Rare flesh-eating snails star in controversial doco

Environmental groups say a $50,000 Solid Energy documentary on the removal of rare carnivorous snails from one of its mine sites is a rampant case of "greenwashing".

But the state coal mining company's chief executive Don Elder has denied the documentary – unveiled to media and sector groups today – is a propaganda exercise.

Solid Energy has come under fire from anti-climate change groups and those wishing to preserve West Coast habitats where it mines, with Greenpeace this week attempting to blockade a ship carrying Solid Energy's coal from leaving Lyttelton port.

But Dr Elder said the documentary, which was released alongside Solid Energy's 2007 environmental report, was testament to a company that was committed to carefully managing its environmental impact.

"We never intended it to be a propaganda movie, but a historic record of something that's truly important in New Zealand's bio-diversity history."

The company's environmental report said it spent $20 million in the past year mitigating the negative effects of its mining activities, resulting in an overall "net positive effect on the environment".

The 20-minute documentary, titled Snail the Movie, traces the company's repatriation of the Powelliphanta Augustus snail from its West Coast Stockton mine site to nearby areas.

The relocation of the 6000 rare worm-eating snails, believed to only exist on the ridgeline, was a requirement of its mining permit.

Dr Elder said Solid Energy was proud of the ground breaking 10-year project, despite it taking a $10 million bite out of the company's balance sheet in the first three years.

The company's environmental manager Mark Pizey said he was hopeful the snails would survive in their new environment despite two of three groups relocated so far experiencing death rates of around 20-30 per cent.

The Department of Conservation, which has worked alongside Solid Energy on the project, has warned that might not be enough to ensure the snail's long-term survival in the wild.

But it has also said the deaths might have been caused by a harsh winter and a long dry summer.

However, the Save Happy Valley Coalition, which has campaigned against mining at Stockton and other nearby sites, today said the documentary was an attempt by Solid Energy to make itself appear environmentally friendly when the opposite was true.

"I would call it an absolute greenwash," spokesman Graham Jury told NZPA.

The high death rates suggested the snail was not equipped to live in the areas where it had been repatriated and it was foolish of Solid Energy to move the species before any research had been done on what it needed in order to survive.

"Instead Solid Energy proceeded to destroy their entire habitat, which they had evolved to over millions of years."

Greenpeace climate change spokeswoman Carmen Gravatt said Solid Energy's claim to environmental responsibility was ridiculous when coal was one of the major contributors to a build up in greenhouse gases.

One of the company's business strategies appeared to be to convince industrial users to convert from using natural gas to coal, which was even worse for the environment.

"There is no environmentally sustainable future in coal, yet they are attempting to expand its use relentlessly," she said.

- NZPA