OMV have been Fracking in Our Big Blue Backyard since 2009 - Frack Free Kapiti say CLOSE THEM DOWN!

Evidence given at the EPA hearing of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) at sea blows the industry accepted line that fracking is not happening offshore in New Zealand right out of the water.

OMV say they have been using water “injection above fracture initiation pressure” to maximise oil recovery since 2009. And if that doesn’t set kiwi alarm bells ringing-there’s more: OMV say their ‘water injection scheme’ did not achieve anticipated efficiency. So after drilling and fracking any number of twelve wells with disappointing results they are now seeking EPA consent to drill another seven wells in the same field to ‘improve production’. The EPA hearing has closed and a decision is now pending.

“It was obvious they were fracking at the Maari oil field, they just used different words to describe the practise of blasting water and chemicals down wells under pressure enough to blow the subsurface rock formations apart. Whatever you want to call it, a water injection scheme or fracking, it is an extreme on unconventional extraction method being used in New Zealand that is scientifically untested.

Just like legal highs, unconventional mining methods have been imported without any scientific testing. No one knows how dangerous they are or how they affect our environment and communities now or in future. What we do know, as with the legal highs, there is a hell of a lot of poisonous chemicals involved and profit without regard of consequence is the motivator. Like legal highs, the the use of fracking needs to be stopped with scientific trests are done and the practise proves safe-or not.

Unlike legal highs, fracking and deep well injection does cause earthquakes.
Be it OMV style fracking, the common fracking or deep well injection of the waste, man-made earthquakes (or induced seismicity) are a documented phenomenon around the globe and scientific studies are showing links between deep well injection activities and quakes like the 5.7 magnitude quake in Oklahoma, the 5.3 in Colorado and the largest earthquake recorded in east Texas at 4.8. “ said Jean Kahui Coordinator at Frack Free Kapiti.

It is very difficult for everyday kiwis to have any idea of what is going on in our waters and how future generations will be effected because OMV (and other oil companies) are very guarded about what they are doing and how much contaminated waste they are dumping into our once pristine marine environment. There is very little monitoring of the industry offshore and NZ best practice guidelines encourage self-monitoring.

However, OMV’s current application before the EPA has required them to consult with parties who would be affected by their activities and by accidents and/or oil spills. Frack Free Kapiti’s research shows OMV have not consulted with anyone representing the Kapiti community. Not one of the three Iwi on the Kapiti Coast, not the GWRC and not even KCDC. Frack Free Kapiti have submitted this information to the EPA, but do not know how the EPA will proceed.

“We hope the application will be put on hold and OMV be instructed to consult with those who represent Kapiti. We have already experienced a small oil spill from OMV’s Maari field in 2010. A substantial spill would be devastating. And of equal concern is to contaminated waste from the drilling and the oil processing that is being discharged directly into our big blue backyard –constantly- and at temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius!

The Environmental Protection Authority have heard all the evidence they are going to before deciding if OMV can continue drilling wells at the Maari oil field -or not.

(Both GWRC and KCDC were notified of OMV's application by the EPA and invited to make a submission, neither did.)

See: Supplementary statement of evidence of Karl-Heinz Zelt for OMV New Zealand Limited Maari Subsurface Technical Expertise 12 November 2014.

ENDS

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