spinofflive
Volunteers bending their backs to pick up rubbish along the banks of the Fox River, in the West Coast (Image: Radio NZ)
Volunteers bending their backs to pick up rubbish along the banks of the Fox River, in the West Coast (Image: Radio NZ)

SocietyAugust 11, 2019

Beyond Fox River: Huge disasters still likely from old dumps

Volunteers bending their backs to pick up rubbish along the banks of the Fox River, in the West Coast (Image: Radio NZ)
Volunteers bending their backs to pick up rubbish along the banks of the Fox River, in the West Coast (Image: Radio NZ)

A massive cleanup effort has saved the West Coast from total disaster, after flooding broke open an old dump next to the Fox River. But have we actually learned anything from it? This piece was first published on Radio NZ.

While the first phase in Operation Tidy Fox draws to a close this Sunday, there are still longer-term concerns that need to be resolved.

Back in March this year, heavy rain washed out a disused landfill near Fox Glacier, scattering rubbish across the riverbed and coastline.

More than 850 volunteers, plus NZDF staff and DOC workers have removed more than 13,000 bags of rubbish from the Fox and Cook Rivers and South Westland’s coastline since the spill.

But the worse could still be yet to come. With climate change and extreme weather events affecting the region – known as a tourist attraction area for Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier.

The Department of Conservation took over the clean-up in mid-June, with the help of other agencies. Its director general, Lou Sanson, acknowledges the current seal on Fox River is only temporary and poses problems and says talks are underway between the regional and district council about fixing that.

However, he told Kathryn Ryan the bigger problem facing the region, and others also with vulnerable dump sites, is climate change and if anything they can expect more of these incidents.

The West Coast is known for pristine scenery, particularly around the Southern Alps (Image: Radio NZ)

“The poor Westland has got another 12 of these sites, it’s got 26 dumps … and as climate change kicks in, sea levels rise and big storm events [happen more often], New Zealand has to deal with this emerging issue,” Sanson says.

“In 2008 the Tasman Sea for the first time tipped to warmer temperature and the glacier started retreating. We’re getting greater instability in the Southern Alps.

“We’re in one of the fastest glacial retreats we’ve seen, we’ve lost nearly a third of our ice in 30 years, those rivers are increasing.

“I was rapt to work with New Zealand defence [force] because this was exactly what the white paper was about … we fought in the Pacific, but we’re having to deal with it here in New Zealand, and we couldn’t have done this without defence.”

This Sunday will mark the end of the clean-up in Zone One, the defence force will continue to help in the clean-up of two other zones of the spill. Zone one was the first 5km from the landfill itself, from Fox State Highway Bridge through to Cook River, Zone Two is further along the coast.

While the clean-up of Zone A coming to a close is good news, there is still a long to go treat the cause of the problem rather than the symptoms, West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board acting chairman Keith Morfett says.

He says both the old Fox River dump and the Hector one north of Westport are in “immediate real danger of being ripped open and having their content strewn across land and beaches.”

“So it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. We could see both landfills breached by an intense storm and it’d be a real ecological nightmare.”

A moment of pure beauty for the cleanup volunteers (Image: Radio NZ)

With the retreating ice at Fox Glacier, the canyon walls it sits on are becoming unstable, Morfett says.

“Mill Creek area is essentially a mountain of loose rock that’s been destabilised by retreating ice. So in an intense storm event, that slip has the potential to become a river rock, and nothing, not bridges, not old landfills, nothing will stand in its way. So we could be back to square one in the Fox River next weekend.”

Locals and officials say that the “visible” dump has been cleared in Zone A, however, Sanson says if any more floods strike then more of the spill might emerge.

“We’ve got the issue of the fox dump to deal with still which … it won’t survive another big storm of like, March the 26th.”

Sanson says he’s certain that the disused Fox River landfill will have to be excavated and moved – which the regional and district council are said to be in talks about.

“There’s probably only one more bridge left at Waiho … if we lose that road, we lose one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions … We may never get back into the Fox Glacier.

“Mill Creek is moving at such a rate that we cannot see a practical way to put a road back.”

In a bid to prevent that from happening, Sanson says they’re collectively looking at how to use the international visitor levy to build and upgrade new routes.

“We’re talking [about] a lot of whole options that keep Fox as a tourism destination in its own right and give people those incredible experiences that only the nature of south Westland can provide.”

Environment Minister David Parker and environment associate minister Eugenie Sage are looking into how to best respond to the problems faced by vulnerable dump sites across the country – with Sage ordering a report on them.

 

The only way to live (image: getty)
The only way to live (image: getty)

SocietyAugust 11, 2019

Interviewing the headmaster who won’t let the longhaired boy go to school

The only way to live (image: getty)
The only way to live (image: getty)

An exclusive interview with the principled principal who is leading the resistance to long-haired lads at high school.

