Shell plans to embark on its major seismic survey off the coast between Morgan Bay in the south and Port St Johns in the north have been given the go-ahead.
Image via Twitter @NewFrame_News
Shell will be blasting: Application to stop Wild Coast survey dismissed
The High Court in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape has dismissed an urgent application to stop Shell’s plans to blast through the Wild Coast.
Shell plans to embark on its major seismic survey off the coast between Morgan Bay in the south and Port St Johns in the north have been given the go-ahead.
Image via Twitter @NewFrame_News
Shell has been given the go-ahead for their plans to do seismic testing off the Wild Coast in search of new oil and gas deposits. The High Court in Makhanda, Eastern Cape dismissed an urgent application brought forward by a number of environmental organisations to stop the survey which they say pose a threat to sea and birdlife.
Despite the disappointing outcome, environmental organisations will not be giving up without a fight.
Judge dismisses application to stop Shell’s seismic survey
Several environmental organisations, including Green Peace Africa, Natural Justice, and Border Deep Sea Angling, have had their application to stop Shell’s Wild Coast blasting plans dismissed.
Judge Avinash Govindjee of the High Court in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape argued that the environmental organisations had not given enough evidence that the seismic survey would cause significant damage to the Wild Coast’s sealife and birdlife.
Govindjee also said that Shell has provided details of compliance with its Environmental Management Programme which showed that the proper measures will be put in place as it explores hydrocarbon reserves in the Transkei and Algoa areas off the coast of the Eastern Cape starting this December.
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“Upon consideration of the affidavits as a whole according to facts and probabilities, the outcomes are the same and I must exercise discretion to reject the application,” Govindjee said.
Not over yet
Legal Resources Centre – an organisation that represents the Wild Coast community – say that Shell still cannot forge ahead with their plans unless they get environmental authorisation in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, Cape Town ETC reports.
“The fishing communities say that Shell’s 2013 Management Programme is embarrassingly inadequate in its recognition of the existence of these communities, their cultural connection to the ocean and their socio-economic reliance on the marine resource,” a statement from Legal Resources Centre says.
The publication also reports that marine scientists, Drs Simon Elwin and Tess Gridley have also filed a report with the court that highlights the impact of seismic surveys on marine life.
The report urges the court to take into account that Shell’s Environmental Management Programme – which was developed in 2013 – is outdated and cannot be relied on to properly determine the harm that the seismic survey will have on both the ocean and the community.
ALSO READ: #OceansNotOil: Giant wave of protest hits Shell’s Wild Coast plan
