Govt & Industry documents

Some IMPORTANT NZ GOVERNMENT and COMPANY DOCUMENTS
(in reversed chronological order)

To see current maps of block offers and permits for petroleum and minerals prospecting, exploration and mining across NZ, click Ministry of Economic Development – petroleum and mineral permits

To see what consent applications for oil and gas activities have been submitted to Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) as of 16 April 2014, click here

To see what resource consents (summary) are being issued by TRC in non-agricultural and agricultural discharge, water take, structures, click here

To access TRC monitoring reports from oil & gas industry sites click here

Ministry of Primary Industries, 2014. Report on the Targeted Surveillance of Milk from Animals potentially Exposed to Petrochemical Mining Waste, MPI Technical Paper No. 2014/24 (August 2014) – Read also veterinarian Alan Thatcher’s critique on the report.

Colorado House Bill 14-1297: Concerning an analysis to determine whether oil and gas operations have an impact on human health along the Front Range (April 2014) – NZ should have a bill to this effect, with focus on Taranaki communities surrounded by oil and gas activities!

Gisborne District Council consents for Tag Oil Waitangi-1 wellsite (March 2014)

Tag Oil letter to Norfolk School re new Sidewinder B wellsite proposal and Tag Oil Sidewinder B Norfolk school site consultation plan consultation map (Feb 2014)

Letters from Ministry of Primary Industry and Ministry of Food Safety re milk truck contamination, 17 Dec 2013

Stratford District Plan Review – Managing energy resource development and the effects on climate change – Discussion document and Appendices (SDC, Dec 2013) – Consultation and submission till 14 Feb 2014

Future directions for the management of oil and gas operations in the Taranaki region – Review of the regional freshwater plan for Taranaki (TRC, Nov 2013)

Guide to managing oil and gas exploration and development activities under the Resource Management Act (TRC, first released in March 2013, updated in Oct 2013)

TRC submission to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on future regulation of fracking (TRC, Oct 2013)

Presentations at the Hasting Oil and Gas Symposium from environmental, cultural, science (geological and hydrological) and economic perspectives (11 October 2013)

A few TRC landfarm consents in full:

– Consent_7884-1_Landfarm Brown Rd 8 July 2011 for BTW Brown Rd landfarm “to discharge wastes from hydrocarbon exploration, well work-over, production and storage activities, onto and into land via landfarming…”

– Consent 7942-1 (21 Oct 2011) for BTW Kakaramea landfarm

– Consent 7613-1 (23 March 2010) for BTW South Road Oeo landfarm

TRC Ordinary meeting on 13 Aug 2013 – note Trans-Tasman Resources will present their iron ore proposal, “The proposed extraction is just beyond the RMA boundary and there will be environmental effects within the area regulated by this Council under the RMA. The EPA may wish to access the resource management expertise at the Council to assist in the processing of the marine consent application….”

TRC consents and regulatory committee meeting on 23 July 2013 – note numerous incidents and infringements, also first groundwater monitoring report relating to fracking at Turangi-B wellsite, and GNS report by Zemansky re deep well injection…

OMV Taranaki Basin exploratory, appraisal and development drilling 2013-2014: Environmental Impact Assessment (14 June 2013, REM) – an important document re offshore drilling, note the discharge of drill cuttings to sea and via landfarming.

Zemansky,G. (2013) Review of regulation of deep well injection under the Resource Management Act, GNS Science Consultancy

Report 2012/200.

TRC consents and regulatory committee meeting on 11 June 2013 – note Cheal deepwell injection report with abatement notices and modelling study on flaring of fracking fluid

Atmospheric dispersion modelling of discharges to air of from the flaring of fracturing fluid (March 2013) – Report by Air Quality Management Ltd. “on the specific instructions” of TRC, released in June 2013

TRC consents and regulatory committee meeting on 19 March 2013 – lists 30+ non-notified consents for oil/gas operations between 25 Jan and 7 March 2013, and links to four oil/gas monitoring reports.

