Taumata Arawai

Paul from Levin

I sent the following email to Taumata Arowai, the new water protection agency. It proposes to increase the allowable amounts of 17 toxic substances in drinking water and there will be no restriction at all on the amount of nitrate in water.

Dear Teara Atawai,
I understand that the Government’s new water protection agency - Taumata Arowai - is proposing to increase the allowable limits of 17 toxic and poisonous substances in drinking water and that there will be no limit at all for the amount of nitrates in drinking water.

I am dismayed and deeply disappointed that a New Zealand government would consider any relaxation of drinking water standards. I have considerable knowledge regarding the cumulative and long-term effects on a population of toxic chemicals and elements in water. I lived for years in Japan during the 1960s and repeatedly in later decades as well. From 1969, for 34 years I lectured on Japanese history and current affairs at a New Zealand university. Environmental pollution and solutions were very important issues then as now but we should learn from past mistakes. That our government would allow industry, agriculture and city populations even greater freedom to pollute is for me anyway, beyond belief.

Yours faithfully,