KEY POINTS:
Mining company Solid Energy has spent millions on environmental protest management, including $25 million in one dispute.
Solid Energy confirmed the cost of managing the Happy Valley protest and delayed shipments from its main export coal mine at Stockton was $25 million - as reported by carbonnews.co.nz today.
But a Solid Energy spokesperson said those costs were related to the last financial year.
The company yesterday reported a $2.7 million loss for the first half of its new financial year, due to production difficulties at Stockton and lower than expected demand from Genesis Energy's Huntly power station.
The Stockton protest was staged by the Save Happy Valley Coalition over the fate of a population of giant native snails, preventing the mine's expansion for months.
Carbonnews, a website monitoring carbon markets, said Solid Energy spent around $10m collecting and resettling thousands of the snails, while battling the protesters through the courts.
Yesterday Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior blockaded a ship carrying 60,000 tonnes of Solid Energy coal bound for export.
Greenpeace has called on the Government to put a cap on coal exports, halt the expansion of coal mining and strengthen the emissions trading scheme to help address climate change.
- NZPA
