Bay Harbour: December 06, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday December 6 2023
4
NEWS
A ‘hell of a shock’
• From page 1
“Everyone has a responsibility
to take their own rubbish
home with them to look after
the coastal environment,” said
Wayne.
He said dog walkers have been
trying their best to clean up the
hooks and lines themselves.
“It’s a real major problem for
us walkers. We can only do so
much, but we try do what we can
to pick the rubbish up.”
Not wanting to cast blame on
all fishers in the area, Hewitt
said he does not take issue with
most of the hobbyists.
“I like watching fishermen
catch fish, it’s quite interesting.
It’s not so cool when they leave
their rubbish behind.”
Hewitt believes part of the
problem is the lack of rubbish
bins along Beachville Rd.
City council ranger Robbie
Hewson said “adding rubbish
bins wouldn’t necessarily fix the
problem”.
He said rubbish bins could
encourage more dumping on the
road.
Redcliffs resident Faye Ryan
walks her friend’s dog on
Beachville Rd every day.
She warns as many walkers
as she can of the threat to dog
safety in the area.
“It’s just about making people
aware of all the fish hooks down
UNSAFE: Daryl Hewitt’s
dogs Porscha and Wilson
on Beachville Rd, where
Porscha has been twice
injured by discarded
fishing gear.
there. It’s just about all you can
do really.”
Ryan recommends dog
walkers use leads when on
Beachville Rd.
Going forward, Hewson said
council rangers will monitor the
issue over summer.
He said staff will pick up any
fishing rubbish they find and
remind fishers in person of their
responsibility to keep the area
tidy.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Sprayer linked to
fish deaths in river
• By Dylan Smits
FINDING THE owner of a
garden sprayer could help find
out who is responsible for a
chemical spill that resulted in the
deaths of more than 500 fish.
Environment Canterbury investigators
are asking the public
to come forward with any information
about the sprayer, which
they believe to be responsible for
the March spill in the Ōpāwaho
Heathcote River.
The sprayer was found on the
riverbank opposite Cumnor
Tce, Woolston, shortly after the
March 1 incident.
“After investigating and excluding
all other known and likely
potential causes of the chemical
spill, we now believe that this
sprayer could have contained
the substances that caused this
event,” said ECan Resource Management
Act investigator Valyn
Barrett.
Barrett said the chemical traces
in the sprayer were from a commercial
weed spray that can be
toxic to fish.
“We are asking anyone who
knows who it could belong to, to
SPILLAGE: Do you recognise
this garden sprayer? ECan
investigators want to know
who it belongs to.
get in contact with us confidentially
to pass on that information,”
said Barrett.
Investigators hope some of the
distinctive features of the sprayer
will help the public identify its
origins.
The blue-and-white sprayer
has blue rope tied to its top. It is
also missing its spray wand and
nozzle.
Barrett said investigators must
meet a standard of proof, beyond
a reasonable doubt, before they
can make a public allegation.
This is why the investigators
have only been able to make their
interest in the garden sprayer
public now, months after the
incident.
“We need to be certain before
we make allegations that could
affect a person or group,” said
Barrett.
Ōpāwaho Heathcote River
Network secretary Malcolm
Long said the spill was a “terrible
disaster”.
The river network is doing what
it can to alert the public to the
ECan request, said Long.
“Anything that threatens the
ecology of the river is a concern
to us.”
• Any information about
the sprayer can be made
confidentially to ECan on
0800 765 588 or through
email at allinvestigations@
ecan.govt.nz.
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