Water.. Important read
Chinese company drills water bore in Christchurch despite council warning
14/03/2018
Patrick Gower
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Credits: Newshub.
A Newshub investigation has found a Chinese company drilled a 170m bore hole on a Christchurch site so it can bottle water for export.
The hole has been drilled despite a warning from the Christchurch City Council that it could interfere with the public water supply.
Officials have concerns the site may be contaminated, and that the new borehole may strike water used by Christchurch people.
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The former Kaputone wool scourer in Belfast, which used to clean wool, is now owned by Cloud Ocean water - and it has big plans.
Cloud Ocean Water owned an existing 33-metre-deep bore, but it has drilled a new 170m deep bore which is close to same place the Christchurch City council takes its water from.
Photo credit: Newshub.
Lawyer Peter Richardson, spokesperson for Aotearoa Water Action, says that is where the problems begin.
"We don't think it is right at all. We believe it is putting our drinking water supplies at risk, with no benefit whatsoever to the Christchurch community."
Christchurch City Council documents show the drilling has been done.
"Christchurch City Council Staff are aware the new well has been sunk and is being surged at present," one excerpt reads.
"Council Staff are concerned that any new take from the new depth may be from the same aquifer as our drinking water wells."
Photo credit: Newshub.
The council also warned of "well interference" in the documents.
"It's been shrouded in secrecy," says Mr Richardson.
Officials say the bore is on "land designated as potentially contaminated", which has got Councillor Vicki Buck worried.
"We've had to deepen all of our bores for our own water drinking safety, so we're taking from those bores," she said.
"What we don't want is anything that in any way interferes with that."
Newshub can also reveal that Cloud Ocean's ownership can be tracked back to Rizhao Lingyunhai Sugar Group Limited.
It is based in the south-east Chinese city of Rizhao, and is marketing water there.
The consent allows 1.6 billion litres a year. In China, the shelf price for 10 litres is $27, which means potential earnings of $12 million a day or $4.3 billion a year.
Photo credit: Newshub.
Opposition to the bore is rising.
"The really important thing is the purity of our drinking water," Ms Buck said.
"So anybody taking from our drinking water, we have to be absolutely sure that they're not contaminating anything or interfering with it."
Legal action has now been filed.
"The process, we believe, is flawed - we believe it is unlawful," Mr Richardson said.
Newshub.
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Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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36.4% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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63.6% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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