Those who value our ocean and beaches should join protests to stop such exploration, writes activist Khalid Mather

retained as the agency tasked with gaining environmental clearance. The public finally had a chance to participate.

The processes, which form part of the EIA, were held over three days in a rushed fashion at the three hubs of economic importance (according to ERM) at Richards Bay, Durban and Port Shepstone on February 6, 7 and 8 respectively.

People in Durban, renowned for its beaches, wildlife and activism, came to the meeting with teeth bared. The initial meeting held on February 7 at the Tropicana Hotel in Durban met strong opposition from NGOS, civil society and many concerned citizens who rejected the rape of the eastern seaboard in pursuit of oil and gas.

No representatives from the government or Sasol were present at the meeting, leaving ERM and ENI struggling to engage the wider public, culminating in an impasse with a resounding “no” from the public for the EIA to be passed and for the drilling itself to not go ahead.

The outcry generated by the Durban meeting hoped to ignite a similar response in Port Shepstone and, ultimately, forced ERM and ENI to initiate a second Durban meeting at Austerville (home base of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, SDCEA) on February 28 where ERM and ENI again came to engage the community about its concerns.

Sasol and the department were once more absent, fundamentally mooting the point of national engagement for the people of the east coast.

The protracted battle to stop the drilling was again laid on the shoulders of society and not the government as people demanded that ENI and ERM come to the table with Sasol and the government in tow.

On the technical side, it was discerned that ENI had employed seismic prospecting to develop the proposed locations for its drill wells, a process that has been linked to sea canyon degradation, whale beaching and huge stress to ocean life.

Clair Alborough of ERM presented the scope of the environmental impact at the meetings with an entire slide show dedicated to coastal hazards which ERM internally deemed irrelevant as it fell under the “potential impacts” moniker.

Potential impacts included further degrading Durban’s air quality (a sad reality faced by many in the south), physically disturbing the already sensitive seabed (Durban has a sand bypass system that already places the sediment under strain) and impact on the local economy (which would be a negative as technicians and engineers would be outsourced for the drill rig).

When it comes to environmental justice, activists are often met with the argument of impeding economic growth. However, when interrogated on how the oil and drilling operation would create local employment, ERM and ENI responded by stating that ship and rig workers may buy food supplies from the local beachfront populace.

This arrogance outraged active citizens who had already felt done down by the trivialising of the eastern seaboard communities to three points on a blue map (which can be observed in the draft scoping report on ERM’S website).

There seems little that can be done for the alarmed people of the east coast as the EIA process merely ticks a box as completed with comments and concerns addressed by the consultancy, despite the public outcry.

Unperturbed by the rigidity of the process, SDCEA reached across the continent to draw comment from Nigerian citizens and learned that the Ikebiri community in Bayelsa state had sued ENI in an Italian court over oil spills in its community.

Pollution of the Niger Delta, which would affect the developing nation for many years, sets the stage for ENI and thus the fears of a similar oil spill in the rapid Agulhas current are not unfounded.

The combination of the Agulhas, deep sea canyons and the warm Indian Ocean serve many spectacular animals, including turtles, coelacanths and the celebrated sardines.

These attractions mired by an oil spill, or merely the production waste and vibration from the drilling process, will surely diminish tourism, the backbone of Durban’s economic infrastructure.

The period for public comment by ERM was extended in short spurts, but orchestrated in such a way as to not allow for digestion and rebuttal of the pertinent information.

As the date for comments passes, citizens will see their hopes pass that oil and gas exploration will not visit their shores in 2019.

Mather works for Wild Enterprise, a division of Wildland, and wrote this in his personal capacity.