EPA issues preliminary report on Chatham Rock application

EPA issues preliminary report on Chatham Rock Phosphate application

The Environmental Protection Authority has issued a preliminary report on the marine consent application by Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (CRP) for its phosphate mining project on the Chatham Rise.

The report, which is an input into the decision-making process for determining the application, evaluates the information that CRP has provided to the EPA in support of its application as at 7 August 2014.

It provides the EPA staff view on the potential adverse effects of the proposed mining operations and discusses the matters which should be addressed by the Decision-making Committee when making its decision on the application.

EPA General Manager of Applications and Assessment Sarah Gardner said it was important to note that the process for considering the application was still at an early stage.

“Further information on the application and its effects is to come from both the applicant, and in the form of evidence and submissions from other parties. Our assessment of that information has the potential to alter the recommendations made in our current Staff Report.”

Mrs Gardner said that on the face of the application at this time, and without all of the information requested of CRP yet being available, the EPA was currently unable to recommend that the application be granted.

“However, this is not the decision on the application and the Decision-making Committee appointed by the EPA Board to hear and decide the application may make a different decision to that recommended by EPA staff.”

The hearing on the CRP application by the Decision-making Committee is scheduled to start on 25 September with a decision due around 18 December 2014.

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