Greens welcome ‘locked-gate’ policy on Taranaki dump farms

The Green Party has welcomed news that New Plymouth District Council will implement a ‘locked gate’ policy which prevents farmers from grazing cows on oil industry dump sites until the soil has been tested and declared safe.

“After years of the National Government claiming that there were no issues with cows grazing on pasture spread with oil and gas waste, it’s great to see New Plymouth District Council stepping up and taking leadership to protect New Zealanders and our clean, green brand,” said Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

“It’s defies logic that the National Government has allowed livestock to be on land spread with oil and gas waste, without testing the land for oil and gas waste contaminants.

“Despite serious shortcomings identified by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, the National Government has failed to implement any changes to the way that dump sites are regulated and the Government working group on the issue has failed to even produce recommendations.

“To protect our clean, green image, we should not be growing food on oil industry waste dump sites at all, but if we do, at the very least, comprehensive soil testing must be done in advance.

“Mixing oil and gas industry waste products with our food production is an accident waiting to happen.

“We have seen from the DCD and botulism scares that we can’t afford to have another contamination incident.

“Our brand advantage is that our milk is clean and green. We need to take all steps to ensure our milk stays that way,” said Mr Hughes.

The Green Party has advocated for more than two years to keep livestock off farms where oil and gas waste has been spread.

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing New Zealand.

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Environment Announcements

Story

Forestry sector must compensate for slash damage

The Green Party welcomes today’s release of the report of the Ministerial Inquiry into slash and sediment, and are clear that the forestry industry...

Greens launch petition to protect conservation lands from mining by Mineralogy International Limited

The Green Party has today launched a petition calling for conservation land to be protected from mining by big overseas companies such as Mineralog...

National's drought of ideas won't help farmers facing climate change

Christopher Luxon and the National Party have once again presented another lazy, back-of-the-napkin policy to Aotearoa.

Freshwater crisis needs stronger government action

New Zealand’s rivers, lakes and freshwater are in crisis and there needs to be a more ambitious Government plan to clean them up and protect agains...

Greens welcome waste strategy release and work

The Green Party is today welcoming the release of the Government’s waste strategy, but says it has a big gap without action on the container return...

NZ needs strong protection against water privatisation

New Zealanders deserve strong protection against the future privatisation of water assets, the Green Party says.