Council denies questioning Horizons
Monday, 11 September 2006
This, from a council press release. I suspect the Standard will not publish this (I can’t recall any instance of them ever publishing a correction).
The City Council has never questioned the decision by Horizons to allow Fonterra effluent to be discharged into the Manawatu River or taken a position over it.
Water and Waste Services Manager, Chris Pepper, is concerned at a Manawatu Standard report that suggests the Council has taken a stance over Horizon’s decision to grant a resource consent to Fonterra.
Chris Pepper says the Council has adopted no position and his comments were an attempt to help explain the issues associated with wastewater treatment.
He says the City Council is working with Horizons to improve the quality of the water and is in the process of approving a $6.5 million phosphorus plant for the treatment of its own wastewater.
Chris Pepper’s earlier comments were part of a briefing he gave the Manawatu Standard to help one of its reporter understand the effect of discharge into the Manawatu River.
“The comments made in the newspaper heading (September 8th) and the Standard’s opening sentence infers a Council stance. Nothing is further from the truth,†he says.
While Chris Pepper wasn’t personally aware of Fonterra’s resource application, the Council had been properly notified by Horizons.
Chris Pepper takes further exception to a Standard billboard which says "Just Who’s Dumping Sewage Into Our River"?
The Council’s wastewater treatment plant discharges treated sewage into the Manawatu River and, as the community knows, the Council is currently spending $13 million to upgrade its process to meet stringent Horizons’ requirements.
"The billboard infers the dumping of untreated sewage when the front page story addresses Fonterra’s decision to approve the discharge of waste into the river. The billboard is shonky, misleading writing and the Council intends to express concern to the newspaper next week," he says. PNCC Press Release
There is just so much misinformation being bandied around over this, and other, issues. We should be able to rely on our newspaper presenting the facts. Sadly, as is often the case, the paper doesn’t let a few facts get in the way of a story.
