Dam quake risk

John Nichols (Letters,l June 2) challenges my support for the Waimea Community Dam on the issue of earthquake risk for Brightwater.

He claims I ambeing hypocritical relative to my advocacy for the upgrade of Nelson Hospital because of it falling short of modern seismic standards.

Decisions on earthquake risk need to be made on the basis of good science and engineering and not hearsay.

We know our Nelson Hospital buildings are well below standard at about 35 per cent, because of the detailed seismic assessments recently completed by Beca and commissioned by our district health board.

The Tasman District Council has done a thorough job of assessing the seismic risks of the Waimea Community Dam, with two detailed reports by Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS), and engineering reports by Tonkin and Taylor.

The dam will meet 100 per cent of the modern standards and poses no risk to Brightwater, even after a major earthquake.

Critics of the Waimea Community Dam wanting to question its seismic safety need to produce a credible report from a reputable engineering firm that disputes these reports. If not, their claims can be dismissed as irresponsible scaremongering.

Hon Dr Nick Smith

Nelson MP, June 6