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Lack of action will cost Ashburton district water consent-holders

Adrian — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:35:13 +0000

Ashburton district farmers face cost blowouts if they delay the installation of water
measuring systems as required by the government’s National Regulations.
From 10 November 2012 water consent holders with takes of more than 20 litres per
second need to have installed a water measuring and reporting system.
John Young, Environment Canterbury’s Team Leader Water Metering, said consent
holders must comply with the Government’s regulations and need to act soon to
avoid the expected rush for equipment and installations.
In the Ashburton Water Management Zone there are 2,095 water takes that require a
water measuring device.
“To date, only around 14 per cent of the required installations for surface water takes
have been carried out, and 39 per cent for ground water.
“One of the most urgent issues facing water consent holders is the installation of
water measuring devices and the reporting of actual water usage.
“The government’s National Regulations are here to stay and there will be
consequences for those who do not comply by the deadline.
“There are obvious cost advantages to getting organised and installing water
measuring devices sooner, rather than later. If there is a last-minute rush this could
result in a shortage of equipment and labour and require installers to contract out
services and these costs could be passed on to farmers.
“If people get caught in the rush to install as the deadline draws closer it is
possible they will be in breach of their consent conditions. We have a dedicated
water metering team based in Ashburton that works closely with industry and the
community to provide the necessary advice and guidance to make installing a
measuring system as easy as possible,” he said.
In New Zealand there are around 12,000 consents that require water measuring
devices to be installed. Approximately 42 per cent of these are in Canterbury – the
highest regional proportion in New Zealand.
The National Regulations apply to all water consent holders with takes of five litres
per second or more. Consents granted after November 10, 2010 are required to
comply with the National Regulations immediately and consent holders must install a
water measuring device providing continuous measurements, take daily readings, as
well as provide annual records to their regional council.
Medium-sized consent holders (from 10 up to 20 litres per second) must comply by
November 2014 and small consent holders (between 5 and 10 litres per second)
have until November 2016.
John Young says there are obvious benefits to installing water measuring systems.
“Measuring water use will provide consent holders with the information they need
to ensure they use water efficiently and optimise production, comply with resource
consent conditions, as well as reducing irrigation and pumping costs.
“You wouldn’t run your car without measuring its fuel performance or speed and
running your farm or business is no different. It is important to have the information
required to ensure you are getting the best use out of your resource.
“The information is also important in assisting Environment Canterbury with the
planning, allocation and management of the region’s ground and surface water,” he
said.
Environment Canterbury has worked with Irrigation NZ, industry suppliers and farmer
representatives to establish standards for the installation and verification of water
measuring devices. There are around 40 companies in Canterbury which have been
assessed and are authorised to provide water measuring services.
Consent holders should refer to their resource consent/s and review their conditions
to determine whether the National Regulations apply, and if so whether they are in
the two-year, four-year, or six-year compliance category.
Individual consent conditions can be viewed online at:

http://ecan.govt.nz/services/online-services/Pages/consent-search.aspx

If consent holders do not have a copy of their consent or do not know their consent
number they should call Customer Services on 03 353-9007 or 0800 324-636.
More information about water measuring services, approved installation companies
and the implementation of the National Regulations can be found at:

http://ecan.govt.nz/watermetering

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/central/measuring-reporting-water-takes.html

The deadlines for installing water measuring systems are:
Date Take size
10 November 2012 20 litres/second or more
10 November 2014 Between 10 and 20 litres/second
10 November 2016 Between 5 and 10 litres/second

Source: http://www.localgovt.co.nz/includes/download.aspx?ID=7378

Consent conditions deliver clear message to irrigators

Adrian — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:43:02 +0000

Farmers have been given a clear message to use water efficiently, with the release this week of the first Environment Canterbury resource consent decision on water use in the upper Waitaki catchment.

Large capital investment may be required by farmers and irrigation companies to meet efficiency targets.

Six resource consents have been granted to the Upper Waitaki Community Irrigation Company for an unusually short period of five years.

The company had asked for 35 years.

During the five years, the efficiency of the scheme is be investigated and a plan put in place for improvements.

The panel was critical of the efficiency of the existing scheme, despite the company proposing improvements.

The criticism was of both the delivery of water and on-farm use.

