Greenpeace Aotearoa has tested a sample collected from
the Gore town supply, which returned a result above 5 mg/L
nitrate (NO3-N), a level associated with an increased risk
of preterm birth.
Above this level of nitrate, the New
Zealand College of Midwives recommends that pregnant people
consider finding another source of water because of the
increased risk of preterm birth.
The sample was
collected on the morning of Wednesday 23 July and tested
with an optical spectrometer, which is standard equipment
for testing nitrate in the field, and followed the
organisation’s standard testing procedures which have been
externally reviewed by GNS science.
While the
township’s do-not-drink notice has been lifted, Greenpeace
freshwater campaigner Will Appelbe says there is still a
risk to public health.
“Gore is not out of
the woods yet and we’re concerned about the risk to
pregnant people and babies in other rural communities. Many
rural communities are experiencing nitrate contamination
caused by intensive dairying.
Gore was
issued a do-not-drink notice last Friday after the town
supply exceeded the maximum allowable value (MAV) of 11.3
mg/L for nitrate. This was set in the 1950s to avoid blue
baby syndrome, but it doesn’t take into account the more
recent health science that has linked several health risks
with long-term exposure to nitrate at levels below the
current legal limits, including bowel cancer and preterm
birth.
“We know the source of this pollution. It’s
the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser in intensive
dairy farming, led by Fonterra and their lobbyists at
Federated Farmers. This is an industry that isn’t working
for anyone except for the industry itself. Dairy pollution
is contaminating people’s drinking water. Meanwhile, New
Zealanders are paying through the nose for a block of butter
at the supermarket.”
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“But instead of taking action,
Luxon’s government has proposed weakening freshwater
protections at the behest of Federated Farmers – which will
worsen the drinking water crisis.”
“It’s about time
that Federated Farmers were accountable to the people of New
Zealand. Fed Farmers are opposing every measure to protect
freshwater, and they should do right by the rural
communities whose drinking water that they and Fonterra have
polluted.”
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