Community call for audit of Regional Council

FROM: Climate Justice Taranaki

DATE: 27 July 2012 - for immediate release

Climate Justice Taranaki and concerned community groups across the country are launching a campaign tomorrow (Saturday 28 July) to call on the Auditor General to scrutinise Taranaki Regional Council's regulation of the oil and gas industry.

A petition has been initiated stating "We have concerns with poor regulating and monitoring of drill sites, production stations, fracking operations and landfarms in the Taranaki region. This insufficient protection of the environment and community has placed families, workers, wildlife, stock and our farming and fishing economy at considerable risk of contamination both historically and now. We believe TRC has been derelict in their duties as regulators by not ensuring regular appropriate scientific testing and compliance with consents."

The petition will be officially launched at the end of the Dirty As Regional Fracking Tour this Saturday, which takes at least two bus loads of concerned citizens and media to several industry sites of concern in Taranaki. A report detailing those concerns will also be revealed on the tour.

A previous petition launched by these groups resulted in an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and a call for a moratorium on fracking. Dunedin council joined the growing number of councils around the country calling for the moratorium, this week.

ENDS

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