Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Aotea water quality may put wakeboarders in peril
MEDIA RELEASE FROM PORIRUA CITY COUNCILLOR ROBERT SHAW
Aotea water quality may put wakeboarders in
danger!
The Aotea Lagoon is a drain and a
duckpond.
It has never been safe to swim there and shellfish do not live there because of the quality of the water.
Council's plan to swing people though this water will never gain the approval of health and safety authorities.
They should not force polluted water up people's noses and into their eyes and lungs.
Walkers, tricycle riders and children should not be subjected to breathing an aerosol of polluted mist.
The water that flushes the lagoon with the tides is itself seriously polluted.
It comes from an arm of Porirua Harbour which records high coliform counts and which has a substrate contaminated with arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.
Council has been aware of this problem for some time but has not publicised it.
Instead, Council tore down the posters of local residents who opposed wakeboarding and made those councillors who opposed the plan leave the room when it was discussed.
Had the Council conducted a proper consultation more facts would have emerged.
I have asked four public authorities under the Official Information Act to provide information on this matter.
ends
Gordon Campbell: On unemployment, Winston Peters’ low boiling point and music criticism
Labour Party: National Gaslights Women Fighting For Equal Pay
The Treasury: New Treasury Paper On The Productivity Slowdown
NZ Government: Government Recommits To Equal Pay
Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter: Deputy Mayor ‘disgusted’ By Response To Georgina Beyer Sculpture
Te Pāti Māori: Māori Unemployment Rate Increases By More Than Four-Times National Rates
Government: Streamlining Building Consent Changes
