Seabed mining company withdraws from EPA hearing

Thursday, 28 March 2024

Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd has withdrawn from an Environmental Protection Authority hearing considering its application to mine the seabed off the South Taranaki Coast, but says it intends to continue with the project.

Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd has withdrawn from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) hearing considering its application to mine the seabed off the South Taranaki coast, but is not giving up on the project.

Environmental groups opposed to the mining project fear the company will seek to get consents via the Government’s Fast Track Consenting legislation.

The EPA confirmed it received a letter on Thursday from TTRL advising of the withdrawal of their application.

The consent hearing, which started over three days in Hāwera from March 13, had been expected to take eight days with further hearing days in April and May.

TTRL boss Alan Eggers said although the company was not continuing with the DMC process, it did intend to carry on with its mining project.

“We are continuing with the project, we have a lot invested in it, we’ve done a lot of work.

“We will keep on with what we are doing. The EPA process was to have our marine and discharge consents approved.”

He declined to elaborate further.

“The Fast Track legislation is not finalised yet, it’s still in draft form, and we don’t know if it would be appropriate for this application,” he said.

As well, the Exclusive Economic Zone legislation was also being “looked at” by the Government, he said.

“We’ll just be getting on with our business.”

Emergency department doctor Athol Steward, Pātea community member Jacq Dwyer, KASM chair Cindy Baxter and fellow KASM member Phil McCabe, were among the protesters outside the EPA hearing in Hāwera on March 13.

Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) chair Cindy Baxter called the withdrawal “a cowardly and cynical move designed to get around scrutiny of the mining project’s obvious failings”.

She said it appeared the company was looking to the fast track legislation and political lobbying to progress its project.

“There was absolutely no way TTR could prove that it wouldn’t cause material harm to the South Taranaki Bight if it were to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed every year for 35 years. So to avoid a strong ruling against it, the company has opted instead for the political route.”

Haimona Maruera, chair of Ngati Ruanui, which has fought the TTR plan since its inception, voiced his opposition at the hearing in Hāwera.

Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga) said it was likely TTRL was “banking on the Luxon government’s fast-track approvals process to sidestep proper scrutiny'.

'TTR has faced constant opposition from mana whenua and environment groups and has never been able to show that mining can be done without causing lasting environmental damage in the South Taranaki Bight.'

For a decade, TTRL has tried to win the required consents to extract up to 50 million tonnes of sand each year from the seabed within the South Taranaki Bight.

The first attempt was rejected by the authority in 2013, but a follow-up application three years later was successful.

However, court action followed, involving a number of parties including iwi, and that decision was ultimately overturned.

In late 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal brought by TTRL, and upheld previous High Court and Court of Appeal decisions.

Following the Supreme Court decision, the application was sent back to the authority for reconsideration.