Banners on the Beach to Oppose Deep Sea Drilling

At 12 noon on Saturday Oil Free Otago will be hosting a Banners on the Beach event at St Clair Beach in Dunedin. The event is part of a South Island day of action when at least 18 communities from, Golden Bay to Bluff, will gather on a local beach to voice their opposition to deep sea drilling off the coasts of New Zealand.

This week Anadarko's drillship, arrived 60km off the Dunedin coast to begin drilling their deep sea oil and gas exploration well. They were met by community leaders on board two yachts from the Oil Free Otago Flotilla who outlined their concerns for the drilling plans, and requested that Anadarko leave New Zealand waters.

"After meeting the drillship last week, it's important that our community stands up against deep sea drilling, to let Anadarko know that the opposition is not going to go away," said Niamh O'Flynn, spokesperson for Oil Free Otago.

The drillship will be drilling off the coast of Tairoa Heads for approximately 30 days before moving to the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko will then decide whether the results of the exploratory drill make commercial drilling in Otago waters economically viable.

"Whether they find oil or gas, or nothing at all, our job in the long term is to make sure that Anadarko abandons its drilling plans, for the sake of our climate, and to make way for innovative, clean technology," said O'Flynn.

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