SIMON O'CONNOR/Stuff.co.nz
Redacted pages from TTR's mining application
The leader of an environmental activist group says the release of previously blacked-out information about a seabed mining company is a crucial revelation.
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining have spearheaded the fight against mining company Trans Tasman Resources, who have applied for consent to mine a 66 sq km patch of seabed off the South Taranaki coast
In their more than 800-page application to the Environmental Protection Authority, several hundred pages were redacted - had physically blanked-out information - which were deemed as commercially sensitive to the company.
TTR
The 66 square kilometres off the South Taranaki coast where Trans Tasman Resources have applied to mine iron ore.
Although anyone could sign a confidentiality agreement and have access to the documents, Kasm took the Authority to the Environment Court after their request to release them publicly was denied.
On Wednesday the court ruled the documents should be released on the grounds of transparency.
READ MORE:
* Environment Court rule seabed mining company must release blacked-out documents
* Anti-mining activists taking government agency to court over confidential documents
* Call for moratorium on all seabed mining amid 'secretive' application
* Seabed mining company TTR slammed as 'arrogant' by South Taranaki iwi
* Trans Tasman Resources reapply to mine iron ore in South Taranaki
* Mining company runs 'myth-busting' advertisement about South Taranaki proposal
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (Kasm) chairman Phil McCabe said the release of the information meant the public could make a more informed submission.
Phil McCabe said the documents contained "pivotal" information in understanding what Trans Tasman Resources planned to do.
"A big reason their application was turned down in 2014 was because not enough was known about what happens to the sand once it's had the iron extracted out of it," he said.
"It's called the sediment plume and they've [TTR] have done extensive modelling in the meantime, which is what those secret documents detailed."
SUPPLIED
The crawler which will act like a big vacuum, sucking up sand to be processed on board a boat floating above.
McCabe said he didn't understand why the company had kept the information secret.
"If they have done much more extensive work around the effects then why would they keep them secret?" he said.
"The information in those documents supposedly backs up those claims."
SUPPLIED
TTR's ship will be one of the largest in NZ waters when it's built and operational.
While Kasm's environmental and economic experts are yet to thoroughly analyse the new information McCabe said the fact they had been released was a massive win for those against the mining activities.
In the Environment Court ruling Judge BP Dwyer agreed with Kasm and said that Trans Tasman Resources would have been aware that information relating to the sediment plume would be of high public interest, because it was a primary reason their last consent was denied.
"Ultimately we conclude that the crucial nature of the sensitive information...when combined with the public's right to participate effectively in the consent process, outweigh any trade secret or business prejudice interest of Trans-Tasman by a considerable margin," he said.
Trans Tasman's project director, Shawn Thompson, said the company had spent more than $65 million in acquiring the in-depth knowledge detailed in the redacted sections.
He said the release of the information would create commercial prejudice and potentially save their competitors up to $10 million.
A spokesperson for the company said after the ruling the court's decision clarified issues around disclosure of sensitive data for all parties.
"TTR remains hopeful that Kasm, Ngati Ruanui, Talleys and their members and associates, will now be thoroughly equipped, as they so forcibly asserted in the hearing, to provide an informed, qualified science-based assessments of the calibrations and source terms inputs into the Niwa plume models," they said.
The submission period for the public to have their say on TTR's application has also been extended until December 12.
- Stuff
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