What a disaster that this truck has crashed and spilled its 24,000 litres load of highly toxic waste oil into the Awakino River.
Stuff
Waikato Regional Council spokesman David Stagg said
The oil would definitely have detrimental effects on the ecosystem of the popular whitebaiting river, he said. "Waste oil in the river will not be any good for it and will cause some degree of harm," he said. "Unfortunately in the gorge area, because of the swift nature of the river, there's no opportunity to contain it."
Mr Stagg didn't know what type of waste oil the truck had been carrying. "It may be from vehicles or it may include other materials and some of those things can be more toxic than the waste oil itself."
Who knows? Someone hopefully but the spill cannot be contained in the fast flowing river in the gorge - the highly toxic waste oil is in the system now and all we can do is mitigate the effects. The more oil we bring up the more likely that accidents and disasters can occur. The more we stick our heads in the sand about oil and petrol and the whole industry the harder the shock will be when that lifestyle and world breaks down, as it has already begun to.
Hone is right. The Environment Canterbury Bill and the sacking of the Environment Canterbury regional council and appointment of commissioners is an attempt to steal water and then minerals (read mining). It is a farce and a direct attack upon our people and environment.
From Waatea News
"Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says principles introduced in a bill for managing Canterbury rivers will effectively replace the Resource Management Act, to the huge detriment of Maori and the nation as a whole.
The Environment Canterbury Bill was introduced yesterday, a day after the Government sacked Environment Canterbury regional council and replaced it with commissioners.
Mr Harawira says the bill was sneaked into parliament during the foreshore and seabed debate as a local measure, but in fact it gives unelected commissioners total administrative power, cutting out the Minister for the Environment and the Environment Court.
“You are taking out of the hands of government agency an asset that has critical value to the whole nation and putting it in the hands of officials who are appointed by a Government hell bent on commercialising assets,” he says.
Mr Harawira says the asset grab won't stop at water but will include other minerals and natural resources.
No Right Turn has some good information on this here and here and here and here and here
I was not one of the ones who fell at the feet of van dyk because she choose to leave where where was born and move here and play netball for this country. Yes she is a good player - ummm that's about it.
News that the van dyk's have made some mistakes on their property and dumped tree stumps in the streams is upsetting.
From
Stuff
"Van Dyk and husband Antonie Christoffel (Christie) van Dyk have been served with a series of abatement notices, fined $750 for breaching an abatement, and have been ordered to do remedial work.
The notices came after they were reported for clearing more than 2.5 hectares of gorse from their SH2 property in Kaitoke on November 4. Bulldozers were seen being used for the clearing.
Fair enough to get rid of gorse but do it in a way that is sustainable FFS and don't dump your stumps
"Among the issues being investigated was the level of damage to two waterways, which had been filled in by the earthworks, Mr Cross said. Tree stumps were also dumped in the streams, he said.
The van Dyks had been ordered to come up with a plan to restore the streams, and to create sediment and erosion control for the hillside.
Forest & Bird lower North Island field officer Aalbert Rebergen said he had noticed the work being done a few months ago and was amazed someone would clear such a steep hill.
Messy business that should not happen. You guys have been accepted by many parts of this country - don't abuse the kindness you have found here by damaging our land and streams.
Dirty diary farms and farmers is a very big concern and with the latest annual report from the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord just released, shows that the problem is getting worse not better. Pull your socks up dairy farmers or leave the land and farm to someone who cares about the ecosystem and sustainability.
How dirty? From Stuff
"The update shows the average level of significant non-compliance worsened to 15 per cent in 2008/09 from 12 per cent in the previous year.
Farmers in Northland had the worst results, with full compliance listed at 39 per cent in the latest year, down from 43 per cent in 2008. Compliance in Waikato fell to 41 per cent from 48 per cent and Canterbury declined to 43 per cent from 46 per cent .
Those number should make your nose bleed - 4 to 5 out of 10 farmers are not fully complying. That means they are putting the shit into the rivers - they are destroying our rivers and waterways to make more money.
But some are leading the way.
"Taranaki was the shining star, holding steady on 96 per cent compliance."
It must be bad when even carter comes out swinging.
"Agriculture Minister David Carter said, "Until every farmer takes responsibility for improving effluent management, the environment and dairy’s reputation will suffer."