At the same time the panel acknowledged making improvements would “potentially require significant investment and time” by the company and its farmers.

The company for 40 years has used water from Lake Waitaki to irrigate 1925ha on the south side of the Waitaki River between Kurow and Duntroon.

The renewal process had been going on since 1999 and involved a hearing process which started in September 2009.

In the consent, the panel also reduced the annual volume of water from the 26.3 million cubic metres applied for to 22 million cubic metres between August 15 and May 30 each year.

The scheme uses 30km of race, 9km of pipes and predominantly border dyke irrigation.

The company has 62 shareholders (irrigators), but most of the water is used by three major dairy farms.

The panel said the application raised the issue of efficient distribution and use of water.

The company acknowledged that needed to improve.

It put forward a three-step proposal over 12 years.

The proposal started with a monitoring programme to identify weak points in distribution and identify water demand and requirements.

The final step would review what had been done and continue plans to reduce the amount of water needed.

Making improvements would involve significant expenditure and disruption to farming operations and would need to take place outside the irrigation season, the company said.

However, despite the proposal from the company, the panel’s view was it had done little to improve water efficiency.

“Nor has it provided evidence that it is taking a responsible attitude to its use of water and is seeking to continually improve the technical efficiency of the use of water,” the panel said.

It put conditions on the consent requiring the company to introduce on-farm efficiencies, including individual farm and scheme environmental management plans.

The short-term consent period of five years, the panel hoped, would act as an incentive to the company to urgently undertake steps to improve efficiency.

The panel is Christchurch lawyer Paul Rogers (chairman), environmental consultant Mike Bowden (Kaiapoi), cultural authority Edward Ellison (Otago Peninsula) and water quality consultant Jim Cooke (Wellington).

Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/180312/consent-conditions-deliver-clear-message-irrigators

Regional Councils failing to protect waterways – report

Adrian — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:31:13 +0000

Local Government New Zealand says a suggestion that there be government appointees on local bodies to tackle water pollution would require a major law change, and much less drastic action would be preferable.

The comments follow a report from the office of the Auditor-General that says regional councils are not doing enough to prevent the degradation of fresh water by dairy farms, and councillors are getting in the way of prosecutions taking place.

Environment Minister Nick Smith says the Government will consider a suggestion by the Land and Water Forum to appoint goverment representatives.

But the principal adviser at Local Government New Zealand, Michael Reid, said that would alter the constitutional nature of regional councils in particular and require changing the Local Government Act.

“It confuses the constitutional separation between central and local government, so it would be a really big, precedent-setting measure.”

Mr Reid said it would be preferable for firmer guidelines to be introduced for councils on how they deal with infringements.

Prosecution decisions

Dr Smith said that although the amount non-compliant dairy farmers can be charged has doubled and the number of prosecutions has trebled in the past three years, the Auditor-General’s criticisms are accurate.

He told Morning Report the bigger problem lies in rural areas, but there are problems in urban areas too, such as the Palmerston North City Council which has failed to comply with its resource consent for its sewage scheme.

“I’m receiving advice as to whether we should do a formal inquiry into that specific example, and the reason is to try and give clearer guidance, because regional councils are not getting this business about when to prosecute correct.”

A Palmerston North City Council wastewater plant has repeatedly exceeded the amount of pollutants it is allowed to discharge into the Manawatu River since it opened in 2003.

Listen to Nick Smith on Morning Report

Report’s findings

The report looked at four councils: Waikato, Taranaki, Horizons in the Manawatu Whanganui area, and Southland.

It concluded that Waikato and Southland were not doing enough to prevent damage by dairy farms.

The report gave Taranaki Regional Council the best write-up, saying overall it is maintaining and, in places, improving water quality.

The Manawatu regional council was keeping up water quality standards in the Rangitikei and Whanganui River catchments, but not for the Manawatu River.

Assistant Auditor-General Bruce Robertson says a real area of concern at all four councils was the involvement of councillors in deciding whether to prosecute farmers.

He says these matters should only ever be dealt with by independent council staff.

The executive director of environmental group Ecologic, Guy Salmon, was one of those who peer reviewed the report and says the main reason councils are failing to keep the nation’s lakes and rivers clean is that most are run by farmers.

He says regional councils are also failing to even introduce policies to keep lakes and rivers clean.

