Business category winners in the 2022 Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards.
Category sponsor: Daily News(external link)
Todd Energy - for a significant contribution to the safeguarding and protection of the Kapuni Awa.
After major flooding on the Kapuni Awa (river) in South Taranaki in July 2021, Taranaki energy company Todd Energy invested in a 100m-long new rock wall. Around 1500m3 of land within the Nova Generation Solar Farm site was washed away during the major weather event, with sediment released into the awa. The solar farm land, owned by Todd Energy, currently homes Aotearoa’s largest commercial solar power plant. The rock wall has protected the site so it can continue producing renewable energy. Todd Energy worked closely with iwi, hapū, adjoining landowners and Taranaki Regional Council on the Kapuni Awa Restoration Project. Hui and hikoi with Ngāruahine, Ngāti Manuhiakai and Ngāti Tu ensured mātauranga Māori was enshrined in the project from the start including kaitiaki (guardian) monitors, sourcing of local materials and engaging the best local contractors for the job. Additional works have also protected a pipe bridge and the Skeet Road bridge, downstream and upstream farmland and infrastructure from further erosion.
Webster Energy Services - for innovation and developing containment systems to protect the ground around drilling rigs and prevent spills from reaching the environment around wells.
Webster Energy Services has transformed how it deals with spills around drilling rigs, taking a holistic approach to achieve a ‘Zero to Ground’ strategy around sites. The drilling company has examined how to set up a specific environmental containment system that would protect the ground around a well even before drilling gets under way. It started at the Kohatukai #1 well in Taranaki with the design, construction and installation of a bunding system under the rig to prevent all spills reaching the ground. The system makes waste disposal easier and can be used alongside other recovery systems to reduce pollution. The ‘Zero to Ground’ operation now starts before a well is drilled right through to the safe disposal of liquids and solids from the site. Webster Energy Services’ initial zero to ground bunding system concept, has been adopted, and vastly improved upon by Todd Energy.