Although Ohakea Air Force Base stopped using PFAS for its fire fighting foam in 2002 but contamination has been detected in groundwater sites. Photo by Bevan Conley
Opinion:
Chemicals that find their way into the environment can have devastating effects. But, a top-level review has revealed serious gaps in New Zealand’s oversight of chemical use.
It is said that what we don’t know won’t hurt us. In the case of chemical compounds however, flying blind could mean that our country discovers about harm too late.
Simon Upton, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Environment, recently reported that we have little to no knowledge about the environmental effects of most chemicals.
Few of the 30,000 chemicals approved for use in the country are subject to environmental risk assessments. Regional councils test only 200 chemicals.
The report of the environment watchdog shines light on our “disjointed, patchy system for asking and answering questions about the environmental fates and impacts of chemicals” and challenges all chemical agencies to create a common framework.
It’s not like we don’t know what’s being used in agriculture. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been the focus of media attention, despite global concerns about bee colony collapse and insect population declines. We don’t know how and in what amounts neonicotinoids enter the environment.
Despite this group of insecticides having been severely curtailed in Canada, the EU, and due to seepage in soil and water systems in the soil, the commissioner’s report found that we only survey groundwater in New Zealand once in four years for pesticides. But not for neonicotinoids.
We can only hope that Whanganui won’t be concerned about pesticides. In recent years, the Horizons Regional Council detected pesticides in four-yearly groundwater surveys. However, in most cases, these concentrations were lower than the drinking water standards maximum acceptable values.
Another substance that can be leaked into water bodies is firefighting foams.
In 2018, it was found that a chemical in these foams and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS), had caused groundwater contamination in New Zealand.
From the 1950s through 2006, PFAS was widespread and not monitored despite the known risks to human health as well as the environment. There was eventually a scramble for information about how much and where it had been used.
One such location is Ohakea Air Force Base, which is prone to PFAS contamination. Although foam was stopped at Ohakea Air Force Base in 2002, it has left behind a large plume contaminated groundwater that extends to the Rangitikei River.
Horizons Regional Council continues its collaboration with the Defence Force in monitoring the plume’s movement. This is an example how contaminants can persist for many years.
Overall, the report of the commissioner is critical of our poor environmental data and outdated, underfunded info.
The problem lies under a lack funding and authority for enforcement agencies, as well as a lack for clear authority for the Environmental Protection Authority in enforcing the law. There is also a muted political response.
In 2019, the commissioner asked the minister of the environment to create a pollutant register. New Zealand is the only OECD country without such a policy tool.
In another lacerating report, the same year, recommendations were made for compliance, monitoring, and enforcement. However, nothing has been done.
Chemical oversight is a disjointed, patchy and not particularly sexy problem. I believe it is being taken to the sidelines by more crowd-pleasing innovation and research.
Ironically, the commissioner says that “the kind of innovation that the government wants from our environmental scientists can only be achieved if we understand the environment properly”.
Let’s all hope that this new demand for a radical overhaul changes the course of events.
