Two Thirds Of Tested Rural Bore Water Above Cancer Risk Limit For Nitrate

Greenpeace Aotearoa is today releasing preliminary figures of its groundbreaking mail-in nitrate water testing showing that two thirds of 237 bores tested had nitrate contamination above levels linked to colorectal cancer in an international study.

Of over 300 mail-in samples tested by Greenpeace, 237 unique samples were from bore water supplies. Results showed that 68% of bore water samples were over the 0.87 mg/L limit linked to bowel cancer in a 2018 Danish study.

Greenpeace’s testing also found that 5% of samples exceeded the current drinking water standard of 11.3 mg/L. The standard was set decades ago to avoid only one condition - blue baby syndrome - and is "hopelessly out of date" according to public health physician Professor Michael Baker, because it does not account for chronic illnesses like cancer.

Greenpeace Aotearoa Senior Campaigner Steve Abel says "Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right." Yet right now it’s a postcode lottery in New Zealand because rural households are having their drinking water contaminated with potentially carcinogenic nitrate from intensive dairying and excessive use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser."

Greenpeace says that the National Environmental Standards-Drinking Water review currently underway, is "an opportunity to safeguard clean drinking water for all", and is urging Minister Kiritapu Allen and the government to "address the main causes of water contamination in Aotearoa - synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and too many dairy cows."

A powerful joint submission on the standards for protection of drinking water by Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, Fish & Game, The Cancer Society, Environmental Defence Society and others calls for a phase out of synthetic fertiliser, stocking rate limits and an end to new dairy conversions.

"The proposed freshwater protection plans leave rural people on household bore supplies unprotected because those plans fail to acknowledge the sheer volume of animal excreta - mainly dairy cow urine - leached into the ground as the primary source of nitrate contamination," said Abel.

Greenpeace also today released a short documentary of a community in Canterbury grappling with nitrate contamination of their drinking water.

"These stories are powerful. Some people whose water we tested were brought to tears, others had spent thousands on filters and drilling deeper wells to try and decontaminate their water supplies of pollution from dairy farms in their region."

"This is a health justice issue," said Abel, "access to safe and uncontaminated drinking water is a basic human right and currently that right is not being met for many people living outside of cities in this country."

Greenpeace is calling on the Government to ensure healthy water for all communities by protecting drinking water sources through phasing out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser; lowering dairy cow stocking rates; and backing farmers to move to regenerative organic farming. People who rely on bore water for their drinking supplies can order free mail-in nitrate water testing here.

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