19 November 2013

Oil spill risk highlights flotilla’s purpose

The Green Party has today revealed information which shows that one out of every 30 deep sea oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico has had a spill.

“John Key misled New Zealanders when he said that there have been 50,000 wells in the Gulf of Mexico and only one problem; in fact one out of every 30 deep sea wells has had a spill,” said Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

Mr Hughes was responding to information from the United States’ Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which shows that there have been 74 spills of 7 tonnes or greater from the 2256 deep sea wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. This is one spill for every 30 deep sea wells.

“There have been 73 spills from deep sea oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico which have, in total, leaked oil and chemicals into the ocean equal to the size of 10.5 Rena spills. That is in addition to Anadarko and BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster which spilled 600,000 tonnes of oil, killing countless wildlife and causing over $40 billion in clean up,” said Mr Hughes.

“These numbers provide a compelling case for why the Oil Free Seas flotilla is standing up to Anadarko and the National Government and standing up for the protection of our clean, green environment from an oil spill.

“With confrontation currently occurring offshore, the question is, will this Government adopt the Vladimir Putin approach and arrest the good New Zealand citizens of the Oil Free Seas flotilla who are standing up for a clean, green environment?

“After all, this is the Government that has limited the civil liberties of New Zealanders in order to protect the financial interests of Anadarko, the very company which was partially responsible for the worst oil spill disaster the world has ever seen.”

Mr Hughes was referring to the Government’s recent changes to the Crown Minerals Act which limit protesting at sea.

“It is irresponsible of this Government to risk an oil spill when there are more jobs in clean energy, an industry which Price Waterhouse Coopers says could be a $22 billion industry in New Zealand,” said Mr Hughes.

References:
Link to documents and statistics here: https://www.greens.org.nz/node/32678

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