PM has warning for dumpers of toxic waste
WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has put companies dumping contaminated waste into sewers on notice, saying she is seeking advice about available options.
At least 270 companies, including big names such as Talley’s, the Fonterra cooperative and McCains, have breached their trade waste consents many times over the past year.
No companies have been prosecuted or fined and local councils say their pleas for the Government to fix the law have been ignored for 18 years.
Ms Ardern said the actions of companies intentionally dumping were totally unacceptable.
‘‘They should know that I am looking at what the options are, but actually I think New Zealand would put anyone on notice.
‘‘Everyone knows the importance of the shared collective resource of our waterways,’’ Ms Ardern said.
‘‘Noone thinks it’s acceptable if companies are openly and willingly degrading our waterways.’’
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta told RNZ these issues would be addressed by the new water regulator, but not for at least a couple of years.
She said she had asked officials to look at what could be done in the meantime.
‘‘I’ve just been speaking to the team about getting a bit more information about what options exist in the meantime, because noone wants to see our waterways openly degraded.’’
A Hamilton city councillor said companies caught dumping contaminants down the drain should be named and shamed.
Ninetynine companies in the city had breached their trade waste consents in the past year, including a chemical manufacturer with 16 ‘‘highrisk’’ breaches, but the council refuses to say who they are.
They are among 270 companies nationally found to have unlawfully dumped contaminants in breach of their consents.
Cr Dave Macpherson said he and several other councillors believed there was no reason why this information should be withheld, and they had urged council management to release the names.
It was also concerning that the first councillors had heard of the 99 breaches was when RNZ published its story on Monday, he said.
The variety in responses from 68 councils asked the same questions by RNZ regarding trade waste consents highlighted the ‘‘inconsistencies’’ in how the law was applied to official information, Chen Palmer partner Leo Donnelly said.
Some councils revealed the names of companies who had breached their consents and supplied every test result for the past year.
Others, including Auckland Council’s Watercare, declined to answer any questions citing ‘‘privacy issues’’.
Mr Donnelly, a former ombudsman, said this inconsistency was ‘‘concerning’’.
The privacy clause in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act was there to protect individuals, not corporations, and the public interest in naming them should outweigh any argument for keeping them secret, he said.
‘‘Disclosure enables the public and media to more effectively participate in sensible debate about actions local authorities should take to prevent trade waste breaches,’’ Mr Donnelly said. — RNZ