8 August 2006

Greens cry foul on Fonterra decision

Horizons Manawatu's decision to allow Fonterra to dump the equivalent of 280 milk tankers of waste water from its Longburn plant into the Manawatu River each day is an indication of how little they value the environment, the Green Party says.

Environment Spokesperson Nandor Tanczos says the decision to allow Fonterra consent to foul the Manawatu River for the next 15 years smacks of backwards thinking.

"This is something that I would have expected to have seen in the 1950s when the environment was seen as limitless.

"This makes a mockery of all the work done by New Zealand's farmers under the Clean Streams accord. A huge number of farmers went to the effort of fencing off their streams to protect the ecology of waterways. Now, Fonterra, with collusion from Horizons is undoing all that good work.

"New Zealand is celebrating Conservation Week, which just makes this announcement even more offensive.

"However, the matter is not closed. A number of local people are building a campaign against this outrageous decision and I am completely behind them," Nandor says.

"As a major international player in the dairy industry, Fonterra should be at the forefront of developing closed loop processes for reusing nutrient rich waste, not just dumping into the nearest waterway.

"Fonterra trades on New Zealand's clean, green image and it has a responsibility to all of us to help maintain this," Nandor says.

ENDS

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