Green Party: “Dairy farming is putting water quality at risk.”
[From: Newstalk ZB]“
The Green Party claims the government has acknowledged that dairy farming is putting water quality at risk.
Last week, the Canterbury Medical Officer of Health warned that the Canterbury Plains Water Scheme, which aims to irrigate 60,000 hectares of farm land for dairy farming, could cause significant health problems.
The Green Party’s environment spokesman Nandor Tanczos says Dr Alistair Thompson’s comments reinforce the links between intensification of dairy farming and drinking water contamination.
He says Health Minister Pete Hodgson admitted there is a problem when he answered questions in Parliament this week.
Mr Tanczos says New Zealand has one of the highest rates of campylobacter in the developed world.
