Atide of anger is rising in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city’s toilets continue to flush directly into the ocean more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant.
Millions of litres of raw and partially screened sewage have been pouring into pristine reefs and a marine reserve along the south coast daily since 4 February, prompting a national inquiry, as the authorities struggle to get the decimated plant operational.
Abandoned beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline, with the environmental disaster zone adjacent to the airport where thousands of international visitors alight every day.
Fears for the safety of marine ecosystems – including vulnerable species such as the little blue penguin, or kororā, which nest along the shore – are mixed with concerns over the length and cost of disruption to those who depend on the coast for income, wellness, and recreation.
Americans looking down there like:
I literally get a lot of hate when I try to warn people in other countries that what’s destroying the US is an international problem and everyone, everywhere is going to be impacted the same way. It’s much easier to retain a smug sense of self-important invulnerability to the things you see happening to “those annoying people over there, they ain’t like us.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/587227/unclear-how-takeover-of-moa-point-wastewater-plant-by-new-water-entity-will-work
This is not an asset owned by a corporation, it’s government owned.