We spied on mine activists: coal firm

We spied on mine activists: coal firm

by TIM HUME

2nd April 2006

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3624419a11,00.html

State-owned coal company Solid Energy has admitted hiring private investigators to spy on environmental activists protesting against a proposed West Coast mine.

The Council for Civil Liberties has slammed the practice, revealed in response to an Official Information Act request from the Sunday Star-Times, as "hysterical" and "overkill".

"It's absurd and extremely worrying that a commercial enterprise owned by the government is employing KGB tactics to snoop on citizens trying to save the habitats of native snails," said president Michael Bott.

Solid Energy chief executive Don Elder said the company had a contract with Thompson and Clark Investigations Ltd, a private investigations firm specialising in providing security to the biotech industry.

He said the investigators were contracted to "provide us with advice on security matters", but refused to give further details of what methods the investigators used, or what their aims were.

The company did not hold dossiers on individual protesters.

Save Happy Valley, the protest group involved in an occupation of the proposed opencast mine site at Happy Valley, 25km northeast of Westport, said Solid Energy was acting "absolutely over the top".

It says the mine will destroy wetland which is the natural habitat of the great spotted Kiwi and protected giant snails.

"We'd hope they would operate in a more open way and stop playing their games," said the group's spokeswoman, Frances Mountier. She said suspicions were aroused when they found security staff waiting for them at sites of planned activities.

In February, protesters at Happy Valley found two men, one in camouflage and one in dark clothing, monitoring the protesters' camp from a neighbouring ridge. The men would not say who they were.

Solid Energy spokeswoman Vicki Blyth said the men were not employees of Solid Energy or their contracted security company, Gibson, but declined to say whether the men worked for Thompson and Clark "on the basis that the release of such information would unreasonably prejudice our commercial position".

Elder said using private investigators was a sensible business practice, because of the rising level of protest action against the company.

"In total, the illegal occupations, vandalism, lost revenue and wasted staff time have probably cost us up to $1 million, with potential for significant escalation if incidents continue," he said.

Since the campaign began in April 2004, protesters have delayed coal trains by chaining themselves to railway tracks, dug up a lawn and unfurled a protest banner from the roof at Solid Energy's Christchurch office, and sporadically occupied the Happy Valley site.

In January a third occupation at the mine site began. Protesters say it will continue indefinitely.

Ronnie McQuilter, president of the NZ Institute of Professional Investigators, believed the investigators would be using informants to gather information on planned protest actions.

"You would try to have someone in there, you would use moles. You would try to turn somebody that was in there, but not a member - somebody who was disenchanted or on the fringe."

Mountier said it was concerning that a mole could be leaking information on their activities, but the group placed a value on operating in an open fashion and had no plans to change. It did not know where the leaks might be occurring.

"They could be coming to meetings, they could be on the (email) planning list - but I'd hate to think any of our group are doing that."

In November, protesters accused Solid Energy of intimidation after its security guards entered their campsite at night and filmed, photographed and took personal details of protesters.

Gavin Clark, of Thompson and Clark, said he could not comment on his company's work for Solid Energy.