Audience Communication #1: A Letter to Contact Energy Addressing Pollution issues from the Wairakei Plant

Dear Contact Energy Company,

As a concerned citizen, It has come to my attention that one of your geothermal plants (The Wairakei Plant) is leaking effluents and causing many environmental issues. I am aware that geothermal energy production creates 13% of New Zealand's energy needs, but is that energy production worth the pollution effects?

According to extensive research of the Wairakei Plant, there are high levels of Mercury and arsenic getting released into the environment. According R.C. Axtman (Environmental Impact of a Geothermal Power Plant), the Wairakei plant supplies nearly 75 percent of the total arsenic input; sediments from Lake Aratiatia contain 20-30 milligrams of arsenic per kilogram; Largarosiphon major, a weed which dominates the aquatic plant population has a high concentration of arsenic; and most of the arsenic produced is discharged to the sea.

This information is alarming to me, and to those who live in close proximity to the Wairakei Plant. These effluents could affect the well being of citizens living close to geothermal plants. Is the need for geothermal plants worth the arsenic pollution that it produces? Many bodies of water and aquatic life are being affected by the dumping of mercury and arsenic.

I hope that my concern, and the information provided above is enough of an incentive to do something about the geothermal energy that the Wairakei Plant produces. The Contact Energy Company is responsible for their plants, and the issues associated with them. Something should be done in the near future to contain these effluents from being released into the environment. If nothing is done, the surrounding citizens and aquatic life will be damaged. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Loren Halsall