The Green Connection and Natural Justice have opposed TotalEnergies EP South Africa’s (Teepsa) application for production rights and environmental authorisation to develop oil and gas wells off the coast of the Western and Eastern Cape.
The environmental groups recently submitted their comments on the scoping process of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the project, saying it had several shortcomings, which would affect the interests of local and indigenous people. Communities most likely to be affected by these offshore oil and gas activities, some 75 to 120km off the coast, include Knysna, George and people living along the east coast. Up to six development and appraisal wells and up to four exploration wells have been proposed over an area of interest of 12 000 km2.
“We have found the impacts associated with production to be highly significant and unacceptable, and therefore propose that the environmental authorisation should be refused. We found the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment to be severely lacking in its plans for the full assessment, particularly when it comes to assessing the full impact of the project proposed on marine life and ecosystems, and on climate change,” The Green Connection’s representative, Kholwani Simelane, said in a statement.
“There are simply too many gaps in the information, which shows that they did not think everything through thoroughly enough. And if we have learnt anything from previous court judgements regarding efforts to explore our oceans for oil and gas, then a precautionary approach must be taken.”
In December 2022, Simelane handed over a memorandum to TotalEnergies’ South Africa Board of Directors demanding that it stop its “ongoing onslaught” of oil and gas exploration projects off South Africa’s coast.
In their submissions, the organisations questioned the accuracy of the modelling regarding the effects of methane from a blowout, especially since studies show that methane can cause depletions in oxygen levels and acidification when dissolved in the marine environment. And when methane bubbles reach the surface, it also directly contributes to climate change. Prerequisite studies of the composition of particular condensate from the field being drilled, and lab studies of its fate in the environment, have not yet been done for the assessment.
The planned assessment of the immediate and chronic impacts of sonar and seismic surveys on all marine species was another issue the organisations raised. For instance, the assessment does not yet detail how impacts during Humpback whale and Southern Right Whale migration periods will be mitigated, nor does it detail how operational spills and leaks will be mitigated during spawning periods.
“It must be understood that just because a company has gone through the legally required processes of an application, that does not guarantee that the project will go ahead. The whole point of the process, especially the requirement for meaningful public participation, is to assess need and desirability for undertaking the project,” Simelane said.
Natural Justice said in a statement that the exploration areas, known as Block 11B/12B, were just two of many blocks on the coastline that had pending exploration applications.
“The burgeoning of oil and gas projects in our oceans, essentially wall-to-wall blocks of our entire coastline, will have significant implications for the constitutional rights of people – their livelihoods, heritage, and health rights – but will also have implications for our ocean life, and knock-on ecosystem impacts. We have an obligation and a human rights responsibility to reduce our climate impacts” Natural Justice said.
The deadline for comments on the scoping report was on the 14th of February.
