17 May 2013 Taranaki Daily News Cartoon by Shane Dunlop

TOXIC DRILL WASTE - THE SOIL IS LIKE A GIANT SPONGE - IT JUST SOAKS IT ALL AWAY.

15 May 2013 Locals stopped the dumping near Oeo, Taranaki. Hapu spokesman Karl Adamson said the group had turned away two trucks.
''In this specific case they are dumping their drilling waste into this coastal area,'' he said.''We consider they are polluting our whenua (land).''
Read more at this link:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8674570/Iwi-protest-landfill-ends

9 May 2013 Brown Road land farm site on North Taranaki coastal site, where oil drilling wastes are disposed of. The run off is piped towards the ocean and Orapa reef, Waitara. The same company BTW manages the land farms in South Taranaki.

15 05 2013

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8672815/Two-breaches-by-drill-waste-firm

A company running landfarms - where oil drilling wastes are disposed of - has been pinged for breaching resource consent conditions.

9 May signage at Waitara beach, near the land farm at Brown Road.

The sign reads: HEALTH WARNING EATING SHELLFISH FROM THIS AREA MAY MAKE YOU ILL.

15 05 2013 - 5 a.m. - The morning sky – this is neither a sunrise nor a sunset – it is Greymouth Petroleum's Kowhai B well site flaring. This is now my normal night sky – there are 3 sites flaring that I can see - Motunui, Todd Energy - Mangahewa C and Kowhai B. Mangahewa D was also flaring today- the 15 May. The very meaning and name of the place I live at Tikorangi (clear sky) has changed.

15 May 2013 Mangahewa D well site and production facility,  Flaring at Rimutauteka, Todd Energy. Waitara River valley, Taranaki.

15 05 2013 Cows on the road at Tikorangi – my preferred rural view.

17 March 2013 a Tanker going to the Kowhai B well site at Tikorangi. This tanker did not have a pilot vehicle and blocked the road when it took out power and telephone lines. We had a power and phone  cut as a result of this for 4 hours at Tikorangi, Taranaki.

9 May 2013 Mangahewa C well site Flare Pit , Todd Energy, Tikorangi, Taranaki.

9 May 2013 Mangahewa C well site Todd Energy, Tikorangi, Taranaki. Compared to the aerial image 17 March 2013, the rig has moved, the flare pit is flaring and there is water ponding in the paddocks below the site.

17 March Aerial view of Mangahewa C well site Todd Energy, Tikorangi, Taranaki. Compared to the 9 May 2013 the rig has moved, the flare pit is flaring and there is water ponding in the paddocks below the site.

9 May 2013 - workers on the next shift at Mangahewa C well site, Todd Energy, Tikorangi, Taranaki.

9 May 3 workers and the land owner - far right , Paul Bourke at Mangahewa C well site, Tikorangi, Taranaki.

5 May 2013 - The Val Deakin Dance Theatre Trust celebrated 40 FANtastic years of Dance in New Plymouth. A wonderful achievement of bringing Dance theatre to Taranaki. Congratulations.

Alan & Clare Sarten on their Tikorangi farm. They milk Jersey cows and live in Tikorangi near me. 4Th May 2013

‘Black gold, dark clouds’ written by Matt Rilkoff for the Taranaki Daily News…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8631612/Black-gold-dark-clouds

”Ben Sarten stepped inside the Tikorangi house he was raised in, closed the door and wondered where he was. ‘This doesn’t feel like home anymore.’”

24 April 2013 I came home today and there was a container of fresh field mushrooms at my back door, left from a neighbour = good photos - "one more well is too much".

23 April 2013 - One more well is too much - Richard Foreman presents to the NPDC on behalf of the Tikorangi community about the proposed Kowhai C well site by Greymouth Petroleum.

Many thanks to all those locals who turned up to support the deputation. Tikorangi was represented by an impressive and well mannered group.

If you have broadband, you can watch the Council deputation from 23 April 2013 here:

http://www.newplymouthnz.com/Live/Ustream.aspx?id=27

It starts at 16.27 minutes.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/8588661/One-more-well-is-too-much-residents-plead

23 April presenting at NPDC also includes a complete set of power point images of the oil and gas industry in my community, Tikorangi.

Kowhai B well site signage for the overflow pond

Mangahewa C flaring April 2013 at Tikorangi - Todd Energy

Is Taranaki the new Texas?

22/04/2013

Local magazine ‘Live’ has published part two of their story on drilling in Taranaki.

“With over 200 new wells planned throughout Taranaki over the next few years, the face of Taranaki is changing. What will the region look like in ten years time? Proponents of the oil and gas industry want to step things up even more, environmentalists are urging caution, while local residents near the exploration and drilling sites are dealing with the reality of life in the midst of an oil and gas boom.” .

http://livemagazine.co.nz/

I have not loaded new images for a while - having been busy with using images and preparing for depuations to the New Plymouth District Council over the oil and gas industry - I will post new images.

I am saying I am back - as my eyesight is good again, after a macular hole procedure in 2012.

Below is my left eye macular showing the macular hole.

I have had a lot of medical procedures and I am always keen to keep a visual record. This is the latest. Scanned images of the macular hole that occurred in my left eye from September 2011. I noticed a sudden change in my eyesight in late August 2011. Went for a scan and was told it was a macular hole. I went for surgery in November 2011 in Hamilton. An Amazing procedure – it works on gravity – a gas bubble is inserted into the eye, then you have to be face down for sometime - the face-down position is essential to keep it in the correct place while the retina heals. … It was a real bugger – no driving... and also no eyesight! No work - as I am already monocular.The latest scan in January 2013 showed the hole has healed over – still have a bit of corrugation. My description is it was a crevasse and it is now a corrigated ridge.