New Zealand Deep-sea drilling

Anodarko's spill modelling

From Greenpeace,

via Facebook, 13 December, 2013

Getting Anadarko's spill modelling was like getting blood from a stone but today it's finally been released under the Official Information Act - and it's sobering stuff.

This map is taken from Anadarko's own spill modelling. It shows the regions of coast most at risk if a blowout occurs on their current drill-site off the coast of Raglan. Regions in red have a much higher probability of having oil wash ashore than regions in blue.

Anadarko’s modelling assumes a spill rate of 12,000 barrels of oil every day for one well location and 18,000 barrels at another. Greenpeace’s own spill modelling report, released in October, which was called “scare-mongering” by prime minister John Key, assumed a more conservative 10,000 barrels per day.

Anadarko’s oil spill data estimates a spill would reach New Zealand shores in 66.05% of cases in autumn and 51.82% in summer.

The information has only become publicly available this afternoon following requests made under the Official Information Act and in Parliament. Oil companies are required to compile these documents and submit them to government. However, the information was omitted from wider documents made available in September.

The documents are also at the middle of a current High Court case. Earlier this week, lawyers for Greenpeace argued that the government’s Environmental Protection Authority made an ‘error in law’ by allowing Anadarko to go-ahead with its drilling programme without looking at these very documents, which include reports on oil spill modelling and emergency plans to deal with an oil spill.

Simon Bridges has repeatedly claimed that exploratory deepwater drilling “is a highly regulated area where we put businesses like Anadarko through the wringer” .

The industry’s own data shows that oil could end up on our beaches. And there’s more than a hint that the government and the oil lobbyists colluded to keep this secret. They simply do not want the New Zealand public to know about the potential for an oil spill.

The whole government process around deepsea oil drilling has swung between utter farce and total shambles.

The full document release is here: http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/anadarko