THE LEITH POLLUTION.

Evening Star, Issue 16988, 10 March 1919, Page 6

THE LEITH POLLUTION.

TO TITE EDITOR. Sir,—'Hie Water Commit-toe deliberated upon the above question on Friday last, and ordered that, the city engineer’s report thereon he handed to tho Press, so the road is open now for me to state tho facts. t On Saturday, February 22, I visited that fine ftrotch of native hush at the bond of Morrison’s Creek. Eventually I found my wav out of iho bush hehjnd Mr Booth’s homestead. The track led me through his steading, and there I saw a number of pigs in a small enclosure, which drained into a. small ravine running into Iho Loßh. This surprised mo, as I knew that the City’s intake-pipe from the Leith was close by "it, =o T investigated the. matter further. There was a most offensive and evil .smelling ooze draining from the pierpery. byre stable, and st ending genernl’r into this ravine, and there© into the I.pilh. some three or four hundred yards distant. 1 followed the ravine and its boggy, foul bottom right into the Leith. Next I visited tho City's intake-pip?, some two hundred enrols below iho point of iunclion of this polluted stream, and found tbe Leith water entering the pipe in full flow, and tbenro info the concrete tank at the point where Mormon’s Greek joins the Leith From this concrete tank n slyinch pipe carries the water into tee Ross Creek watershed, and so into tho Ross Check reservoir. This pipe was laid down some 15 months ago. when tho council thought it well to collect every drop (a water they could owing to tho, dry season ami thr cate red shortage' of water, a.nd it has' been in action ever since. When drew attention to the matter the supply was rut off. Tie Monday following wns the mooting day of the General Commit tee, when we were discussing pigs and piggerjf? within the Dunedin area and how best fo deal with them. I brought my p,aturdav’i esnevioneo before 11m commutes, and Cr Green (chairman of tho Water Committee-, who was present-) ran 1 that he would look into the matter. Then I bethmmht me of an experience I had with (be cor.mil and the city engineer re pointlion to Iho reservoir from GilHes’a padnock. When I brought this matter forward the city engineer said that T _ was <■ talking rot,”' and that I would get neither Mayor nor councillor nor any ono elsejn the' coriwration to support my theory. The Mayor, the Town Clerk, the city engineer, and tho Water Committee visited tee scone, and nil seemed to agree with the. emrim-er that I was “ talking rot.” Ana soThe council decided to lift 10.000 young trees, then leaf** the paddock (for cultivation,’ and so pollute the reservoir. At next meeting of tho council I produced exoeet evidence that they wore ail wrong and that my theory was right, and so the council reversed their former decision. Meantime the, trees were all lifted, hub fdnoo them a new lot have been planted, end the reservoir saved fsoin that source of pollution. The Mayor, ytoo. on that occasion, told me from his chair that hereafter I should bring a witness or wit j-pc,.c(>s to simport my complaints. Recalling fdl' this, I ’ thought it wise have an independent witness to the tnci.-o of the Leith 7«>ll«lion, although 1 had a fiuencl along with me on the first occasion. Tins independent witness made his own observation. and I asked him not to publish anything about it. Then it reached tho ears of iho editor of the ’Star’ tlirwign this witness, and so into the Bresiy Had I known of tho existence, of this piggery, or even the pollution from the steading, I would have striven to prevent it at the very start Tho engineer and his men must have known of it, or at least should have knowm of it, nnd yet said net a word. Tins to my mind shows- negligence. Further there has been no occasion to lift anv’water from the Leith for nearly a rear, yet this polluted water has been permitted to enter the Ross Creek reservoir for about 15 months!—l am, etc., Gordov Macdonald. March. 10. p.S. As a sequel to the Gillies’s paddock episode, 1 wrote a 14-page pamphlet last winter entitled. ‘Dunedin and Its Water Supply,’ giving full detail® regarding the Citv’s water supply, a copy of which I shall be pleased to post to any citizen who is interested ■ —G.M.