The minerals industry wants to water down a proposed law already under fire
for making it too easy to drill the ocean floor for oil and gas, mine it for
gold and phosphates and dump waste.
The Exclusive Economic Zone Bill has been criticised for creating lighter
protection for the marine environment outside the 12-mile territorial limit but
within New Zealand's vast exclusive economic zone over the 170 million hectares
in our continental shelf.
Critics claim the bill "puts economic considerations over environmental
considerations", and say it breaches environmental protection obligations under
international treaties. Instead, they say, it should mirror the more stringent
Resource Management Act which governs development in the 12-mile limit.
But submissions on the bill from prospectors, released this week, show the
mainly foreign firms want a range of changes to make exploitation easier, reduce
public scrutiny, limit ministers' discretion and even allow the drilling of gas
and oil exploration wells without a permit.
Stuff.co.nz
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