The clean up of the contaminated Tui Mine site near Te Aroha is to get a further $15.2 million from the Government.

The funding is part of new initiative with the Green Party to better manage New Zealand’s toxic sites.

The Tui Mine will get another $1 million from local councils; $800,000 from the Waikato Regional Council and $200,000 from the Matamata-Piako District Council.

There was concern 160,000 tonnes of contaminated left-over crushed rock, know as mine tailings, were sitting precariously above Te Aroha, the Environment Minister Nick Smith said.

“Geo-technical reports indicate that life would be put at risk and damage of up to $168 million in the event of a modest earthquake or severe storm.” (Read on …)

Arrow Energy could be slapped with a $50,000 fine for failing to immediately report a gas leak in Queensland.

The state government has accused the company of showing contempt for strict rules governing such incidents.

It took Arrow two hours to alert authorities that gas and salty water were bursting from one of its coal seam gas wells on a farm west of Dalby.

The rupture happened on Sunday after workers uncapped it to install a pump for gas production. It was successfully capped on Monday.

Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said that Arrow or its contractors could face a hefty fine of up to $50,000 if their response was found lacking.

‘‘The tardiness in reporting this matter is unacceptable and it shows contempt for the rules and no respect for the landholder or regulating authorities,’’ Mr Hinchliffe told parliament today.

In a separate incident, a diesel spill on Arrow’s Moranbah gas fields yesterday had been contained and contaminated soil would be removed, Mr Hinchliffe told parliament.

Taranaki environmental champions ranging from primary school pupils to a large corporate were honoured at an awards ceremony in Stratford today.

Farmers, businesses and a district council also feature among winners of this year’s Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards.

“It’s great to be able to highlight some of the good environmental work going on in the community,” says the Council Chairman, David MacLeod.

“The fact that Taranaki enjoys a generally excellent environment is not an accident – it is the result of hard work in the community. The awards are an opportunity for us to express our appreciation and support.”

The Council has made nine awards for 2011, with four presented at today’s ceremony. Awards to three schools and two farming couples will be presented later in the year.

This year’s awards bring the total to 177 since they were inaugurated in 1993.

The Council’s annual awards recognise Taranaki projects or activities that contribute to or raise awareness of sustainable resource management, that are economically viable, and that are current or nearing completion. (Read on …)

Almost half the dairy farms inspected by Environment Southland this month have been found to be seriously breaching effluent consents.

Of 54 farms inspected 24 were found to be so seriously in breach of their effluent discharge consents that they have been rated at the top of Environment Southland’s pollution scale.

Compliance manager Mark Hunter said the 24 most serious offenders had been graded 10. “That means something has been happening that is a prosecutable offence.”

The prospect of legal action is being explored, particularly for those with a history of previous non-compliance.

“If they’re repeat offenders, the chance a tougher line will be taken is quite high,” he said. (Read on …)

Kerikeri man Mervyn James Pinny had denied 16 charges laid against him by the Northland Regional Council relating to a farm he owns at Awarua, about 13km south of Kaikohe.

He defended the charges before Environment Court Judge Gordon Whiting with the case heard in the Whangarei District Court over several days in December last year and January this year.

In a reserved judgment delivered recently, Judge Whiting convicted Pinny of four of the 16 charges the regional council had laid against him.  The judge dismissed him without conviction on the remaining charges, which he ruled had effectively been alternatives to those he had convicted Pinny of.

Meanwhile, Pinny’s farm manager, Hugh Raymond Bolton, who lives on the Awarua property, had earlier admitted three charges relating to the same incidents when he appeared in the Whangarei District Court in June 2010. (Read on …)

A Chinese-backed Australian mining company has revealed plans to explore for oil in the seabed off the Abel Tasman National Park coastline, across much of Golden Bay and the northwest corner of the South Island.

Golden Bay iwi are alarmed at the plans by Sydney-based Greywolf Goldmining NL. It is proposing drilling the seabed for oil and gas, as well as prospecting for coal in Golden Bay and developing Port Tarakohe.

The news comes on the heels of a controversial oil exploration project by South American company Petrobras off the North Island’s East Coast, which has sparked high-profile protests by environmentalists and iwi.

Speaking from Sydney, Greywolf chief executive Edward Lancaster said the company hoped to start explorations and eventual mining operations once approval was granted from Crown Minerals – and if its Chinese partners considered it worthwhile. (Read on …)

SYDNEY is a step closer to reducing its reliance on coal-powered energy, with the launch of Australia’s first commercial trigeneration network.

The project, which links the energy use of two buildings across the harbour, uses natural gas to produce electricity on site, capturing any waste heat to provide heating and air conditioning.

Electricity generated at Coca-Cola Place, a high-rise office building in North Sydney, is also provided to Deutsche Bank Place in the CBD. Trigeneration can be up to three times more efficient than coal-fired power stations, where the waste heat escapes into the atmosphere.

The lord mayor, Clover Moore, said: ”This is Australia’s first open commercial trigeneration precinct, delivering a more efficient way to generate power, heat and cooling.”

As part of its Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan, Sydney City Council aims to produce 70 per cent of the city’s energy needs locally from trigeneration systems within the next 20 years. (Read on …)