A 13-year-old boy taking Auckland Grammar School to court over his hair was in the news last week. Some people might say it’s wild that in 2019, when young people are facing a future that’s so damn bleak, that we would insist they have no self expression when it matters so little.

But those people would be wrong.

I spoke to Steve Steverson, principal of the Auckland Prep School For Future Property Developers and Financial Managers and boy, was it enlightening!

The following is an unedited interview conducted in an office that smelled of mahogany and was decorated with the framed head of a lion and a replica Rugby World Cup. I thank Principal Steverson for his courage and openness.

Thanks for meeting with me Principal Steverson.

Please, call me Sir Steve Steverson.

Sure, Sir Steve Steverson, what made you want to become a teacher?

Hair.

Hair?

I really wanted to spend my days measuring the hair of boys to make sure it fell just so, and did not impact on their learning and conformity by allowing it to grow slightly over their collars.

Wow – thats…

Hair is everything. Hair is how I became the person I am today. Some might suggest that because my father and his father, and his father, owned this school that I just fell into the job. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I was interviewed just like everyone else, it’s just that I was the only person they interviewed. People think just because you have a lot of money, like so much money you once brought a stuffed gazelle wearing a gimp suit just because you could, that your life is easy. It isn’t. I have struggled and fought and it comes down to my hair.

I’m struggling to follow.

Well, boys are boys, do you follow? Boys will be boys. And indeed they’re boys. And boys need haircuts that are short because boys need to be boys who are boys. If their hair is long – it’s a danger.

A danger?

It could get caught in a drawer.

Has that happened before?

It could catch fire if he is leaning over a bunsen burner.

But couldn’t he just tie it up?

No that’s against the rules. You can’t have hair that’s so long you need to tie it up.

OK but – many people cope every day with long hair without getting it caught in drawers or without it catching fire?

I don’t believe that’s true.

So you have had cases of this?

It’s harmful to other students. When I see hair on a boy that is past his collar I have a physical reaction. It hurts my very soul.

But why?

Look, we all have our things. Is it wrong that I collect the hair I cut from the heads of boys and keep it in a bowling ball bag in my house and spend my weekends knitting it into a family so I have company while I eat my dinner? Is that wrong? If it’s wrong – I don’t think I want to be right.

Are you lonely?

I’m very lonely.

Is that what this is all about? You’re lonely?

I like hair to not be too short. I like it to be clean and short enough to ensure it does not touch the shirt collar.

At this point Sir Steve Steverson began to sob.

Hair should be no shorter than a number two and should not be long enough to be tied up in any form. The fringe should be short enough to ensure hair is kept out of his eyes when combed straight down. Natural hair colour must be maintained. You cannot dye your hair. Extreme hairstyles including, but not restricted to a mohawk, shaved hair styles, braided and matted hair or hair that sticks out from the head more than six centimetres is not permitted.

Can I ask you something personal?

I don’t know. I’m feeling very upset.

Steve, did you want long hair when you were a child?

At this point we stopped the interview so that Sir Steve Steverson could have a glass of water and compose himself. He willingly rejoined the interview.

I… I wanted to look like Bret Michaels. But my dad, he said I have to look like him.

He said I can’t be in a Poison cover band. I have to be a principal.

I don’t even like children.

I’m sorry that happened to you.

I used to wear a wig you know. I used to wear a wig and a bandana when I went out.

Sir Steve Steverson begins to sing Every Rose Has Its Thorn in a high falsetto.

My dad, he told me I had to be like him. I had to be a principal. And I had to raise boys to be principals and make more principals. And if I couldn’t make them principals they needed to be financial managers or property developers.

But that wasn’t my dream.

I wanted to be free.

Do you think maybe you could break this cycle Sir Steve? Could you channel the passion of Poison and start new?

I don’t know. Maybe I could. I have a quote hidden behind our school motto – and it’s actually my life motto. It’s by Bret Michaels and it says: “My life is part humour, part roses, part thorns”.  Maybe I need to think about that.

It really hurts when people deny you the right to express yourself or honour your culture doesn’t it? It feels like we have a chance to be to kids today the person we might have needed when we were kids. Maybe there’s a kid right now, who’ll be at your school in time, who is you at eight years old – just wanting to live their hair metal dreams. They need an adult with courage to say: enough. Children have such a hard time in life not having control over so much – something as simple as hair can be the thing that makes them feel like they matter. That they have autonomy over something in their life. These children need someone to really hear them and to make a change for the better for them. You can heal yourself through the way you treat children. You can be the person who takes the first step for positive change. You can go back in time to Little Steve and say – this one is for you.

Maybe it’s time to get rid of my hair family and start a real family.