Waikato regional council chair, dairy farmer Peter Buckley, disagrees that councils are not doing enough and says his council has processes to deal with the issue.

He says councillors like to have a say on whether prosecutions proceed and make certain that the process is correct, because it’s their neck on the line if a bad decision is made by staff.

Mr Buckley says his council has prosecuted other councils in its jurisdiction and has also cut non-compliance to around 10%.

The Auditor-General’s report does, however, say the Waikato council needs to devote more resources to monitoring, noting that at present it is visiting just a quarter of the region’s farms.

Southland Regional Council chair Ali Timms would like to see the instant fine the council is permitted to impose on dirty dairying practices increased from $1000 to $5000.

Ms Timms told Morning Report that the instant fine usually shocks farmers into remedying the problem but an increased penalty would be more effective.

Listen to more on Morning Report

Government inspectors suggested

An OECD expert on water pollution and farm runoff says the New Zealand Government could look at using farm inspectors and reducing stocking densities to control water pollution.

A policy analyst from the OECD’s trade and agriculture directorate, Kevin Parris, told Nine to Noon that overall water quality in New Zealand is high but intervention is needed to keep it that way.

Stocking limits could be imposed in certain catchment areas where even the best practices can not stop pollution.

Alternatively, he says, society may decide to “give up” on a particular river or lake and let it be polluted because there’s an economic benefit.

Listen to more on Nine to Noon

Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/86714/appointees-to-safeguard-water-quality-’a-step-too-far’

Green groups challenge Bathurst, Petrobras consents

Adrian — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:10:01 +0000

Environmental objections to fossil fuel extraction are mounting, with the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society and Greenpeace separately lodging appeals against coal-mining and oil exploration consents.

The Forest & Bird appeal against resource consents issued to the first opencast coal mine in Bathurst Resources’s Buller Coal Project was widely anticipated, and brings to three the number of appeals now received against the Escarpment mine project.

Unexpected was the announcement by Greenpeace that it will seek a judicial review of the oil exploration licences granted to the Brazilian oil and gas giant, Petrobras, to seek hydrocarbons in the Raukumara Basin in waters off East Cape, beyond the 12 mile nautical limit in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Greenpeace action is the first such court challenge to a petroleum exploration licence, and is being mounted in concert with Te Whanau a Apanui, the East Cape iwi that launched joint protests with Greenpeace against a seismic survey conducted for Petrobras earlier this year.

The Forest & Bird appeal joins appeals by the West Coast Environmental Network and the Fairdown Residents Association, which are expected to add at least six months to Bathurst’s timeline for proposed mining, which it had hoped to start by the end of this calendar year, assuming the appeals are unsuccessful.

Concession and access agreements are also needed with the Department of Conservation, and can only be finalised once resource consents are in place.

The company said it will update the market shortly on the implications of the appeals, the deadline for which is today.

Greenpeace and Te Whanau a Apanui said they would argue the government had acted unlawfully by failing to properly consider the environmental impact of activities, the impact on marine life, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and failing to consider customary fishing rights and title claims to the area.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson has said in the past that customary title claims are unlikely to be sustainable beyond 500 metres from the coastline.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5649846/Green-groups-challenge-Bathurst-Petrobras-consents

Two fined more than $50,000 for effluent offences

Adrian — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:14:07 +0000

A judge has fined the owners of two Northland farms more than $50,000 between them for unrelated dairy effluent offences near Kaitaia and Whangarei last year.

Untreated dairy effluent overflows from a sump at the Schluter property, just metres from an unnamed tributary of the Aurere Stream.

In the first case, Far North man Anthony Joseph Schluter was fined $25,000 for offending on November 04 at the farm he owns and operates about 14km northeast of Kaitaia.

Schluter had earlier pleaded to a charge laid by the Northland Regional Council and was sentenced by Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook in the Whangarei District Court on July 19 this year.

On the same day, Judge Newhook fined Taranaki man James Dodunski $26,000 for offences relating to dairy effluent discharges at a farm Dodunski owns at Maungakaramea, southwest of Whangarei.

JKD Farms had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges laid by the council for offences committed at the 162 hectare farm on August 30 last year. Dodunski, who lives at Opunake in Taranaki, is the farm’s sole director and shareholder.

