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Wild Coast seismic survey fears extinguished after court sets application aside
Part B of the legal challenge was reviewed and set aside, with costs.
Cows on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. Applications for a seismic survey due to take place in the province have been set aside. Photo: iStock
The Makhanda High Court has finally put an end to the months-long seismic survey exploration request due to take place along the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast.
On Thursday, Part B of the legal challenge was reviewed and set aside, with costs.
This after a renewal of the exploration right 12/3/252 was made.
The survey would have granted Shell South Africa the right to conduct seismic surveys in the Transkei and Algoa exploration areas in an attempt to find oil and gas.
ALSO READ: EXPLAINER: What’s the fuss about Shell’s seismic survey?
Previous interdicts
The first interdict was heard in the Grahamstown Court in Makhanda on 17 December, and was brought against the petroleum giant and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe by Natural Justice, Greenpeace Africa, Border Deep Sea Angling Association and Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club.
Other respondents included Forestry, Fisheries and Environment minister Barbara Creecy, Impact Africa Limited and BG International Limited.
Acting Judge Avinash Govindjee dismissed the first interdict with costs, after ruling the arguments presented by the applicants were not enough to convince him that the planned 3D seismic survey should not take place.
Shell and Mantashe were hit with a fresh urgent interdict after the first dismissal, this time by the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), Sustaining the Wild Coast and the Dwesa-Cwebe Communal Property Association.
But Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC, who represented concerned community organisations, said even if residents took the matter up through an internal appeal, Mantashe had clearly “nailed his colours to the Shell mast”.
Community rejoices
The organisations opposing the survey were elated by the court’s decision.
“Winning this case means that we are not alone – the courts are with us in protecting the ocean – which is for all the citizens of South Africa to benefit from and enjoy.
“My hope for this coastline is to protect it for my kids, my community and everyone who has a relationship with the ocean,” Amadiba Crisis Committee member Siyabonga Ndovela said.
Non-profit organisation Natural Justice said the decision affirmed “the values of nature, and protects our communities and their resources for future generations.”
ALSO READ: Shell: Mantashe loses appeal against Wild Coast seismic survey
Seismic survey dangers
Shell SA argued that conducting an environmental impact assessment (EIA) when it applied for the oil and gas exploration permit in 2013 was not a legal requirement.
The survey would have involved blasting seismic airgun arrays in water depths of between 700m and 3,000m.
Airguns produce loud, repetitive blasts as often as every 10 seconds. Pressurised air blasts propel through the ocean, into the seafloor, to look for fuel sources.
A number of surveys conducted in the Atlantic Ocean in North America found the noise from airguns could disturb, injure or kill marine animals – from zooplankton to large whales.
Oceana reports this fact has been conceded by the US government, which allows over five million seismic airgun blasts every year.
