Media Release
Regional Council
21 May 2003
The West Coast Regional Council is acting in extraordinary bad faith in its investigations into a rockfall last year at Solid Energys Strongman Opencast Mine, near Greymouth.
Solid Energys Chief Executive Officer, Dr Don Elder, said he was amazed and very disappointed that the Regional Council had not communicated directly with Solid Energy the resolutions of a Council meeting, held on 13 May 2003, that discussed the slip.
Dr Elder and other Solid Energy staff were due to meet with the Chair of the Council, John Clayton, Councillors and Council staff on 30 May to discuss the Strongman Opencast slip and a number of issues.
"While we welcome the news that the Council has decided to increase monitoring of all our operations on the West Coast, as we have full confidence in our own environmental management systems, we do not consider it appropriate for the Council to communicate via the media the threat to investigate forfeiture of our Strongman Mining Licence." Dr Elder said.
"Solid Energy has always accepted that the slip at Strongman Opencast was the result of unacceptable blasting practices at the mine. We notified the Regional Council and the Department of Conservation (DoC) that the slip had occurred, we changed our mining and management practices at the site to minimise the possibility of it happening again and we agreed a programme of work, with the Regional Council and DoC, to mitigate the impact of the fall. Only last week staff from the Crown Minerals Office visited the site at Solid Energy's request".
"While we are aware that the Council has commissioned independent reports into the slip, Solid Energy has not been provided with copies of evidence the Council claims to have in relation to the allegations that it continues to make about the cause of the slip and our intentions to carry out the work.
"At the end of last year we provided the Council additional interim bonds to give additional security for our operations on the West Coast. In January we put to the Council an offer for permanent bonds. but have to date received no response. In addition to all that, last month we offered additional financial security over and above existing bonds to assure the Council that we did intend carrying out the work agreed as a result of the slip".
"We have done everything we can to assure the Council that we take our environmental responsibilities seriously but they now give us no confidence that they want to work with us constructively," said Dr Elder.
"In the light of these latest actions Solid Energy has no alternative but to reconsider whether there is anything positive and productive to be gained from attending the meeting with the Council next week."
For further information contact:
Vicki Blyth
Communications Director,
Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd
Tel: 03 353 0100
Mobile: 021 670 250
