u/Floki_Boatbuilder

Paywalled putting it here for anyone who's interested and has no access: Journalist Mathew Littlewood Otago Daily Times.

https://www.odt.co.nz/.../santana-refuses-release-unless...

Mining giant Santana Minerals is refusing to release crucial information which could have an effect on the Bendigo-Ophir project.

Santana Minerals wants to build a mine on Bendigo and Ardgour Stations, about 20km north of Cromwell, and is going through the final stages of the fast-track hearings.

But the fast-track panel has slowed down the final stages by requesting a suite of information from Santana.

This included a cumulative drawdown assessment of the Bendigo aquifer; assessment of wetland hydrological functions; transient water load balance modelling; active water treatment design; passive water treatment concept and design; and design of uncaptured seepage system.

Rather than presenting the panel with this information, Santana has decided to do this only in the event it receives consents for the activity.

‘‘The effects of the project are known and understood,’’ Santana’s counsel told the panel.

‘‘We submit that the panel has before it sufficient and robust information to identify, characterise and assess those effects with confidence.’’

Santana also took issue with the panel’s concern the lack of information was on a par with the Taranaki VTM project.

Taranaki VTM was a seabed mining project which eventually bailed on the fast-track process due to the panel’s concern about its potentially hazardous effects on the environment.

‘‘Overall, we submit that the project does not get near the same uncertainty threshold that underpinned the Taranaki VTM decision,’’ Santana’s counsel said.

‘‘There is robust technical assessment that understands the environment, identifies the nature and scale of effects and appropriate effects management responses.’’

Recently, the panel issued a minute saying the information provided was ‘‘not sufficient’’ or in a form suitable for the landscape architects to be able to provide advice.

Data gaps in Santana’s submission had been raised in written submissions to the panel and to a conference of groundwater experts convened by the panel last month.

Environmental Defence Society chairman Gary Taylor said the logical step would be for a ‘‘pause’’ of the project hearings while all the information was gathered.

‘‘Fundamentally, we believe there are gaps in the information given, particularly when it comes to groundwater effects.

‘‘Santana has said that many of the issues would be addressed through adaptive management, but that needs to be based on solid information prior to anything going ahead.’’

Greenpeace put this out.
Shows the overlap of what we have vs what they want to take.

Always good to have these c***s actions remembered.