WHAT A MESS
Pollution runs past Environment office
By Charles Pitt, Political Editor

Rakahanga Hostel... Potential Health Risk.

Avarua stream...The dark area is the algae growing
on the stream bed

Algae growth in Avarua stream, which runs past the National Environment Services front door, is very noticeable this week. It forms in most parts a thick carpet of green. In the photos on page 3, it appears as the dark area.
That this stream should be polluted is no surprise. According to Tom Wichman, the building housing the National Environment Services has an overflow pipe from the septic tank, emptying out directly into the stream.
The installation of septic tank overflow pipes so they dispense into streams and creeks is not an old practice now condemned. The Rakahanga hostel is a recently constructed building with an overflow pipe dispensing directly into a stream.
LACK
That it should be tolerated by Building Control authorities is testament to the lack of will to ensure no sewerage finds its way into our water ways and thus the lagoon.
In the photo on this page is the recently completed Rakahanga Hostel septic tank overflow pipe that dispenses into the stream that runs past the Avarua Primary School and eventually into the lagoon.
The septic tank itself was sited right next to the stream. Children are often seen playing in this concrete lined stream from time to time.
One has to enquire who approved the siting of the Rakahanga Hostel septic tank and the positioning of the overflow pipe?
There are other examples of overflow pipes dispensing into waterways leading to the lagoon. Pitt Media Group has already brought a number of these to public attention.
TOURISM
As tourism developed and existing facilities aged, there should have been a corresponding development in infrastructure to ensure proper management of sewerage including disposal and treatment.
Lack of planning and building controls has seen tourism development escalate and existing facilities collapse with infrastructure failing to keep up, the environment is now at risk. Government is now in “catch-up” mode with costs beyond government’s capacity to pay.
The time for stringent building controls and standards and effective sewerage treatment has arrived.

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