In sentencing notes released recently, the judge said Schluter’s offending related to effluent discharges on to land and into an unnamed tributary of the Aurere Stream.

The judge said the regional council had worked with Schluter since 2000 advising him repeatedly that his treatment ponds were below industry-recommended dimensions to adequately treat effluent.

The council had issued Schluter with five abatement notices and five infringement notices over that time. The judge said he agreed with a submission by the council’s lawyer that the system was very poor, the defendant had been told often to fix it and done nothing, the system had not been up to scratch and Schluter was not keeping an eye on things adequately.

The judge noted Schluter’s early guilty plea and that “the mere fact of the prosecution has been very significant to the defendant to the extent that he is now to give up dairy farming”. (Schluter’s lawyer told the judge his client would run drystock on the land instead.)

However, the judge said it was of equal – or perhaps greater – importance to deter others “to get them to pull up their socks and avoid this kind of offending”.

While some repairs had been made, others had not in the nine months between the offending and Schluter’s sentencing.

The judge noted the nearby tributary and stream flowed about 12.5km before discharging into Doubtless Bay.

“It is all very well for a defendant to say that this was an isolated incident and that the waterways extended over quite some distance to the coastal marine area, but in fact if everybody carried (out) these sorts of inappropriate practices, the whole of the waterway and coastal marine area at its mouth would suffer badly.”

Schluter was fined $25,000, plus $132.89 court costs with ninety percent of the fine to go to the regional council.

In his sentencing notes for JKD Farms, also released recently, Judge Newhook said that offending related to discharge of farm dairy effluent from a stormwater bypass pipe and an irrigator on the Maungakaramea farm.

Effluent had been running towards tributaries, which led to a river system that ultimately fed into the Kaipara Harbour.

The judge noted that there had also been repeated warnings from the regional council about the system over a period of about eight years, during which time the council had served one abatement and five infringement notices.

Despite that “the system in place on the land until very recently, really had no margin of safety in it for the level of operations that were being undertaken on the land, particularly in times of high rainfall”.

Judge Newhook noted a farm manager involved at the time of the offending no longer worked for the defendant and couldn’t be found, but said given the low safety margin he had outlined, “it therefore matters not a lot about whether the farm manager took some shortcuts”.

“I am persuaded that a combination of events starting with the level of the stocking, the ground conditions, the rainfall conditions and the sheer inadequacies of the system overall, were ultimately the cause of the downfall of this property.”

“I consider that the culpability is relatively high in this instance and that there was a deliberateness on the part of the defendant in not accepting and acting on the constructive and constant urgings of the regional council to upgrade the system overall and to do more than minor works.”

The judge said that since the offending the defendant had finally spent about $60,000 on a good, adequate system, noting that “at the end of the day, it is not for the council to design a farmer’s effluent system for him”.

The judge acknowledged the defendant’s considerable remorse and early guilty plea, fining a total of $26,000 (divided equally between the charges) plus $132.89 court costs on each charge.

Once again, 90% of the fines will go to the regional council.

Riaan Elliot, the council’s Monitoring Senior Programme Manager, says the judge described JKD Farms’ actions as a “sorry history of non-compliance” despite the council’s “constructive and constant urgings” and says those comments could apply equally to Schluter.

Mr Elliot says as was often the case with farm dairy effluent offences, the council had not made the decision to prosecute lightly, but once again, had been left with little choice in both the cases, given the ongoing nature of them.

He says the council works proactively with the dairy industry and farmers through the Northland Dairy Effluent Improvement Group to lift the standard of effluent management in the region. The group includes representatives of Federated Farmers, Farmers of New Zealand, Fonterra, Dairy New Zealand and the council.

Source: http://www.nrc.govt.nz/News/Two-fined-more-than-50000-for-effluent-offences/

91 breaches could affect environment

Adrian — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:29:57 +0000

Nearly 100 Otago resource consents involving effluent and odour discharge and water takes have been found to be non-compliant, with potential effects on the environment.

The Otago Regional Council’s compliance team carried out 810 audits of 718 activities and reviewed 2335 consent conditions for performance monitoring relating to 697 consents in the 12 months to June.

The audits revealed two areas of concern – water meter installation and discharge and water takes.

