Regional Councils should treat all polluters the same

Horizons Regional Council should take action against Palmerston North City Council for polluting the Manawatu River, the Green Party said today.

“Regional councils should stand up to polluters whether the polluters are agribusiness or city councils. Our rivers are for all New Zealanders and no one has a right to pollute them,” said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

Dr Norman was responding to revelations that Palmerston North City Council’s sewage treatment plant has been breaching its consent and polluting the Manawatu River with excess phosphorus and E. coli for several years.

“Diffuse agricultural pollution has the largest impact on the Manawatu River, and action to regulate that pollution is desperately needed. But that does not excuse Palmerston North City Council from meeting their consent obligations,” said Dr Norman.

Palmerston North City Council has had a non-compliance rate of 54 percent for their consent to discharge treated wastewater to the Manawatu River.

“Horizons Regional Council should take action against Palmerston North City Council for breaching their resource consents. Fines are a legitimate part of that action and provide an incentive for the council to improve performance. The embarrassment and political discomfort would pressure the Palmerston North City Council to clean up their act,” Dr Norman said.

“The Manawatu River is just one of our many polluted lowland rivers in New Zealand. We are experiencing a freshwater crisis across our country and we need to take urgent action.

“The Green Party has a plan to make New Zealand rivers and lakes clean enough to swim in again. The plan has three elements 1) Set standards for clean water; 2) Introduce a fair charge for irrigation water; and 3) Support water clean-up initiatives.

“Our standards for clean water would help give regional councils the strength to stand up to all polluters, whether they are councils or agribusiness.

“The declining quality of our rivers and streams across New Zealand is jeopardising our clean, green image on which the health of our economy depends. It's time to clean them up.

"Looking after our natural environment, including our rivers and lakes, is the best thing we can do to build a stronger economy that in turn looks after all our people," said Dr Norman.

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