The snapshot “tells a totally unacceptable story of effluent management".
"Regardless of whether this is because farmers don’t have the right tools, don’t know how to comply, or simply don’t care, behaviour has to change.”
I hope it can change but it may be too late - dairy's reputation is effuent like already.
It's a funny old world sometimes. You can end up being on the side of groups that may be unexpected.
Fish and Game is one group in that catagory for me.
The fact that Fish and Game want to save waterways and wetlands, so they can hunt and kill things there, is a little difficult to stomach but at least they are fighting hard to save our wild places. I sincerely thank them for their efforts.
We have to save our wild places, we have to protect our rivers and nurture our wetlands. There is no choice - we have to. So any group that is working to protect these places, is in alignment with our goals. We need all groups that are in alignment with our goal of protecting our wilderness from dams, from mining, from commerical activity and from unnecessary roads to work together.
Wetlands are a great example where mutually aligned groups can work together to make a difference. I hope some other groups join the call from Fish and Game.
From Rebecca Fox at the ODT
"Fish and Game Otago is calling for answers as to why some wetlands are being drained and their vegetation destroyed in South Otago.
Fish and Game Otago chief executive Niall Watson said they had yet to get an answer to their concerns that the rush swamp areas on the margins of Lake Tuakitoto were being developed into pasture.
"We want to stop any further development."
Fish and Game was also concerned about Cairn Swamp in the upper Waipahi catchment which it considered to have been "whittled away over time", Mr Watson said.
"Its drainage and destruction is not a desirable thing."
I totally agree Fish and Game.
Otago Regional Council manager support services Gerard Collings said the council was aware of one instance at Lake Tuakitoto where a farmer, who had a grazing lease, regrassed an area. It was questioned whether or not it was wetland area.
As a result the council was considering reviewing the conditions of the grazing leases.
The council was also aware of another incident on Kuriwao Reserve land, but in that situation the council was bound by the perpetual leases the landowners held."
"considering reviewing" doesn't mean much, does it. Hopefully this call from Fish and Game will get some action so that these farmers cannot drain wetlands to make more pasture. We collectivelly need wetlands much more , than a farmer individually, needs the extra income from putting some more dairy cows on their land.
The international Day of Action for Rivers is on 14 March. Twenty-three actions in fourteen countries have been organized so far. That's pretty good - it is time for more action to protect our rivers. A couple of examples.
"The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), is working hard again for the restoration of the Indus River by demanding decommission of its existing dams.
Based in the Hunter Valley of Australia, the No Tillegra Dam Group have planned a meaningful, symbolic action. They have arranged a "Walk for the Williams River," where participants will walk the length of the river from the top of the proposed Tillegra Dam site to Nobby's Head at Newcastle.
No activites for this country. We have had a number fo activites around our rivers recently, whether the gathering for the manawatu river, russel norman's canoeing down our polluted rivers, the various damn dam ideas and irrigation scheme proposals. It would be great to coordinate with these world events, it would strengthen all people who participate and raise awareness of the issues around protecting our rivers.
Hat tip
Intercontinental cry
This is hard to believe.
"Groundwater quality has "no significant relationship" with land use, a Ministry for the Environment report says"
That's right - the Ministry for the Environment are saying that land use has no 'significant' relationship to water quality.
This is the ministry for the environment here - this is not only nonsense but it plays right into the hands of those that would do anything they want on the land and not have to worry about the water they pollute.
Too true russ - you are on to it and thank goodness for that, because if you weren't we probably wouldn't even have heard of this. Why aren't other political parties interested in these issues - they affect us all.
minister smith said;
"The report said nitrate and E. coli levels breached health standards at 5 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, of 973 monitoring sites, including 279 in Canterbury.
Quality was rapidly changing at a third of the sites, with "patterns that suggest human influence". But the report said there was "no systematic or significant relationships" between groundwater quality and land use or land cover."
"Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the claim was absurd and "propaganda".
He said the uncertainty in the report suited the Government's political agenda "to downplay the environmental impacts of agricultural intensification"."
"he was "a little surprised" at the conclusion because the popular notion was that land-use intensification led to water-quality problems.
Smith said he would defer to the specialists who prepared the report rather than favour popular opinion."
It does seem to be quite a contrarian position - i wonder why the ministry have taken it.
