WAIHOU RIVER,

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19353, 5 September 1934, Page 6

WAIHOU RIVER,

MINING REFUSE.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

ASSURANCE BY' MINISTER.

(Times Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday

No recommendation was made hy the- Goldfields and Mines Committee when reporting lo the House of Representatives this afternoon on a petition from the Paeroa Chamber of Commerce and twelve other local bodies, praying that a proclamation of 1595, declaring the Wailiou River to be a sludge channel, should be revoked. Tlie committee reported it had received from the Minister of Mines, Hon. C. E. Macmillan, an assurance that in future mining privileges in tlie Upper Wailiou district would be granted only under such conditions as would adequately protect the interests of petitioners. In those circumstances the committee had no recommendation to make. Mr F. Lye (Government —'Waikato) said that Mr McMorran, chief land drainage engineer, in giving evidence before the committee, had viewed with, great apprehension the admission into the Upper Wailiou of tailings refuse or slimes as a result of mining operations in the adjacent country. He stated that about GO,OOO acres were involved in the Upper Wailiou district and 50,000 acres in the Lower Waihou. So far the Upper Wailiou had not been contaminated, but the j Lower Waihou was heavily charged with impurities from Hie batteries up j the Ohinemuri River, and the costly • protection works were seriously af-1 fected thereby. Reticulation Schemes. Moreover, the water had been ruined for domestic purposes and for tlie watering of stock. Tlie people of , the district had had to adopt expen- j sive reticulation schemes. Now they | were considering ttie promotion of a | Bill to enable them to go outside their i own territory into a mining district and lay a pipe-line across the Lower Waihou River in order to obtain an adequate supply of pure water. I There was no opposition to the petition except from a group of peoplej who were trying to float a company j to develop mining in the mountain at the back of Te Aroha and from the Te Aroha Borough Council. While he appreciated the attitude of the Mines Department that no mining rights or licences would be granted In future without certain safeguards, Mr Lye considered that was not sufficient.

'He thought legislation should be brought down to ensure that If mining operations were carried on the tailings should be stacked and necessary measures taken to prevent the flow of slimes into the river. Adequate steps should be taken to protect the farmers, particularly as the Grown had. spent £700,000 in river protection works. Difficulty of Committee. Mr A. M. Samuel (Independent—• Thames) said he recognised the difficulty of the committee because it was faced with the question of possible injury to a very important industry, but he thought the committee had dealt with the petition in a rather indefinite manner. The assurance of the Minister was all right so long as he remained in office, but a later Minister of Mines might be of a different opinion and might grant mining privileges without considering the effect on the dairy industry. He suggested an amendment he made to the Mining Bill now before the House to give legislative effect to the Minister’s promise. The chairman of the committee, Mr W. A. Bodkin (Government —Otago Central), said the committee realised very important issues were at stake. However, engineers had definitely assured the committee that even if tailings and slimes were deposited in the river the position could still be safeguarded by dredging. He thought the petitioners had been unduly anxious, but at the same time they were justified in petitioning the House. He felt the committee’s finding would meet th» case. The report was tabled.