Environmentalist urges Cantabrians to fight NZ's largest pollution consent

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Environmentalist Angus Robson wants Cantabrians to protest the fact they aren’t being given the chance to have their say on a 56,500-hectare irrigation consent renewal he claims will increase nitrates to dangerous levels.

An environmentalist is urging Cantabrians to fight for the right to have a say on a large irrigation scheme he alleges will increase nitrates to up to 30 times what international studies consider to be safe.

Matamata-based campaigner Angus Robson said the Mayfield/Hinds/Valetta (MHV) irrigation scheme in Mid-Canterbury was seeking a 10-year replacement consent for 56,500 hectares of privately-owned farmland.

The case would be considered by an independent hearing commissioner and, under the current Environment Canterbury (ECan) plan, did not need to be publicly notified, meaning the public could not make submissions on it.

Robson claimed if the current consent rolled over, it would be the largest pollution consent issued for a 10-year period in New Zealand’s history, when MHV’s past, present and proposed activities were taken into account.

Environment Minister David Parker told Morning Report there are no plans to 'immediately reduce the New Zealand standard for nitrates in drinking water'. (First published February 23, 2021)

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Robson said the scheme was originally granted consent to discharge 104 kilograms of nitrate per hectare.

If that continued, he calculated nitrate levels in water would rise to between 25 and 30 milligrams per litre of water, when the accumulation of nitrates over the past 10 years was taken into account.

The current safe level in New Zealand, as mandated by the World Health Organisation, is 11.3mg per litre, but a recent Danish study found a link with bowel cancer when nitrate levels were just 0.87mg per litre and a 15 per cent increase at 2.1mg per litre. The study prompted the Government to appoint a taskforce to review safe drinking levels.

In an email response to Robson, which Stuff has seen, ECan chief executive Dr Stefanie Rixecker confirmed MHV’s application was “making its way” through the Resource Management Act (RMA) process, and a decision had not yet been made by the independent commissioner.

The Carew storage pond is part of the Mayfield/Hinds/Valetta Irrigation scheme.

MHV’s original consent was publicly-notified, so its replacement consent application did not need to be. Ngāi Tahu was notified of the latest consent though due to the potential effects on the Ashburton/Hakatere River, as required under the Ngāi Tahu Claim Settlement Act, Rixecker said.

An ECan spokesperson said the council had received similar non-notified replacement consents for 55,000ha in the Barhill-Chertsey Irrigation scheme and 30,000ha in the Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Scheme – both for 10 years also.

Robson said he was trying to raise awareness in Canterbury about the applications because of the long-term impact he considered they would have on people’s health and the environment.

He urged the public to protest and demand the right to have their say.

“Legally any person who lives in Canterbury is entitled to say ‘this isn’t good enough. I’m going to protest and make a change to the law’. ECan have put the rates up to pay for the pollution without turning the s… tap off.”

Environment minister David Parker said neither he nor his officials were aware of the issue, despite Stuff sighting a letter Robson wrote to Parker’s policy chief on February 9.

“I have now asked my officials for a briefing,” Parker said on Wednesday.

Environment minister David Parker now wants a briefing on the replacement consents for Mid-Canterbury’s three large irrigation schemes after he learnt they were not publicly notified.

Parker said ECan had until 2024 to notify a new Freshwater Plan, which would give effect to the new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management.

“If this consent is granted and the conditions of the consent are not up to the new standards or are causing adverse effects on the environment, I would expect ECan to use its power under the RMA to review the conditions of the consent to ensure water body health is improving.”

MHV chief executive Melanie Brooks confirmed the irrigation scheme was applying for a renewal consent.

In compliance with the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan, the scheme was working to reduce nitrate leaching by 45 per cent by 2035.

“We are committed to delivering on the plan, including continued nitrate reductions to drive improved environmental outcomes.”

MHV operates as a co-operative where farmers pay for infrastructure to deliver water, plus environmental education programmes, groundwater and surface water programmes, and wider community work.

Brooks said a considerable number of community projects incorporated biodiversity and ecological improvements on farms, and it had been pleasing to see groundwater and surface water nitrate-nitrogen concentrations were decreasing overall.

“All of our farmers have been doing [farm environmental plans] and having them independently audited for the last five years. Independent audits provide confidence and allow us to identify … risk areas on farms where we can support further improvement.”

ECan Mid-Canterbury councillor Ian Mackenzie praised MHV and said the science, development and application behind the scheme was world leading.

“I can say not a single environmentalist in New Zealand would understand the science behind it.”

On Robson’s claims, Mackenzie said he was an “outsider” who “wouldn’t understand the nuances of the area”.

“He probably doesn’t even know where Mayfield is.”