New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) policy meeting Live Streams and Recording (26 Feb 2013) – Note at 33 minutes David Morrison’s (Taranaki landowner) response on “Block Offer 2013 – Developing NZ’s Oil and Gas Resources”, and at 1 hour 18 minutes council discussion about it.

Tararua District Council Resource Consent for Tag Oil and Apache Ngapaeruru Road-Ngapaerur Mangahei (13 Feb 2013)

South Taranaki District Council (STDC) notified resource consent report re Shell Todd Oil Services wellsite activities with noise emission and hazardous substances non-compliance and extension of submission period…, in STDC Special Environment and Hearings Committee Meeting Agenda, 11 Feb 2013 (pdf 6.88 Mb).

NPDC planning report re LUC12/45599 Greymouth Petroleum Kowhai-B wellsite consent (16 Nov 2012) – Note the extremely high hazardous substances effects ratios and proximity to streams, a home and school.

Evaluating the environmental impacts of fracking in New Zealand: An interim report (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Nov 2012)

South Taranaki District Council information report re Shell Todd’s consent for the remediation and removal of contaminated soil from flare/blowdown pits at four Kapuni wellsites (7 August 2012)

Tag Oil and Apache Ngapaeruru-1 Exploratory Well Drilling and Testing Waste Management Plan (31 July 2012)

Tag Oil and Apache Gisborne District Exploratory Well Drilling and Testing Waste Management Plan (6 June 2012)

Alberta Energy Regulator Directive 050: Drilling waste management (May 2012) – an important reference as Taranaki regional council often refers to Canadian standards. See also
Directive 058: Oilfield waste management requirements for the upstream petroleum industry and Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines with many useful fact sheets on contaminants.

Hydrogeological risk assessment of hydraulic fracturing for gas recovery in the Taranaki Region, Taranaki Regional Council, published on 24 Nov 2011, updated on 17 Feb 2012, latest revision dated 28 May 2012 (1.9 Mb)

South Taranaki District Council Landuse Consent Report RML12028 Removal of flare/blowdown pit earthen bunds and potential removal of contaminated soil at Kapuni well site KA2, 30 April 2012.

Gas flare report from Cheal to Taranaki Regional Council, April 2012 (32 kb)

Appendix I-III Material Safety Data Sheets for Fracturing Products, Hydrogeological risk assessment of hydraulic fracturing for gas recovery in the Taranaki Region, Taranaki Regional Council, version of 28 May 2012 (10 Mb)

An assessment of the effects of hydraulic fracturing on seismicity in the Taranaki region, GNS, Feb 2012 (1.4 Mb)

Shell Todd Oil Services’ Application to TRC for Four Discharge Consents and Assessment of Environmental Effects – Hydraulic fracture stimulation at four existing wellsites within the Kapuni field (Jan 2012, PDF 8.2 Mb)

TRC letter to consent holders (companies) re Fraccing under the Resource Management Act 1991 (29 July 2011)

Todd Taranaki Limited Mangahewa C wellsite Monitoring Programme Annual Report 2009-2010 (March 2011) – TRC doc 731654 now available on TRC website. – This is the report wherein Todd’s performance was rated “poor”.

New Plymouth District Council resource consent for Tag Oil Sidewinder A wellsite, May 2010.

Abandoned oil and gas wells a reconnaissance study of an unconventional geothermal resource.pdf (1.86 Mb)
GNS Science, Reyes, A.G. 2007

Several essential GOVERNMENT WEBSITES for doing YOUR OWN RESEARCH and understanding the “system”:

Environmental Protection Authority, EEZ Act (Exclusive Economic Zone) with impact assessments submitted by oil and gas companies seeking to drill in waters 200 nm offshore.

Crown Minerals Act 1991 – note especially sections 47-80 re “Access to Land…”

Auditor-General’s Overview: Guidance for members of local authorities about the local authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968

Taranaki Regional Council – resource consents issued

Ministry for Environment – Resource Management Act