MEDIA RELEASE: Fracking not safe says Climate Justice Taranaki
FROM: Climate Justice Taranaki
DATE: 24th NOvember 2011 - for immediate release

Climate Justice Taranaki is not surprised by the Taranaki Regional Council's (TRC) report today saying that fracking is safe given their track record of negligent monitoring.

"Our stance always remains that TRC will not find adverse effects because their insufficient policy, monitoring requirements and breach response plans and their lack of public consultation avoids the finding of any adverse effects. So of course TRC can report no damage as they have made it almost impossible to find any" said Emily Bailey, a spokesperson for the group.

"The industry always claimed that fracking is safe because it takes place thousands of metres away from fresh water aquifers. At the Manutahi wells in South Taranaki, the distance between fresh water and where fracking took place was only 257 metres! Furthermore, the report mentions the possibility of leakage from the hydraulic fracturing well-casing due to defective installation or cementing. This is exactly what happened at a Cheal well a couple of years ago and should be an alarm bell for all of us living in Taranaki."

"Peak oil has caused a mad increase in dangerous fossil fuel extraction methods in Aotearoa and we do not want to see farm animals or people dying from drinking leaked frack fluid, or having their houses explode from leaking gas, as is happening elsewhere in the world. Water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions are not acceptable 'best practices' and we want to see an immediate moratorium on fracking until it can be independently proven beyond any doubt that it is safe."

"We would also like to note that there is a strong collaboration between the Taranaki Regional Council and the industry. The Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) had their media statements released before the report was even available on the council website. This is indicative of a council who puts the interests of greedy companies before protecting the environment."

"The report amounts to nothing given that it is basically the frackers saying that fracking is safe based on their own numbers and reports. If a government released a report with information from the nuclear energy industry that concludes that nuclear waste is safe (as long as there are no incidents), would the public take this PR propaganda seriously? One has to wonder whether the Taranaki Regional Council is controlled by the public or by private corporations."

ENDS

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