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. (Read on …)

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. (Read on …)

The Environment Court has fined two Northland dairy farmers $51,000 between them for discharging effluent into waterways despite repeated warnings and notices to upgrade their systems.

Anthony Joseph Schluter of Pekerau, about 14km northeast of Kaitaia, and James Dodunski, of JKD Farms, appeared for sentencing in an Environment Court in Whangarei yesterday.

JKD Farms was charged with two counts of discharging farm dairy effluent into separate tributaries and Schluter faced a single charge.

The convictions and penalties come after the latest survey by the Northland Regional Council, which laid the charges, showed only 43 per cent of dairy farms in the region fully complied with the effluent discharge conditions of their resource consent. (Read on …)

Bay of Plenty dairy farmers were reminded of the serious penalties for polluting after four were prosecuted last week for various degrees of contamination to waterways.The two businesses and three individuals (3 eastern Bay, 1 western Bay) were sentenced last week in the Environment Court in Tauranga.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Water Management Group Manager Eddie Grogan said these prosecutions showed us that some farmers in our region were still not carrying out the necessary checks.

“All four dairy cases were a result of poor management of effluent systems, including ponds and irrigators,” Mr Grogan said.

The two companies and three farmers received significant fines totalling more than $118,000, which reflected the recent increase in penalties available to the Environment Court after an amendment to the Resource Management Act. (Read on …)

New Zealand and Australia will work to integrate their emissions trading schemes to create a bigger and more efficient trans-Tasman carbon market.

The implementation of the ETS schemes in both countries was a key issue at annual talks between Finance Minister Bill English and his Australian counterpart, Treasurer Wayne Swan, in Wellington yesterday.

The talks aimed to move ahead long-running negotiations to create a single economic market.

Australia’s new ETS will tax its 500 worst polluters A$23 (NZ$29.50) for every tonne of carbon they produce from next July. (Read on …)

Pure Advantage, a group fostering a green growth strategy for New Zealand, was launched in Auckland yesterday.

Chaired by Rob Morrison, its trustees are among some the best-known names in business: Sir George Fistonich, Rob Fyfe, Chris Liddell, Philip Mills, Jeremy Moon, Lloyd Morrison, Geoff Ross, Justine Smyth, Sir Stephen Tindall and Joan Withers.

It’s looking to sign up members – thousands, preferably – on the grounds that the more it has, the more likely politicians are to listen to it.

Potential supporters can find it on its website and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – indications that it’s looking to attract a wider, and younger membership than a traditional business organisation.

New Zealand’s clean, green brand is valuable but vulnerable, given the gap between rhetoric and reality, Rob Morrison says. “We can’t afford to let our reputation, and consequently our exporters, suffer for lack of environmental leadership. (Read on …)

Lake Taupo consent rules to take effect next month

The Environment Court has now formally approved a new Waikato Regional Council policy aimed at protecting water quality in Lake Taupo, meaning farmers around the lake will need to apply for a resource consent to continue farming.

The implementation of the policy – known as Variation 5 to the Waikato Regional Plan – has been going on for some time, with a considerable amount of work already done by the council and farmers. However, finalising the policy has been awaiting sign off from the court following appeals by several parties who eventually came to agreement on the wording.

Now, following the Environment Court’s formal endorsement of the policy, the variation is due to become fully operative on 7 July. (Read on …)

Environment Southland will send copies of its compliance incident list to dairy industry stakeholders at the request of a councillor who believed they should be aware of the scale of the problem the council is trying to tackle.

At an environmental management committee meeting this week councillor Jan Riddell said the incident list provided by the compliance division showed about 50 per cent of the complaints were in response to dairy farming. (Read on …)