Dear Editor
Joel Maxwell, in his story ‘Milky intruder not identified’ (published 30 July), has stated several inaccuracies.
When this reporter asked a Greater Wellington Regional Council (GW) media adviser if the March spill in Kakariki Stream referred to in the article was attended to, he was told he would need to talk to the relevant Enforcement Investigator to clarify.
The reporter duly rang that GW staff member and asked her questions about the most recent spill in the stream (i.e. on 23 July), but nothing about the March spill.
It is inaccurate to say ‘GW had not replied to questions about the spill in March at the time of press’, if the question wasn’t asked of the relevant staff member in the first place.
If the reporter had asked the Enforcement Investigator the question, he would have been told that when Ian Corder rang GW about the spill in the Kakariki Stream in March, the duty officer on call at the time was investigating another incident, so phoned the Kāpiti Coast District Council (KCDC) to assist. A KCDC officer did attend the incident at the stream, but could not trace a source for the pollution.
Yours sincerely,
Alistair Cross, Manager Environmental Regulation
Greater Wellington Regional Council