31 March 2009

Meridian can't see the Mokihinui eels for the trees

The Green Party has firmly rejected Meridian's suggestion of a land-swap to mitigate the impact of its proposed Mokihinui hydro dam because it ignores the main species at risk - the eels and other native fish that inhabit the unique Mokihinui River gorge.

"The only way to compensate for the loss of this river gorge and its prolific aquatic biodiversity would be to donate another river, and that is simply not possible", said Green Party Conservation Spokesperson Metiria Turei.

Today, on the closing day for further submissions to the Council commissioners on the Mokihinui project, Meridian has announced a proposed land-swap whereby it would add 794 hectares of land to the conservation estate in exchange for the 225ha that would be destroyed by the dam.

"Don't be fooled by the numbers, despite offering over three times the quantity of land in compensation, Meridian is completely ignoring the quality of the land being destroyed."

Meridian-contracted scientists from Landcare Research have shown it is the superb and abundant quality of the river that is the defining feature of the Mokihinui gorge, and that would be sacrificed to the dam.

Meridian sought to keep this report secret. However, the Green Party ensured it was made public and available to the Commissioners assessing the proposal by tabling it in Parliament last year.

"Landcare's scientists found the dam's impact on the river to be completely impossible to offset", Mrs Turei said.

"Meridian's land-swap offer is simply green-wash, in the same way as its new TV advertisement with celebrity Newsboy standing in front of a beautiful waterfall, green-washes the bare fact that their Mokihinui dam would destroy many such waterfalls.

"This land-exchange in no way satisfies the tests of the Resource Management Act, nor the Conservation Act - it is not like-for-like and it is not consistent with the purpose for which the Mokihinui gorge is held.

"It is scientifically flawed to suggest that impact on river species can be offset by benefitting land species elsewhere."

Green Party West Coast-based MP Kevin Hague added, "Meridian's persistence with this proposal against the overwhelming scientific evidence that it is of significant damage to the environment is very disappointing.

"The Stockton hydro project, not far away from the Mokihinui, would be a much better option to secure better electricity supply on the coast. The proposed Stockton scheme would contribute to cleaning up the polluted Ngakawau River.

"Developing new renewable energy opportunities is essential for New Zealand, but we do not need to put them in the worst possible places and sacrifice our most precious biodiversity.

Today the Green Party lodged a further submission on the Mokihinui proposal, including arguing that the Landcare Report it appended to its original submission should be given significant weighting. Meridian did not supply the Landcare Report in its evidence because it was harmful to its case.

References: The original Green Party submission (quoting the Landcare Report): http://www.wcrc.govt.nz/mokihinui/submissions.html The Green Party's further submission: The Stockton proposal: http://www.hydrodevelopments.co.nz/

ENDS

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