Former Brit John Chapman at home in the Waimarino and keeping Raetihi's water pure and safe. Photo/Lin Ferguson
Raetihi resident John Chapman, a former British photo-journalist turned small farmer, is staggered that once again he has arrived in a small town with a pollution problem.
In September 2013 he moved to Raetihi and rented a small house in Seddon St. He wanted to build a sustainable eco-friendly house on his 6.5 hectares of land on the Raetihi/Ohakune Rd.
Mr Chapman said even though he had lived in Titirangi, Auckland, after first coming out from Britain, he loved the Waimarino area, especially after visiting friends in Raetihi.
"We were driving from Ohakune to Raetihi when we saw this piece of land up for sale and decided it was where we wanted to be. I've always loved small rural towns. Raetihi is small and this piece of land is beautiful."
But days after he moved into the rented house in Raetihi he noticed a strong "petro-chemical smell" coming from the tap when he turned on the water. But when he tried to tell the Ruapehu District Council, he was "fobbed off".
"I was told it was probably algae."
It took him back to living in England when, within days of moving to a small village in South Norfolk, he was practically felled by 25 tonnes of styrene gas with benzene being emitted from a plastics factory on an industrial estate nearby. Benzene affects human cells and can lead to bone marrow not producing enough red blood cells, can cause anaemia, can damage the immune system by changing blood levels of antibodies and cause the loss of white blood cells. People who breathe in high levels of benzene may develop drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, tremors, confusion, unconsciousness and could die.
"When we bought the house, we didn't notice the smell because the wind wasn't blowing across us then," he said.
"But all too soon we realised that when the prevailing wind was blowing we copped it right across our house. We knew we had made a terrible mistake in buying our house. When the wind blew in the other direction it only ever affected a narrow band of houses on the outskirts of the village, never the village itself."
For five years Mr Chapman battled the council, the factory and finally the Government by waging a campaign which drew thousands of supporters throughout Britain.
"Well, I had to fight it because I knew without changing it I'd never be able to sell my house. No one would want to live there with that level of pollution in the atmosphere, and the pollution level was dangerous."
Finally in 2006 the rule on the gas emissions was changed at government level, he said.
"It was marvellous, it really was. We won."
But to eventually arrive in Raetihi and have the town supply water shut down within days of moving in was bizarre, he said.
"It was worse that no one would listen to me. It was obvious to me the water was contaminated but they thought I was mad."
The town of 800 people had to rely on a water tanker parked in the town for 10 days after it was found there had been a 19,000-litre diesel spill from a tank behind the Turoa Ski Lodge on Mt Ruapehu into the Makotuku Stream, which feeds the town's water supply.
The council announced this week they would be continuing to test and adjust the hydrocarbon sensor on Raetihi's water intake in preparation for returning the Makotuku Stream as the township's water source. The spill from the Turoa skifield on Mt Ruapehu in October last year, leaking the diesel into the Makotuku, has forced RDC to switch the water source for Raetihi township to the Makara Stream.
Council environment manager Anne-Marie Westcott said that the successful installation of a hydrocarbon sensor on the raw water line feeding the Raetihi water treatment plant was a critical factor in enabling the council to return the water supply to the Makotuku.
"The installation of a hydrocarbon sensor on a town's water supply like in Raetihi has never been done before in New Zealand ... it may be, however, that the sensor has been set at too low a level than is required to detect diesel, so we will be looking into that."
But Mr Chapman said the council is firing ahead with absolutely no scientific evidence that the river is safe now.
"To return to it without adequate safeguards is, in my view, negligent and would potentially put the long-term health of Raetihi's residents at risk. It beggars belief that such a risk is being proposed when there are proven filtration systems used throughout the world that, if put in place, will ensure no diesel contamination will pass through to the reticulated water supply to the town."
As chairman of the Raetihi Independent Residents' and Ratepayers' Association, Mr Chapman has asked the council chief executive for information on the move:
"The association has serious concerns about the the proposal to return the source of the Raetihi water supply to the Makotuku, when there remains significant diesel contamination at the source of the river," he wrote. "We are of the view that a more measured and scientific approach is called for before such action is taken.
"This should include monitoring over a 12-month period by consultants with the appropriate expertise in the field to ensure there is to be no long-term exposure to residents of diesel and its constituents such as benzene [benzine].
"No such evidence has thus far been provided and as such we would be grateful if under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 you would provide the following information in the time frame specified by the act.
"Diesel monitoring data for the Makotuku River since the spillage took place in 2013.
"Monitoring of the Makotuku River for specific hydrocarbons such as benzene [benzine].
"Correspondence with Horizons regarding the amount of diesel still in the headwaters and the intent to return to the Makotuku as the Raetihi water supply source.
"Correspondence with the Chief Medical Officer of Health regarding the amount of diesel still in the headwaters and the intent to return to the Makotuku as the Raetihi water supply source.
"Correspondence with the Ministry of Health regarding the amount of diesel still in the headwaters and the intent to return to the Makotuku as the Raetihi water supply source.
"Please specify the manufacturer of the diesel sensor being deployed, its sensitivity expressed in scientific terms not teaspoons, its cost and whether or not it can detect the constituent hydrocarbons which go to make up diesel, such as benzene, xylene, and toluene.
"Lastly, would you please indicate whether filtration has been considered as a option to ensure the Makotuku could be safely returned to as a water supply for Raetihi. If so would you please indicate why this is now not an option."