Environmental services manager Martin King said in a report to the council’s regulatory committee the level of compliance found with discharge and water take consents was “of concern”.

Of the 358 consents monitored, only 38.3% fully complied with their consent conditions.

“Of concern are the 91 consents that were found to have potential effects on the environment.”

The 25% non-compliance related to poor performance of effluent systems, poor effluent quality going into the environment, air quality discharges not being met, offensive and objectionable odour going beyond boundaries and water takes being outside of the consented area, Mr King said.

Where grade four and five non-compliance (potential to affect environment) was identified, the council had sought written explanations from the consent-holder and asked for remedial action plans where needed.

Council group manager regional services Jeff Donaldson said the audits also showed some meters had not been installed correctly and in some cases it resulted in some consent-holders not sending their installation certification in on time.

The audit showed 11 consent holders were fully compliant (grade 1) while eight were graded between two and four (the worst being five).

Consent-holders needed to remember they were liable for any issues with faulty installation, not their installer, Mr Donaldson said.

They were required by resource management regulations brought in last year to install water meters and depending on the amount of their take, they had from November next year to 2016 to do so.

Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/176400/91-breaches-could-affect-environment

$42,000 fine over chicken effluent “lahar”

Adrian — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:56:27 +0000

A Pukekohe poultry breeding farm company, T Good Limited, has been fined $42,000 after a “lahar” of chicken effluent ran from the property and contaminated a nearby stream.

In her sentencing notes released this week, following a hearing in the Auckland District Court, Judge Melanie Harland described the actions of company director Hai Zhai as being between “reckless and negligent”.

While it was difficult to quantify the effects of the spill on the Tutaenui Stream, Judge Harland said “it needs to be signalled that the court continues to be concerned about the cumulative effects of contaminated discharges to [waterways], and the slow but insidious degradation of them by what seem to be one-off unfortunate, but unintended events”.

A summary of facts from Waikato Regional Council, which brought the charges against the company, noted how in May last year a large pile of chicken effluent had been stored in a paddock to dry so it could be trucked away from the Buckland Rd property.

The court heard that following significant rain the stockpiled effluent had slumped and flowed down the paddock to the stream. The council responded to a complaint from a member of the public and inspected the site where testing showed significant stream contamination.

Following council intervention all remaining effluent was removed and disposed of lawfully.

Judge Harland commented on a range of complicated issues related to the spill and the degree of the company’s culpability, noting the spill was unintended.

However, she said: “More care should have been taken before placing the stockpile near to a downhill sloping paddock not far from the stream. The offending was reckless in the sense that in the autumn rainfall events are to be expected, although I accept that the severity of the rainfall over this period was not.”

Judge Harland said her starting point for a fine was $60,000. But after taking into account the company’s early guilty plea, previous good character, cooperation with authorities and the prompt clean-up carried out at the property, she settled on a fine of $42,000.

Regional council investigations and complaints manager Patrick Lynch said the prosecution was the first taken by the council under the increased penalty regime for environmental offending introduced in the 2009 amendment to the Resource Management Act.

“The maximum penalty for companies offending against the RMA is now as high as $600,000, reflecting the Government’s concern over pollution of waterways and the environment in general. So companies do need to be very vigilant about ensuring they comply with rules that protect waterways.”

Source: http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/News-and-events/Media-releases/42000-fine-over-chicken-effluent-lahar/

Contractor fined for stream reclamation

Adrian — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:17:50 +0000

Roil Contracting Ltd (RCL) and Patrick Roil have been convicted and fined $60,000 for stream reclamation works in the Pauatahanui Inlet.

Mr Roil and RCL earlier pleaded guilty to charges laid by Greater Wellington under the Resource Management Act 1991.

GW laid three charges against each party in December 2010 alleging that approximately 60 metres of the stream had been reclaimed and smothered with cleanfill and non-cleanfill material causing it to be diverted and become laden with sediment.

The stream is an unnamed tributary of the Pauatahanui Stream within the Pautahanui catchment, an area defined in the Regional Freshwater Plan as having a high degree of natural character.

An abatement notice was also issued requiring RCL to remedy the environmental effects of the reclamation which resulted in an application for resource consent. These works are not yet complete.

In delivering the decision, Environment Court Judge Kelly noted the parties’ guilty pleas, cooperation, and lack of previous convictions.

