With just one stroke of a pen ...

Contributed

WELL, well, well, there you have it folks. With one stroke of the pen, Shane Jones, you just bypassed the regional council and some of our wisest people of the region. Never mind what happens to our lovely town.

He told us he could fix this with one stroke of his pen weeks ago. Well, he’s carried out this threat. Just goes to show you can never trust a politician.

There’s anger that’s for sure, seeing red totally. Fear for the future, this one man has just threatened to devalue your real estate by half.

Because when this foolish act is started, there will never be an end and no-one I know would ever buy into a never-ending PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) spill on this scale.

Shane has, if the worst does happen, removed millions of dollars from this lovely place.

If there is just one chance in a million that this is going to happen, the risk is too high. Leave sleeping dogs lie. Even our mayor Victor Luca has voiced the opinion hidden in the middle of his poison write up, to err on the side of caution.

This is quite possibly the biggest decision this town will ever make. The effects of a spill of PFAS into or around this harbour will reach far down the line – it never goes away.

The material alone is bad enough, but not the worst. The leachate or ground water makes moving this pollution around impossible; every drip that comes out of the rear end of the trucks carting this around will dry on the road and end up in your car, with the kids in the back seat and all will be exposed.

Once again, if there is just one chance in a million that this is going to happen, then the risk is too high. All this risk for 57 berths?

And to do a pre-emptive strike, I can see what’s coming, a large holding tank at the pump station in McAlister Street, underground to hold, we will be told, stormwater run-off 300 metres north of the marina as the main sewer line to the ponds.

This will be broken into; the water or polluted leachate will be pumped into this line. A simple diversion will be placed at the ponds and this mess will, at off-peak times (at night) pumped out to sea off Coastlands. That is the only way I see that they will try. Not now though because it’s out there now, is it not?

They can never let it get into the river, that would be a disaster for this town.

I can see the signs on the entrances to our lovely town: “Hazard suits and gas masks to be worn past this point.” Signed Shane Jones.

I do think he’s of the idea PFAS is a side dish at KFC.

All you people who have kids or young adults, talk to them about these dangers and let them suggest what you as families can do to stop this major mistake from happening.

They are the ones who will inherit the mess.

No doubt they don’t want to live in a life-threatening place – no swimming, no eating the shellfish, do not enter the water, wash hands and feet after landing your boat at the boat ramp. Is this going to be our legacy for our children?

And for 57 berths – really Shane?  Who is this man who can condemn us to the hell he so blatantly condemns us to. Just one stroke of the pen, well Shane. Not on your bloody Nellie.

Moving on, Dr Luca, as mayor of our lovely town do you have nothing to say to your ratepaying masters? No, I think the saying is “it’s better to remain silent …”  I surely hope this is not the case.

It’s time you enlightened us all on the processes Whakatāne District Council is going to go through to disembark from this waka that is so plainly going to flounder.

It’s time for you to speak to us all. I think most of us realise that you inherited this problem, so now is the time, no more silence.

If you stand out front of us waving the stuff you flag, we would all stand firmly behind you.

You’re the doctor, right? The captain of the lugger without the cries to port, to starboard, full ahead, in reverse, check for PFAS. Be the leader you said would be.  Don’t let this happen on your watch. We need you for the solar farm that’s going to power the new sewage treatment plant and please don’t tell us that you’re going to let them fill the existing ponds in with this big mess.

This is not a matter of who is going to pick up the pieces. It must stop right here, right now.

To all those such as Doug Leeder, Steve Clark, Mr O’Brien, Mr Campbell and many many more, please don’t stop lobbying now.

And to all those families out there, this town’s future needs you, now. Stand proudly in front of your future generations, able to say “I/we did our best and we stopped the mess”.

And to all those who think only in dollars, think 50 percent or less, think about that mortgage.  We need you now to join the rest.

All this risk for 57 berths. I smell a rat.

The catch cry: “Stop it”.

– Steve Chapman

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