MEDIA RELEASE

4 February 2004

Beach water quality warning signs come down at Mission Bay but remain up elsewhere

Tests done yesterday of beach water quality give Mission Bay the all clear. Therefore there is no longer a need for warning signs to be up at Mission Bay.

Warning signs will remain at Okahu Bay, Kohimarama Beach and St Heliers until test results fall within the guidelines for beach water quality set by the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Health.

Test results recorded yesterday exceeded the beach water quality warning level of 280 enterococci/100ml with Okahu Bay at 823 enterococci/100ml and St Heliers at 2187 enterococci/100ml results and Kohimarama beach at 253 enterococci/100ml.

Auckland City will continue to monitor beach water quality on a daily basis. The test results for all Auckland city beaches can be accessed anytime by calling 0800 SAFESWIM (0800 72 33 79), or by visiting the Auckland City Safeswim website at www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/safeswim.

As a general rule, people should NOT swim for 48 hours after heavy rainfall because stormwater and wet weather sewerage overflows are the two main sources of beach water pollution at urban beaches. Local streams may also not be safe after heavy rain.

Ends

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>