POLLUTION FEARED

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 93, 11 July 1927, Page 9

POLLUTION FEARED

MANUKAU HARBOUR NEW LYNN SEWAGE RESIDENTS PROTEST DEAR ofpollution of the beaches A in Manukau Harbour by the proposed New Lynn sewer discharge at Karaka Bay. caused a meeting of Manukau propertyowners to-day. We feel that we are not sufficiently safeguarded, that the effluent will be a menace to the beaches on the north j side of the harbour,” said the chairi man. Mr. H. J. Atkinson. “If New Lynn cad satisfy us that i: can put an unpolluted discharge into the harbour, we will have on objection,” he said. Mr. J. W. Kealev, jun.. said that the application of the New Lynn Town Board for permission to discharge crude sewage was refused and the present plan was to discharge through a septic tank. “The reason that they go to the Manukau is that the Harbour Board will not let them go into the Waitemata unless they adopt a modern scheme giving more complete purification. Septic tank affluent is not pur*' enough,’ he continued. “I fancy that Auckland resident! - were told that no harm would be don* - when the main Orakei sewer went in: to-day, even the Harbour Board engineer speaks of ‘pestiferous Orakei.“ said Mr. Kealey. Sewage could be efficiently purified by a process, but a septic tank was cheaper. Could not the Town Board defer its scheme until the Government Commission which would consider sewage discharge had sat?

ABSOLUTE CRIME “It is an absolute crime to put wha* will frequently be untreated sewage into a shallow harbour.” said Mr. C. i', Gardner. "The proper thing to do with sewage is to put it into the Auckland system. Mr. Wilson: What are you going to do about the oyster fisheries when the discharge You will not need any rangers to stop the people taking the oysters then, for anyone who eats them will get what the people got 20 years ago in the Waitemata Harbour — typhoid! The Rev. Angus MacDonald said th% Harbour Board, which should be the guardian of th eresorts, had evidently not troubled to investigate the portion until the Town Board was granted permission. There was a backwash which would bring the sewage back into the bays. EMPHATIC PROTEST On the motion of Mr. A. J. Jenkin, it was decided to protest emphatically against the proposal and ask that it should be deferred for examination by the Commission. Copies are to be sent to the City Council, the Waitemata Council, the Health Department, the Auckland Harbour Board. The Waitemata Council is to be asked to refuse to sanction the scheme under the Municipal Corporations Act. Cr. F. W. H. Brinsden said that the protest would have his support. At Mr. Gardiner’s suggestion it was decided to draw the attention of the Minister of Health to the fear of the pollution of the beaches, said to be the most popular in Auckland. A committee consisting of Messrs. Atkinson, Mas Donald, Gardiner and Kealy was set up to prosecute the subject.