Environmentalists in the Cook Islands are pleased the government has initiated an environmental impact assessment (EIA) over the use of polyaluminium chloride to flush parts of Rarotonga's new water system, Te Mato Vai.
But Te Ipukarea Society's Kelvin Passfield says they are concerned at the limited nature of the assessment.
The Cook Islands Government and the country's environmentalist groups and landowners have been at loggerheads for months over the government's push to use chlorine in the system to purify the water.
A petition went to government calling for it to consider other, organic methods of purification, while a court decision last year stated chemicals couldn't be used without the permission of landowners.
Mr Passfield told Don Wiseman New Zealand company, Tonkin and Taylor, is undertaking the EIA.
Kelvin Passfield of Te Ipukarea Society. Photo: RNZ/ Sally Round
