Media Release

18-04-2012

Watchdog Slams TCDC's Misguided Proposal

Coromandel Watchdog thinks that the Thames-Coromandel District Council (TCDC) has set a new low for environmental doublespeak in New Zealand, by describing the mining of tailings potentially contaminated with heavy metals in Coromandel Harbour as “remediation”;

“The TCDC statement betrays a woeful lack of understanding of both hydrology and environmental science,” Watchdog Coordinator Renee Annan said.

“There can be no doubt that dredging up the sediments of Coromandel Harbour to access gold and silver deposits buried and currently immobilised deep in the mud would have a profound impact on marine life in the Harbour, especially mussel and oyster farms,” said Ms Annan.

“It is incomprehensible to us that the Council could have made such a profoundly ignorant assessment, especially when they have acted in a totally different manner in a subdivision built on tailings at Moanataiari, near Thames. Here, the TCDC has refused to dig up the contaminated site, for fear of spreading pollution. The priority with contaminated sites is to identify and isolate them. Attempts at remediation should be made only if this is not feasible. At present, these toxic tailings are safely immobilised deep in the mud of the harbour floor, and that's where they must stay.

If the TCDC is serious about a new wharf for a fast ferry from Auckland to replace the existing terminal, they should be thinking about making a minimum impact on the seabed, by using piles or floating pontoons, not using mud contaminated with mercury, arsenic and lead to construct a wharf that would further disrupt tidal flows and put at risk the regeneration of sea grass that is just beginning.

Watchdog believes that the Coromandel Harbour is currently included in Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, which means that mining would be illegal. The council needs to seriously reconsider whether they want to be seen as advocates for an illegal activity.

The Mayor has to realize that he can’t go on blithely advocating for the growth of Coromandel’s economy through the preservation of natural heritage, while at the same time supporting unsustainable and polluting industries like mining. He needs to show leadership for a sustainable Coromandel.”

Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki

protecting the Coromandel Peninsula from mining

www.watchdog.org.nz

ENDS

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