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Posted on 29-5-2003
The
Grubby Side Of Solid Energy
(Photo shows Don Elder, CEO Solid Energy)
Auckland, 28 May 2003: Greenpeace criticised SOE Solid Energy
for
advocating so-called clean coal power stations and misleading
the
public about the dirty nature of it’s mining operations. “Coal
remains a
health and environmental villain from mine to sky. Solid Energy’s
PR spin
doesn’t change that fact,” said Greenpeace Climate Campaigner
Vanessa
Atkinson. “Solid Energy’s CEO Don Elder recent claims that coal
is “clean”
and that the company’s coal is “virtually sustainable” are fundamentally
wrong.”
The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is a major
contributor to climate change.
Yesterday former Solid Energy geologist Paul Caffyn stated that
the company
had caused the worst environmental damage in the 160-
year history of the Strongman mine. According to The Press,
Mr Caffyn said
explosions at the Strongman Mine near Greymouth had caused landslips
down
Doherty and Waterfall Creeks that had together dumped more than
60,000
cubic metres of mining debris into Ten Mile Creek. In addition,
an
uncontrolled coal-seam fire was so strong the glare was seen
well offshore
by fishing boats who used it as a night-time navigation aid.
A West Coast Regional Council study has shown that up to 500
km of West
Coast creeks and rivers are contaminated from historic and present
coal
mines. The pollution is caused when coal and coal dust is exposed
to air
and water, creating sulphuric acid which leaches
into waterways. “Solid Energy has tried to scrub off the grime
and give
coal a media makeover in recent months. CEO Don Elder has been
hustling his
coal power plant ideas to MPs, the media and the public. Both
the burning
of coal for energy and it’s extraction take a huge toll on the
environment
and it’s time that the SOE was called to account”. “Since 1984
the US
government subsidised their coal industry by
$US1.8 billion dollars to try and make ‘coal clean’. However,
it is
economically impossible to remove carbon dioxide one of the
major
greenhouse global warming gases from coal, so truly pollution-free
coal
power stations will never happen.”
Burning coal also releases sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and
toxic
mercury contaminants. “New Zealand’s future is in clean renewable
energy
sources such as wind and solar, not dirty old coal. The Government
must
lead the way and develop an energy strategy that will phase
out fossil
fuels and secure 100% renewable energy for New Zealand by 2020.
They must
not buy into Solid Energy’s dirty dreams of a polluting powered
future.”
For information contact: Greenpeace Climate Campaigner, Vanessa
Atkinson
021 565 165 or Greenpeace Communications Officer Dean Baigent-Mercer
021
790 817
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