20,000 signatures reached
To: To the House of Representatives
Don't fast track Te Waikoropupū!
We urge the Cabinet and the joint Ministers:
- Not to list Sams Creek Mine in Schedule 2 of the Fast-Track Approvals Bill, in recognition of the significant risk to Te Waikoropupū Springs
- To amend the Fast Track Approvals Bill (by Supplementary Order Paper if necessary) so that activities that are contrary to any of the sixteen Water Conservation Orders are specifically excluded from the Bill.
Why is this important?
Te Waikoropupū Springs have some of the clearest water ever measured on earth. Last year the Springs received a Water Conservation Order (WCO) from the Environment Court. The WCO gives a special cloak of protection that which councils must abide by when considering resource consents.
Yet if the Fast Track Approvals Bill were to pass into law the way it is written, the Government would be able to bypass the protections the WCO gives Te Waikoropupū Springs.
We have also become aware that Siren Gold Mining has been invited to fast track an application to mine in the Golden Bay area under Sam’s Creek.
Sam’s Creek Mine is essentially an arsenic mine. Up to eleven million tonnes of arsenic-laden rock will be mined. The processing of the rock will most likely happen at a plant to be developed on farmland in the Upper Takaka Valley. Arsenic-laden rock will be pounded to a fine powder and passed into a slime heap containing cyanide and other chemicals. The ore's high arsenic content would leave over 75,000 tonnes of highly toxic substance in the slime heap once the gold is removed.
If the slime heap were to leak into the aquifer, as is likely to happen over time, it would mean the stygofauna in the aquifer would die and the crystal-clear waters be lost forever.
The Save Our Springs Campaign was formed to protect Te Waikoropupu Springs. Thousands of people have worked over many years to protect the precious taonga that is Te Waikoropupū Springs. We are still planning to deliver our 17,000 strong petition to Save Te Waikoropupū Springs from the threat of synthetic nitrogen.
We must draw a line and speak up before the Fast Track Bill becomes law. Unless there are changes all 16 Water Conservation Orders around the country will be threatened.
Sign our urgent petition to save te Waikoropupū from the fast tracked gold mine! Help us stop the Fast-Track being the death trap for Te Waikoropupū.
Links:
Fast track: What’s the story? Greenpeace, March 2024
Waikoropupū Springs water conservation order, Ministry for the Environment
Waikoropupū Springs water conservation order, Ministry for the Environment
Maps: Te Waikoropupū Springs
How it will be delivered
We will deliver the petition to Parliament before the second reading, expected in September 2024.