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Oil lobby supports call for more offshore inspectors


An environmental think-tank, EDS, has won support from the petroleum mining sector for its call for more inspectors for offshore drilling projects.

NZPA
Wed, 06 Apr 2011

An environmental think-tank, EDS, has won support from the petroleum mining sector for its call for more inspectors for offshore drilling projects.

A new policy paper on environmental reform for the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Governing our Oceans, was released today by EDS policy analyst Raewyn Peart and two of the environmental defence society's legal researchers Kelsey Serjeant and Kate Mulcahy, and launched by Environment Minister Nick Smith.

They said prospecting licences were being granted for New Zealand's continental shelf with little environmental scrutiny, with wells likely to be at depths greater than the exploding BP Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

"This is another major disaster waiting to happen," Ms Peart said. "We need to urgently fill this legislative void and put in place robust environmental assessment requirements for new activities within the EEZ."

The Petroleum Exploration and Production Association (Pepanz) said the industry agreed that there needed to be more petroleum inspectors.

"The fact that there is currently only one part-time inspector is a matter of real concern," Pepanz executive officer John Pfahlert said, though he noted there were only five offshore petroleum facilities.

Drillers and well operators adhered to good oilfield practice, "but there is also an onus on the Crown to provide an adequate inspection service to monitor and enforce Government regulations", said Mr Pfahlert.

The industry also supported and EDS call for improved environmental legislation in the Exclusive Economic Zone, he said.

Ms Peart said New Zealand was no longer a leader in oceans management, and there was a lot at stake.

"New Zealand has jurisdiction over a marine area which is 20 times larger than the country's land area. This is a hugely valuable resource for New Zealand and needs to be managed wisely.

"There is currently a major gap in environmental legislation applying to New Zealand's EEZ," said Ms Peart.

The simplest and most effective way of addressing the gap was to expand the scope of the Resource Management Act (RMA) to include the EEZ, and have it administered by the Environmental Protection Authority.

"Alternatively new EEZ environmental effects legislation could be passed into law," she said.

But the EDS and the oil industry lobby parted ways on whether there was a need for more fundamental oceans reform. Ms Peart called for a Royal Commission on Oceans Governance to review international best practice and recommend necessary changes.

Mr Pfahlert disagreed, and said a Royal Commission would delay decision making for a further two years.

A case could be made for each of the Environmental Protection Authority, Maritime NZ or regional councils as the best regulator, and it was up to the Government to "get on and make the decisions," he said.

NZPA
Wed, 06 Apr 2011
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Oil lobby supports call for more offshore inspectors
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