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Story from Tag Locals...Oil drilling 'nightmare' drives out rural couple
FAIRFAX NZ
A Taranaki farming couple are warning others not to fall into the same trap they did when an oil company came knocking. David Morrison and Sarah Roberts said they were so severely affected by the effects of oil drilling work by TAG Oil next to their land they have now left the family farm near Stratford. TAG Oil says its processes have improved and it is reviewing them all the time.
FAIRFAX NZ
"We strive to be a safe and considerate neighbour," TAG Oil country manager Max Murray said. David Morrison said that although the drilling was not carried out on their property, three well sites of up to 40 wells were drilled within a one kilometre radius of their property. "Life became a nightmare," he said. "We had issues with ongoing drilling and fracking with excessive noise, light, smells like nail polish in the air, ongoing flaring, vibrations in the ground and more." Instead of seeing green pastures and scenes of cows happily grazing, the couple were now looking at heavy machinery, cranes and big tanks. Roberts said the couple had already made the decision to retire from farming but had considered staying in the family homestead. "But when another well-site on the east was opened for 10 wells, we decided to move because the small one-lane no-exit road near our house was being used to transport hazardous substances in and out." The couple said they were initially approached on Christmas Eve 2005 by consultants acting on behalf of Astral Pacific, then in a joint venture with TAG Oil. In 2011, consultants from TAG Oil once again met with Morrison and other family members to try to get their consent. "In 2005, the consultants told us they were exploring for oil and gas near the farm," Morrison said. "They explained they would drill an exploratory well which needed our written approval. We were told we wouldn't notice they were there. The consultants also told us that they probably wouldn't find anything and would go." "At the time, we did not know that TAG Oil was planning to move from exploration into production straight away and that the consent they had was for six wells," Morrison said. "This information had not been provided to us by the applicant or the council." Morrison said had he known at the time what TAG Oil's intention was, he would have challenged the consent. "Unfortunately, we were inexperienced in these types of matters, as are many other farmers," he said. "We feel that TAG Oil and the council have taken advantage of our inexperience and lack of knowledge." When consultants approached them in 2011, Morrison was more prepared. This time, TAG Oil was looking to obtain consent for 14 wells (TAG Oil Cheal B well site) on the northern side of the farm and a further 16 wells to the west (TAG Oil Cheal A well site). "We refused to sign." Morrison said. "Because we knew this time it wasn't as it seemed, we asked for all the information from the oil company and the council." TAG Oil representatives visited the couple on several occasions to get them to sign the consent. "When we wouldn't sign, they told us it didn't matter if we didn't sign because they would do what they wanted anyway because the council let them." Roberts said she voiced her concerns about the disruptions, noise and smell to both the local and regional council but was told to speak with the oil company directly. "TAG Oil didn't want to know, they were only interested in getting us to sign off," Morrison said. "When we refused, we were subjected to a hearing." The couple said they had already paid thousands of dollars for a lawyer to help them and could not afford to spend many more thousands to employ expert witnesses to testify about the health and safety issues they had previously experienced. "Our own lawyer told us he couldn't represent us against the oil company in the hearing," Morrison said. "He told us his firm had oil companies as clients and told us to seek counsel from outside of Taranaki as many other firms also had oil company clients and it was a conflict of interest. We spent thousands of dollars for a lawyer to help us." TAG Oil was granted consent but with conditions that limited flaring. Morrison said TAG Oil breached these conditions by flaring continuously for months on end. "Locals including my family made several complaints over many months and eventually the Stratford District Council served abatement notices," he said. "We actually ended up in another hearing in which it was ruled TAG Oil was not able to flare at all and had to build a plant that dealt with the excess gas appropriately." Roberts said other farmers needed to be made aware of the risks of granting approval. "We now understand by signing written approval you give up your rights," she said. "You will no longer be considered as being 'affected' by the council in their decision-making or if you make complaints at a later stage." Responding to the couple's claims, Murray said in a statement he believed the company had "an open and positive relationship with the vast majority of the landowners it has engaged with". TAG worked extremely hard to keep landowners informed about what work was going to happen on each of the sites and to minimise the impact on landowners' and neighbours' day to day lives. He said it was hard to comment on events that occurred before TAG Oil existed. TAG purchased the Cheal A and B sites from Austral Pacific in 2008. Much had changed since then. "TAG's processes have improved and we are reviewing them all the time. Council consenting procedures and monitoring are now more robust. "Although, our systems are robust we are always look to improve them," he said. "I would be happy to sit down with these landowners to see if there are still some lessons that we can learn." Roberts said she and Morrison have heard anecdotal tales of other farmers refusing to give oil companies access so the oil companies moved on. "Oil and gas companies must have legal access to the property where they want to drill," Roberts said. "If someone says 'no' the company can ask for arbitration." The couple said they hope others will learn from their experience should oil and gas companies come knocking on their door. Morrison said, "It starts with a seismic survey. They need written permission for this. Saying 'no' at this stage gives you more protection." "What people don't realise is the effects it will have. If and when you want to leave you find the oil and gas activity is legally placed on your land information, potentially impacting your ability to sell, loan and insure." Roberts said: "We feel we have been treated poorly. Our biggest concern is the oil and gas companies are just going about their business without best practice oversight. We have always felt it is the regulators (regional and district councils) who should be responsible for controlling what happens – we strongly feel this has not happened." |
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Msg # | Subject | Author | Recs | Date Posted |
2562 | Re: Story from Tag Locals... | mollyo | 2 | 7/7/2015 8:33:10 PM |
2563 | Re: Story from Tag Locals... | mollyo | 5 | 7/8/2015 8:38:48 PM |