Residents in three East Otago towns are tonight hoping to find out how their local water supply was contaminated with lead.
Up to 500 residents are predicted to be at a public meeting tonight at the East Otago Events Centre in Waikouaiti, where blood test results for hundreds affected by the contamination are expected to be revealed.
A panel made up of representatives from the local councils, DHB and the national poison centre has been convened to answer residents’ questions.
The Southern DHB has told 1 NEWS they will be telling residents tonight about how the level of lead in their blood compared to a previous national study. This will give residents clues into how long the towns’ water supplies had been contaminated for.
Residents are also hoping to find out when they can start using their local water supply again.
Dunedin City Council issued a “do not drink” notice in February after testing revealed elevated lead levels in the water supplies of Waikouaiti, Karitāne and Hawkesbury Village. It later emerged unsafe levels of lead had been intermittently detected in water supplies since July last year.
The highest reading showed there was almost 40 times the acceptable limit of lead in the towns’ water supplies.
Canterbury University’s professor Sally Gaw says more should be done to reduce our exposure. (Source: Other)
A no-drink order was only issued after many gaffes, including a council email containing crucial details that went unopened for weeks.
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