Lives may be lost as a "direct result" of Mobil NZ's decision to stop providing helicopter fuel supplies at Milford Sound, Southland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group co-ordinator Neil Cruickshank says.
Mobil had been "talking about" closing its 50,000 litre fuel storage facility for some months, meaning helicopters involved in search and rescue operations or evacuations may be forced to fly to Te Anau or Queenstown to refuel during emergencies.
Mr Cruickshank said that would have serious consequences for emergency response "on every scale".
"It will inevitably cause delays in search and rescue operations and will prevent Milford being used as a staging area during major emergencies."
Poor weather often affected air access in and out of Milford Sound, so emergency managers relied on being able to use helicopters already in the area.
Sometimes it would be impossible for aircraft to fly to Te Anau or Queenstown to refuel because of bad weather and, even in clear conditions, the refuelling flights would waste precious time, he said.
It took about one hour for a round trip to refuel - most helicopters had a maximum of three hours' flying time on one tank.
"I don't think it would be overstating things to say that this will result in lives being put at risk and may even result in deaths," Mr Cruickshank said.
Local helicopter operators and community representatives had been trying without success to get Mobil NZ to resume supplies to Milford Sound, or to discuss selling its tanks to another supplier, as had occurred in other areas where Mobil was withdrawing its service.
"They appear not to be interested," Mr Cruickshank said.
While several government agencies - including Transport, Civil Defence and Tourism - knew of the problem, so far there had been "no obvious signs" any agency was willing to "knock on Mobil's door and push for a solution".
"Milford Sound is an isolated community and all our plans for emergency response, including searches, evacuations and resupply missions rely on aircraft being able to refuel there."
There were two possible solutions to the problem - the first that another fuel provider apply for resource consent to replace the storage facilities, which could take some time.
"The second option, that we see as viable, is that [Mobil] on-sell the tanks . . . and the entity purchasing them takes over."
Mobil's New Zealand public affairs manager, Alan Bailey, said the facility failed to meet the company's own requirements for safety and environmental operations.
It would not contemplate selling it to another supplier because it was not willing to pass on a site that did not meet those requirements.
