28 Jun 2010

East Cape oil drilling could threaten marine farm - mayor

11:54 pm on 28 June 2010

The mayor of Opotiki says he hopes the Government considered the potential for environmental disasters before granting a Brazilian company offshore oil and gas exploration rights in the region.

The Opotiki District Council is seeking commercial interest in 8000 hectares of aquaculture space for farming shellfish, fin fish and sea cucumbers.

Resource consent has already been approved for a 4000 hectare mussel farm.

The mayor, John Forbes, says while the sea farm would be some distance from the Petrobras exploration area north of East Cape, the threat of a oil spill on the scale of the current crisis in the Gulf of Mexico cannot be disregarded.

He says local government has no input into the decision and relies and depends on central government being sensible and making sure oil exploration is safe.

However, the Petroleum Exploration & Production Association rejects such concerns.

The organisation, which promotes the interests of petroleum producers and explorers in New Zealand, says it could be four years before the company starts drilling for gas, by which time new health and safety regulations will be in place for offshore drilling.

Executive officer John Pfahlert says any drilling will be at a distance of between 20 and 200km offshore and Petrobras will be working under New Zealand regulations.

Maori protests will continue

Several hundred Maori gathered on beaches from Ohope to Kaiti near Gisborne on Sunday to protest against the decision, which they see as a looming environmental disaster.

Manu Caddie, who organised the Kaiti protest, says any accident from drilling poses risks to the coastal environment and the region's economy.

He says 140 people have died as a result of the company's accidents since 1975 and it has been accused of being sloppy with safety and risk management.

Mr Caddie says there could be more beach protests next weekend.