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Fight The Tip, Save the Dome has accused Green Party MP Eugenie Sage of hypocrisy and inconsistency over waterways protection.
Fight the Tip spokesperson Michele Carmichael says an Environment Select Committee, chaired by Sage, has decided not to support Fight The Tip’s nationwide petition to ban landfills near waterways.
“In the final report it states, ‘We agree with the ministry and the council that a total ban on landfills near waterways would make the siting of landfills challenging’,” Carmichael says.
“This is incredibly disappointing and astounding, considering the importance being placed on protecting New Zealand’s important water resources.
“Only two days prior I received an email from Sage headed ‘Oceans urgently need our help’, which included the statement that Green MPs will be pushing for the Government to do much more to protect our precious oceans and marine life.
“So to then to receive this decision about our petition, which had the goal to do just that, is total hypocrisy.”
However, Sage countered by saying that it was very clear from the title, the recommendation, the content and the appendix that the report was the work of the committee as a whole, not a single member.
“It is misleading to suggest otherwise,” she said.
Carmichael says she raised another example of inconsistent water protection during her presentation to the committee.
“I referred to Council experts at the consent hearings for the Dome Valley Landfill who stated it (the landfill) posed little threat to the Kaipara Harbour because it is 35km away. Sage states, ‘In contrast, Ms Carmichael pointed out, farmers are required to protect all waterways, regardless of their distance from the sea’.
“How can the committee support these inconsistencies by deciding ‘we do not agree that landfills should be required to be built away from any waterway, but acknowledge the importance of protecting waterways from contamination?’ That statement in itself is contradictory because even the best landfill technology and mitigation strategies cannot guarantee 100 per cent protection.”
Carmichael says that even though Central Government says it is committed to reducing waste, it seems that being able to site new landfills around New Zealand is still more important than protecting the country’s water.
“We hope the Environment Court will better understand the importance of waste minimisation and water protection when we appeal the Dome Valley landfill project later this year.”
A full copy of the report can be viewed via the following link www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/SCR_120001/752f49c9bd1e14e00439ce5e1bf75864e08d2d9f
