TAG Oil said today that it believed the findings of a report which has found its operations are not polluting groundwater is the result of careful planning and hard work.
The Taranaki Regional Council has released the results of an independent groundwater monitoring programme at two of TAG’s sites in the Ngaere area.
"The investigation related to concerns expressed by a few members of the public, over possible effects upon shallow aquifers and surface water in the vicinity of the well sites allegedly as a result of past hydraulic fracturing activities.
"The monitoring showed that there was no evidence of effects from hydraulic fracturing or other hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities, upon shallow groundwater or surface water in the vicinity...... The investigation indicated that the Company demonstrated a high level of environmental performance and compliance with the resource consents."
(The full report can be read here https://bit.ly/ZGoKuY )
TAG Oil Chief Executive Garth Johnson said the findings of the report are exactly what TAG has been striving for.
"I’m proud of our team and their efforts. The vast majority of TAG staff live and work in the regions we carry out our operations, and we all work hard to minimise any impacts to the environment.
"Our aim is to be open and transparent in all operations at all our sites, letting results of our operations and science speak for themselves.
Chief Operating Officer Drew Cadenhead said decades of expertise and resource goes into making TAG’s operations as safe as they can be.
"Long before any drilling is done considerable study and analysis is done on an area of interest, and a huge amount of effort then goes into designing wells of the highest standard," Mr Cadenhead said.
"Then when drilling takes place we make sure the well is constructed using world best practice.
"I have very proud of what we have achieved."
Garth Johnson said he hoped people in Taranaki and on the East Coast - where TAG is about to start its fist exploratory well - who have concerns about oil and gas exploration read the report and see what can be achieved with careful planning and world class standards.
"We will continue to work in the same careful, methodical and safe way that we have for over a decade," he said.