Greater Wellington Environment Regulation Manager Alistair Cross urged landowners and contractors to get in touch with Greater Wellington consents and compliance staff for advice on any proposed works and consent requirements.

“The Pauatahanui catchment where these reclamation works were undertaken is one of high ecological significance and warrants careful management and protection. Though we are pleased site remediation is now in progress, the parties were aware that they needed resource consent before undertaking the works and could have avoided this situation.”

Source: http://www.gw.govt.nz/contractor-fined-for-stream-reclamation/

Nigeria needs biggest ever oil clean-up, report slams Shell

Adrian — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:07:55 +0000

A UN report has criticised Shell and the Nigerian government for contributing to 50 years of pollution in a region of the Niger Delta which it says needs the world’s largest ever oil clean-up, costing an initial US$1 billion (NZ$1.2b) and taking up to 30 years.

The United National Environment Programme (UNEP) analysed the damage oil pollution has done in Ogoniland, a region in the oil-rich labyrinthine creeks, swamps and waterways of the Niger Delta, the heartland of Africa’s largest oil and gas industry.

Royal Dutch Shell and the Nigerian state-oil firm own most of the oil infrastructure in Ogoniland, although the Anglo-Dutch giant was forced out of operating in the region by communities in 1993 who said it caused pollution that destroyed their fishing environment.

Shell stopped pumping oil from Ogoniland after a campaign, led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was later hanged by the Nigerian military government, provoking international outrage.

“The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken,” a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report released on Thursday said.

“Control and maintenance of oilfield infrastructure in Ogoniland has been and remains inadequate: the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) own procedures have not been applied, creating public health and safety issues.”

The UNEP report said 10 out of the 15 investigated sites which SPDC said they had completely remediated still had pollution exceeding the SPDC and government remediation values.

Shell, which on Wednesday agreed that an Ogoni community could seek compensation for oil spills in a British court, says most oil spills in the Niger Delta are caused by oil theft and sabotage attacks but says it cleans up whatever the cause.

PIPELINE SABOTAGE

“Oil spills in the Niger Delta are a tragedy, and SPDC takes them very seriously,” Mutiu Sunmonu, SPDC’s Managing Director, said in a statement on its website.

“Concerted effort is needed on the part of the Nigerian government, working with oil companies and others, to end the blight of illegal refining and oil theft in the Niger Delta . This is the major cause of the environmental damage.”

A spokeswoman for the company said it welcomed the report and would comment further after studying the details.

UNEP said Ogoniland communities are exposed to hydrocarbons every day as thick black oil floats around the creeks, while the impact on vegetation and fishing areas has been “disastrous.”

In one community, drinking water was contaminated with benzene, a substance known to cause cancer, at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organisation guidelines. The site was close to a pipeline owned by Nigeria’s state-oil firm NNPC, the report said.

“We will undertake any clean-up. It doesn’t mean we are culpable. Pipeline vandalism, by the very communities who are affected, is the major issue,” an NNPC spokesman said. He said he had not read the report.

While Shell does not operate in Ogoniland anymore, its pipelines and other infrastructure remain and still suffer spillages and sabotage attacks.

UNEP’s report is the most detailed scientific study on any area in the Niger Delta, UNEP and rights groups said. It was paid for partly by Shell after a request by the government.

$1 BILLION FUND

The findings were undertaken over a 14-month period, surveyed 122km of pipeline rights of way, reviewing more than 5000 medical records and engaging over 23,000 people at local meetings.

The report recommends that three new institutions are set up to support environmental restoration, which would include a US$1b fund, contributed to by the oil companies and government for the first five years of the clean-up.

Amnesty International, a rights group actively involved in Niger Delta environmental problems, said the report proved the Anglo-Dutch major was responsible for the pollution.

“This report proves Shell has had a terrible impact in Nigeria, but has got away with denying it for decades, falsely claiming they work to best international standards,” said Amnesty International Global Issues Director, Audrey Gaughran.

“Shell must put its hands up, and face the fact that it has to deal with the damage it has caused. Trying to hide behind the actions of others, when Shell is the most powerful actor on the scene, simply won’t wash,” Gaughran added.

