By BERNARD ORSMAN
Watercare Services has stepped up security on the Waikato River pipeline after learning that it has become a target for protesters.
The company has introduced round-the-clock security at strategic points along the 38km pipeline and at the water treatment plant on the banks of the river near Tuakau.
The company has also beefed up security at its 10 dams in the Waitakere and Hunua Ranges.
Security spokesman Bruce Owen said Watercare had put the pipeline on "very high alert" and notified the police.
"There are very significant public health and safety issues involved," he said.
The Water Pressure Group and Citizens against Privatisation are planning a protest before the $155 million pipeline is turned on in four weeks to make up about 10 per cent of Aucklanders' drinking water.
Citizens against Privatisation spokesman Meredydd Barrar strongly argued against the pipeline at a public meeting on May 8 on the issue of "Do you want to drink Waikato Water? Stop the pipeline."
Green MP Nandor Tanczos and North Shore councillor Dr Joel Cayford, who is a member of the Auckland councils' shareholders group which oversees Watercare Services, addressed the meeting.
Mr Barrar said last night that unless politicians stopped the pipeline from being a primary source of water, direct action would take the form of a "non-violent" protest.
Mr Barrar and Water Pressure Group spokeswoman Penny Bright said they were not planning any physical sabotage of the pipeline.
They were focused on placing maximum pressure on health officials and politicians to minimise the risk to public health.
Watercare claims a rigorous treatment process will turn the murky Waikato water into a high-quality drinking product.
Last night, Mr Tanczos and Dr Cayford denied being part of the activists' plans.
Mr Tanczos, who has helped with a parliamentary petition against the pipeline, said if anyone was talking at the meeting about direct action it must have been after he left.
Dr Cayford, a longtime opponent of the pipeline, said he overheard one or two people mentioning direct action at the meeting.
"It is not something I would do and it is not something I support."
Watercare pipeline security on high alert
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