Coal Company Not So Happy with Environment Report

Source: Happy Valley Coalition A New Zealand government-owned coal mining company, Solid Energy, has lost a bid to suppress the publication of a spoof corporate social responsibility report by a coalition of environmentalists. The company sought an injunction from the High Court to have the two-part report removed from the website of the Save Happy Valley Coalition. The coalition opposes the company's move to build a new open-cut coal mine, which involves the relocation of critically-endangered snails. Earlier, Solid Energy chief executive Don Elder told a parliamentary committee hearing that the document was defamatory and could lead the community and regulators to make "wrong decisions." "We can't afford to let that happen," he warned. A spokeswoman for the coalition, Frances Mountier, said the company's bid to suppress the report revealed how they wanted "to keep it quiet about what they are doing to waterways, species and climate."

Website: New Zealand Press Association, March 2, 2007URL: http://www.stuff.co.nz/3978673a11.html