Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including nitrates in our drinking water, questions about Santana mine and Trump.
It’s time to follow the evidence on nitrates
I was interested in your article about nitrate levels in Southland (ODT 25.2.26).
Denmark is preparing to lower its drinking water nitrate limit from the current 50mg/l to around 6mg/l after new health-economic analysis showed the country could prevent 70-80 cases of colorectal cancer every year by reducing long-term nitrate exposure. Their government has accepted that nitrate is not only an environmental issue but a public health one, and that prevention is far cheaper than treatment.
New Zealand’s acceptable level in drinking water is 11.3mg/l, almost 100% higher than the level Denmark is heading to, but I note that even at6mg/l the levels are still too high for pregnant women. Rural communities, especially those relying on shallow bores, are the most exposed and the least able to afford treatment systems.
If a country with intensive agriculture like Denmark can take nitrate risks seriously and act decisively, there is no reason New Zealand should lag behind.
Updating our drinking water standards to reflect modern science would protect health, reduce long-term costs, and ensure that rural families are not left carrying risks that other countries now consider unacceptable.
It is time we followed the evidence.
John Cruden
Mosgiel
Change behaviour
Again alarm has been expressed about the nitrate contamination of our drinking waters. Environment Southland is the latest to report with mapping to indicate areas of concern.
Medical research dating back as far as 1945 has warned that elevated nitrate levels in drinking water may have adverse health effects such as blue baby syndrome, and various cancers. Dr Mike Joy and other academics have also been warning about the consequences of freshwater contamination for over at least 25 years to derision and personal attack. There is still denial and ambivalence in some quarters about nitrate as a health threat, but cautions abound as nitrate levels increase in some town waters; recently Gore and Ashburton.
Intensive farming where animal urine is carried through porous soils into shallow aquifers is common. Cows are reported as the probable cause, and a Greenpeace spokesman Will Appelbe postulates preventing herd expansion, reducing herd sizes and in some places moving away from dairy farming.
In a year of massive returns to farmers and tax take for the government, this raises an incredible conflict of interest. No-one, from the government down through regional councils to farmers, is willing to find effective ways including strong legislation, research funding, and incentives to change farming behaviours. In an election year this may well be a platform to make change.
David Blair
Port Chalmers
Butcher-free zones
Andrew Simms, in his letter (23.2.26), says ‘‘Despite there being several options presented these were either too big, too small, too expensive or zoned incorrectly for a retail butcher’s shop.’’
Mr Simms appears to have made all efforts possible to prevent the city’s loss of that business. There is not much that he or the business can do about premises too small, too big or too dear. The part that puzzles me, though, is ‘‘not zoned for retail butcher’’.
Zoning is a ruling of ‘‘You can’t do that there ’ere’’ imposed by a council, possibly for good reason at the time.
Industrial zones corralling constant loud machinery were sensible but there is no revision built in for when the industry becomes computerised with metal cut with lasers instead of saws and cold chisels.
What was the reason for butcher-free zones? Are the reasons still valid, are they in the interests of Dunedin shoppers and business?
K. Nordal Stene
North East Valley
So many questions to ask about proposed mine
The opinion of Santana mine’s CEO, Damian Spring (ODT 17.2.26), raises a few issues. Firstly, what is the psychology behind choosing the name “Santana”; the name of an iconic and beloved rock band?
Secondly, there is a degree of arrogance in the way he presents his case while minimising the noxious effects. Thirdly, there are questions about the company and their past experience in the mining industry.
Where have they built holding dams (conveniently called a tailings storage facility) before? Has it been in the fragile terrain of Central Otago or the vast land mass of Australia? Who did the independent modelling?
There is no mention of who the Santana experts are so their experience can be verified. How much is the bond they have paid?
Toxic substances do occur naturally within the earth, but they are in a naturally stable environment, they do not get released through the process of being crushed for minute particles of gold.
How does the arsenic stay locked in place?
Of course, people are sceptical. Who would not be with the past experiences of seismic activity that occur throughout New Zealand?
John Guthrie
Waimate
Not so grateful for Pres Trump
If the definition of a left-wing contributor to the ODT is being appalled by Donald Trump as a person and as president of the United States, count me in.
But full marks to the ODT for publishing Gerrard Eckhoff's piece on the subject (27.2.26) - views which I suspect would struggle to gain majority support among Act New Zealand voters, let alone the New Zealand public.
Let's start with something I can agree with. By his willingness to make outrageous statements and unpredictably reverse them, Donald Trump has probably achieved real change in defence spending by the rest of Nato and, time will tell, maybe a few other worthwhile outcomes.
Mr Eckhoff's other claims? That the summary bombing of boats is laudable and will decrease harm from drug trafficking, that the international court of justice ‘‘lacks backbone’, that there is strong support for Donald Trump's actions (when the reality is that his poll numbers are dire and he claims electoral victory by Democrats must be fraud in keeping with his lies about the 2020 election) and that the Biden and Obama presidencies ‘‘did nothing’’.
Give us all (left, right and centre) a break Gerrard.
Yes, no-one can (and no-one does) claim that democracy is alive and well in Russia, China, Syria, Iran or - God help us - North Korea. But should that mean carte blanche for Donald Trump's narcissistic desires to be an absolute monarch or his uncountable assaults on democracy in the US?
To cite Matthew 13:13 ‘‘none are so blind as those who will not see’’ - a failing not limited the left of politics.
Peter McIntyre
North East Valley
Gerrard Eckhoff has contributed some ignorant rants to the ODT over the years, but his recent column about the current US president trumps them all. What kind of ideologue does not see a dictator pushing the world toward oblivion?
Mike Palin
Belleknowes
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
