Pariroa Marae, near Kakaramea, in the heart of the area close to the seabed mining site. After that it came to Whanganui, with a hearing in the council building.

What a contrast now, with the committee only holding hearings in Wellington and New Plymouth. And this is after South Taranaki iwi Ngati Ruanui and Nga Rauru both asked for hearings within their tribal area, and opposition group Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) also asked for a good spread of venues.

Admittedly the EPA has a huge number of submissions to deal with this time - more than 13,000 - and that must be a strain. It only finished counting them recently.

And we only have it from KASM that 500 people want to be speak at the hearings.

Extra hearings will take more time and cost more, but this is a precedent-setting proposal that could have far-reaching effects. It should not be rushed through or done withjout everyone's voice being heard.

Now, to save the EPA trouble and expense, submitters will have to meet the cost of travel and loss of work time themselves. Some will not be able to afford it, and the evidence the committee hears will be the poorer.

Given the National-led government's drive for export earnings, the EPA's handling of this matter will be under scrutiny. Has it been captured by Government's agenda?

Refusing to hold hearings in the area most affected is not a good start.