Laurence Berry-Smith: Coal-fired power plants belch filth far and wide

Mighty River Power has applied to pollute our land, air and sea by firing up the Marsden B power station. I live in the proposed fall-out zone of acid rain, mercury and arsenic.

In Northland we might be emotional about these things, but we know the issues at stake and we know the alternatives. Of course, there will always be strong opinions on both sides of an argument such as this.

We all have our own perspective. Mighty River is a Government company charged with making a profit; we are the people who must live with the results.

The brownouts used as arguments in favour of coal-fired power would not be allayed by a power plant that won't switch on anytime soon.

Firing up Marsden B on coal will not make a jot of difference to the country's immediate power needs.

Mighty River, and the usual bunch of proponents of this type of misguided development, imply that "popular opinion" is emotionally driven and uninformed, especially concerning wind-powered generation.

However, Keith Turner, the chief executive of Meridian Energy, has said: "Renewable energy, and particularly wind, is the technology of today and the future way to keep New Zealand a clean and attractive country."

Northland has some of the best sites for windfarms in the country. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority said so in a report to the Government in 2001.

Mighty River says that "where wind conditions are favourable there are often substantial physical and consenting difficulties". These "difficulties" do not seem to be a problem for Meridian, Trustpower and NZ Windfarms.

Equally, coal-fired power stations produce many nasty impacts that you do not get with windfarms. Mighty River Power's proposal does not use wonderful, 100 per cent clean technology; it wants to use relatively cheap, "economically viable" equipment.

When discussing air emissions, the company continually refers to sulphur dioxide, as if that is the only nasty it intends to spew into the air.

What about the mercury that will also contaminate kaimoana and our new marine reserve? And how about the nitrogen oxides, and the tiny particles known as PM2.5s that will get deep into lungs and cause respiratory problems for our children and elderly?

What about lead, cadmium, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and a whole alphabet of minerals and toxins that Mighty River itself admits will pour out of the chimney?

The company dismisses the sulphur dioxide that will create acid rain as being more of a concern to those living hundreds of kilometres away. Most of the sulphur dioxide - and the two million tonnes of carbon dioxide that would be produced each year by Marsden B to fuel global warming - would be someone else's problem.

Depending on wind strength, acid rain will certainly fall on the Bream Head Reserve opposite Marsden B - a native forest reserve, home to rare geckos, a kiwi recovery programme and endangered plants.

Caring for the environment is more than simply complying with inadequate air standards. It is a moral imperative.

Toxic discharges into Bream Bay, too, are glossed over as being "one teaspoon [of ash] in 25 44-gallon drums". When you consider the intended 1.2 million cu m a day of discharge into the sea, the truth becomes apparent - 240,000 teaspoons of ash every day.

The company also keeps quiet about the giant pile of toxic ash that would cover 50ha and be 14m high, possibly because every single drop of toxic junk that is removed from the chimney emissions will be poorly contained.

Exactly how long would the equivalent of a backyard swimming pool manage to contain the millions of tonnes of toxic waste? No one knows for sure, but Mighty River admits that it must fail eventually, and when it has packed up and gone it is the people of Northland who will be responsible for dealing with the mess.

It is encouraging to hear that the company is confident it can "manage the environmental effects within the strict standards the ... community requires". But we fear that the community's standards are higher than Mighty River might anticipate.

Regardless, it is the Government that is responsible for this company. It is the Government that must uphold the Stockholm Convention to reduce toxins and the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases. And that is why local councils are not permitted or able to deal with an issue as nationally important as this.

We have invited the Minister for the Environment to see this beautiful part of the world, its amazing wildlife, coast and communities. After she gets a taste of this special place, we believe Marian Hobbs will do the right thing and dump Mighty River's dirty plans.

* Laurence Berry-Smith chairs the Urquarts Bay Residents Association.