DOC gives seabed mining green light

The Department of Conservation has effectively given the all clear to a mining company wanting to extract iron ore from South Taranaki’s coast.

Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) have applied to mine a 66 square kilometre area of 50 million tonnes of iron-ore laden sand from the seabed off the coast of Patea.

Their application is the second in as many years after their first was rejected on the grounds not enough was known about the environmental effects of the mining.

The public can now make submissions on TTR’s application but DOC has chosen to refrain from making a submission saying in a statement it was satisfied all conservation measures have been met.

In TTR’s first application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) DOC submitted against the company on the grounds more information was needed on the effects of miningrelated noise on marine mammals and the potential destruction of habitat.

A DOC spokesperson said the department had viewed TTR’s newest application to the EPA and its experts suggested several amendments to address effects on the marine environment.

‘‘TTR accepted all the revised conditions and amendments to the monitoring and management plans requested and the department does not consider that further conservation gains will be made by submitting on the application,’’ the spokesperson said.

DOC also highlighted several important differences between TTR’s first failed application and its current application in a report which stated TTR’s management conditions were ‘‘significantly more robust’’.

One of the key reasons TTR’s first application was declined was due to a concern that sand stripped of iron ore wouldn’t return to the seafloor and would impact marine animals and organisms as a result of the process.

DOC’s scientists concluded that fine sand would clump together and descend to the seafloor faster than originally thought.

- Jeremy Wilkinson