Shell’s London-listed shares lagged rivals by around 1 per cent on Thursday after it emerged the company had accepted that a British court had jurisdiction in villager claims for compensation for damages caused by two oil spills from pipelines controlled by SPDC, in which Shell is the lead but minority partner.

One source close to the case said the cost of cleaning up the spill and compensating those affected has been estimated by some experts as being in the region of 250 million pounds (NZ$488m).

Shell has been reducing its focus on onshore Nigeria, selling fields, following difficulties in the delta.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/5397619/Nigeria-needs-biggest-ever-oil-clean-up-report-slams-Shell

Dirty rivers ‘will only get worse’

Adrian — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:13:11 +0000

Already polluted lakes and rivers will only get worse under a flawed fresh-water policy, a new report warns.

Regional councils have been given too long – up to 30 years – to set pollution limits, the Cawthron Institute report says in a study commissioned by Fish and Game New Zealand.

“Imagine how many more rivers and lakes we’re going to lose to agricultural pollution in the interim,” chief executive Bryce Johnson said.

Environment Minister Nick Smith issued the national policy statement on fresh-water management in May, saying it gave clear directions to councils on the importance of improving water management.

At the time, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman accused Dr Smith of “taking the teeth” out of an earlier version recommended by a board of inquiry.

In the Cawthron report, resource economist Jim Sinner said if councils acted promptly, the decline in water quality could be stopped.

“However, experience suggests this is likely to take at least three to five years, and councils are allowed to take until 2030. Despite the national policy statement, the condition of New Zealand’s lakes, rivers and wetlands is likely to decline for several more years and possibly much longer.”

Yesterday, Dr Smith said Fish & Game’s criticism was “disappointing” and a return to a combative approach as signs of a more co-operative approach emerged.

“They’re out of step with the rest of the community, who don’t want more old-style `dirty dairying’ rhetoric.”

The 2030 deadline was backed by the original board of inquiry, he said.

“They can’t have it both ways, they can’t criticise me for not following the board on one hand and criticise me for following it on the other.”

The time frame was necessary because many resource consents ran for 15 to 20 years.

Dr Smith this year announced a $264.8 million cleanup programme, saying improved water management was needed to allow the economy to grow.

In 2009, the Cawthron Institute gave the Manawatu River the worst rating of 300 waterways in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The river was described as one of the most polluted in the Western World.

Mr Johnson said poor policy had already seen 90 per cent of lowland rivers and 50 per cent of lakes classified as polluted.

“Leaderless fresh-water management policy, combined with the Government’s $430m push for irrigation and intensive agriculture expansion, suggests the future for our iconic waterways and the 100% Pure brand is pretty gloomy.”

Fresh-water ecologist Mike Joy said the policy would not help water quality, as it did not take steps to reduce intensive dairy farming.

There were six 1/2 times as many cows in the South Island as there were six years ago, he said.

“No natural system can support that number of cows.”

Many rivers, including the Manawatu, Rakaia and Waikato, were under threat, he said.

Federated Farmers water issues spokesman Ian MacKenzie said farmers were as keen as any group to improve water quality.

“Nobody wants to see Lake Taupo turn into a cesspit.”

However, pollution came from many sources, including industry and urban development.

“This just seems to be grandstanding.”

Labour’s water spokesman, Brendon Burns, said the report made a mockery of Government promises to improve water quality.

“Nick Smith has ripped the guts out of the inquiry advice, and … his handling of this actually means water quality across our streams, rivers and lakes will continue to get worse.”

Dr Smith said Labour did not even have a national policy statement. “In their nine years in office they didn’t do anything about fresh water.”

Fresh-Water Policy Statement

The national policy statement for fresh-water management: Recognises fresh-water management as an important issue needing central government direction. Sets up a national framework to govern water allocation and quality.

Gives more than a dozen regional or unitary councils until 2014 to meet new regional goals on improving water quality.

Requires councils to set limits on fresh-water quality and the amount of water that can be taken from rivers, lakes and aquifers. Gives councils till 2030 to bring everything into line if meeting these goals proves “impracticable”.

The original version required councils to impose conditions on all discharge permits affecting fresh water.

The final version requires councils to “have regard” to any adverse effect. Since July 1 decision-makers under the Resource Management Act have had to consider the NPS in decisions.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5367370/Dirty-rivers-will-only-get-worse