- David Burroughs

regulating against harmful substances being discharged into the sea.

Appeals would be made on the interpretation of the law under the Act.

Kevin Hackwell, conservation advisor to environmental lobby group Forest & Bird, said it had yet to decide on whether it would appeal.

‘‘We’re looking carefully at appealing but will we need to satisfy ourselves we have a strong case to put forward.’’

Forest & Bird last year successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal over a High Court decision that allowed 22 hectares of conservation land to be swapped for 170ha of farmland to enable the Ruataniwha Dam in Hawke’s Bay to be built.

The conservation group had argued it was wrong to allow the conservation land’s speciallyprotected status to be revoked for commercial development. The appeal was upheld in the Supreme Court in February.

Hackwell said any Forest & Bird appeal to the High Court on the TTR decision would focus on both the final decision and the process used to reach that decision.

Both aspects will be analysed carefully to see if they can be challenged on points of law, he said.

‘‘We will have a full analysis of the decision and then decide if we have enough for a sound appeal.’’

The fact that the decision-making committee was split, the conditions imposed for TTR to have a two-year monitoring programme before it could begin mining, and the tight time frame to complete the submission process all suggested there needed to be more information, he said.

Hackwell said appeals were costly and legal fees would likely run into ‘‘tens of thousands of dollars’’.

He criticised the way fighting complex and expensive environmental decisions was left to groups like Forest & Bird and not government departments, such as the Department of Conservation, which had the legislative requirement to protect marine mammals.

The EPA sought advice from DOC through the submission process, including the effects of seabed mining on whales.

Hackwell said DOC had ‘‘ducked for cover’’ on the TTR mining application. ‘‘It is now left up to groups like Forest & Bird, and the community to do the job of DOC, using our own funding and resources. ‘‘We shouldn’t have to do this.’’ The South Taranaki Bight is an exclusive habitat for endangered blue whales, and up to 33 marine mammal species were found in the area.

The absence of DOC in submission hearings had a bearing on the final decision making, Hackwell said.

DOC chose not to submit to the application, which was TTR’s second attempt to mine the area, because it was satisfied all conservation measures had been met.

Scientists believed the fine sand plume from the mining process would sink to the sea floor faster than first thought, the department said.

All groups have 15 working days from the decision date to lodge an appeal in the High Court.

‘‘The timeframe is tight but we have a very good record with our appeals and we should have a chance at appealing,’’ Hackwell said.