Environmental watchdog gives fracking final tick, seeks national guidelines

Environmental watchdog gives fracking final tick, seeks national guidelines
By Pattrick Smellie June 4 (BusinessDesk) - The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has given a guarded final clearance for hydraulic fracturing, confirming her 2012 report that there are sufficient environmental safeguards, while calling for a National Policy Statement as a guide for local authorities facing applications from oil and gas companies. However, commissioner Jan Wright's final report on fracking finds that "regulation in New Zealand is not adequate for managing the environmental risks of oil and gas drilling, espec...