4 KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 23 2013 www.katherinetimes.com.au

Drunk drivers justdon’t get the roadsafety message

POLICE officers in Katherine arefrustrated about motorists not gettingthe message to not drink and drive.

Northern Watch Commander PeterLindfield said between 4pm on Fridayafternoon and midnight Saturday, sixpeople were arrested by Katherine po-lice for drink driving offences.

One person was arrested for lowrange and driving while disqualified,two drivers for medium range offencesand three people for high range drinkdriving.

Readings ranged from 0.068 percent up to 0.239 per cent.

Two people have been remanded in

custody while the remainder have beenbailed to appear in court in Katherine ata later date.

“Due to the blatant disregard bythese persons to the safety and lives ofother road users over 300 drivers werebreath tested on Saturday evening inKatherine,” Mr Lindfield said.

“Katherine police will not toleratehaving these people on our roads andwill continue to target those whochoose to drink and drive,” the WatchCommander said.

“Thanks to all the responsible roadusers we encountered who were doingthe right thing.”

THE Northern Territory Envi-ronment Protection Authority saysthe environmental damage to theEdith River region after two uncon-trolled discharges of toxic minewaste water from the troubled MtTodd Mine were “low”.

An investigation report on un-controlled discharges from the MtTodd Mine site during the 2012-13wet season has documented thecauses of the uncontrolled dis-charges from retention ponds 2 and5 in February 2013 and assesses thepotential impact on the environmentfrom the discharges.

“While the discharges had thepotential to cause environmentalharm, the NT EPA has assessed theoverall risk of environmental harmfrom the 22 and 23 February dis-

charges as ‘low’,” Acting Chair ofthe NT EPA, Gary Nairn, said.

“However, the report also con-cluded that site water managementpractices and water management in-frastructure at the time were insuffi-cient to prevent uncontrolleddischarges from the retention ponds,and unlikely to prevent such dis-charges in the future,” Mr Nairnsaid.

In considering the findings of theinvestigation, the NT EnvironmentProtection Authority determined themost practical and effective way toreduce the risk of future uncon-trolled discharges from retentionponds 2 and 5 is to ensure that addi-tional measures are implemented bymine owners Vista Gold, to bettermanage these retention ponds.

Mr Nairn said Vista Gold, in re-sponse to the investigation and inconsultation with the NT Environ-ment Protection Authority, has com-mitted to additional measures for theupcoming wet season, includingnew water management infrastruc-ture and a review of operating pro-cedures.

“The aim is to reduce the risk ofuncontrolled discharges from theseretention ponds in the coming Wetseason, and to maintain a high levelof environmental managementacross the operation.” Mr Nairnsaid.

The investigation report and theformal NT Environment ProtectionAuthority decision are available on-line on the Northern Territory EPAwebsite at: www.ntepa.nt.gov.au.

McHappyDay inKatherineto helpseriouslyill kids

AS THE countdownbegins to McHappy Day,Katherine residents arebeing encouraged to pur-chase a Helping Hand anddisplay it at their localMcDonald’s restaurant tohelp raise much neededfunds for Ronald McDon-ald House Charities.

Over 580,000 HelpingHands were sold in 2012and this year theMcHappy Day team ishoping to beat this recordto help raise a total of$3.4 million on the day, sothe charity for children inneed can continue to ex-tend their programs andservices.

To date, over 80,000people have visited aRonald McDonald FamilyRoom, which provides arelaxing haven withinhospitals giving families abreak from the stress ofmany hours spent by theirchild’s bedside.

This year’s fundraisingtarget could equate tocovering the cost to keepa Family Room open formore than 60,000 days.

Helping Hands will besold at Maccas in Kather-ine for $1 from today,Wednesday, October 23,up until McHappy Day onSaturday November 9.

“Helping Hands are afantastic way for the com-munity to show their sup-port for McHappy Dayand make a real differenceto the lives of seriously illchildren and their fami-lies,” McDonald’s Kather-ine licensee Vicki-LeighLettice said.

“They represent thecommunity coming to-gether - communities whoare always so generous inshowing their support,”Ms Lettice said.

Waste water discharge damage ‘low’

>> news

KATHERINE’S Masterchefrunner-up Lynton Tapp has notonly captured the hearts of hisfans in his hometown - with hisbeaming smile, he has also madehimself fans all around the world.

One couple, from Canada,have now even named their new-born son after the charming chef.

“We thoroughly enjoyed lastseason of Masterchef,” proud dadAdam Craig said.

“My wife and I really likedyour name and it continued togrow on us when we were able tosee what type of person you wereand what you stood for.

“Our son, Parker, also likedthe name and choose it for hisbaby brother.”

Lynton Maxwell (inset) wasborn on September 30.

“One day, we would love totravel to Australia - we hope tointroduce our son to the personhe was named after,” Mr Craigsaid.

Lynton Tapp is currently plan-ning to visit Katherine in No-vember after finishing hiscooking stint in the MasterchefRestaurant in Melbourne.

CCaannaaddiiaann bbaabbyy nnaammeedd aafftteerroouurr MMaasstteerrcchheeff ccoonntteessttaannttLLyynnttoonn TTaapppp

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