Editorial: A river of anger

Filthy? The Waitara River, subject of this week's Maori Television documentary about pollution.

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OPINION: This week's Maori Television documentary, which alleged serious pollution of the marine environment off Waitara, was clumsily done because it spread the cause and effect too wide.

But by the same token the documentary needs to be congratulated because it did succeed in forcing focus on one important issue – whether it remains acceptable these days to continue spewing domestic and industrial waste down a pipeline and out to sea.

The documentary's clumsiness came via its accusation that the Waitara River is toxic. It isn't. Anyone with any knowledge of the history of that river will know that its condition today is far better than those years up to the 1970s when so much meatworks waste was poured into its lower reaches that it was impossible to walk barefoot along West Beach without getting globules of fat caught between your toes.

Taranaki Regional Council feels aggrieved that the work done on behalf of the river by both it and its predecessor, the Taranaki Catchment Commission, hasn't been recognised by the producers of that TV documentary.

It can also feel particularly insulted over the accusation by Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia that the TRC has environmentally abused the river.

That was a low blow that the council did not deserve.

The real issue surrounding the current state of the marine environment at Waitara is not so much the condition of the river's water but the condition of the water offshore.

While almost every other urban area of note in New Plymouth District – New Plymouth, Bell Block, Inglewood and Oakura – has its waste piped to a single plant for full treatment and disposal on land, out at Waitara the town's domestic and industrial waste is partially treated then piped 1250 metres out to sea.

While this operation has all the necessary resource consents and is seen to be currently the most pragmatic waste disposal solution for Waitara, the stark reality is that it is pollution on a large scale. As the Maori Television documentary illustrated, locals are very unhappy about that, and that alone means that it must be sorted out.

New Plymouth District Council has plans in place to pipe Waitara's sewage to the district's waste plant for full treatment, but at the moment the mighty dollar is speaking (read: ratepayers) and the project has been shelved as a cost-cutting measure.

But it does need to be done. Waitara deserves nothing less. The documentary showed that there are many disgruntled residents who are waiting for the councils to clean up this mess, and the longer there are delays the more disgruntled they will get.

- © Fairfax NZ News