BY FELICITY COGGAN  
KAIKOHE, New Zealand--Carrying flags and banners, singing, and calling on bystanders to join in, 100 people marched in the pouring rain July 3 through the main street of this town to the Kaikohe District Court. The protest occurred outside of court hearings in the cases of 37 people who had been arrested June 4 and charged with trespass after a four-day occupation at the site of a proposed prison at nearby Ngawha.

At the courthouse, the marchers were met by 100 more people who joined in the lively gathering as they waited for the cases to be heard.

Maori have been fighting to stop the prison for years because it is to be built on a geothermal field, which includes mineral hot pools considered sacred because of their healing powers.

Opponents of the prison, which is already in the early stages of construction, have made it very clear they are determined to continue the fight. In mid-June they took their protests to the capital city, Wellington, to back an appeal they had lodged in the High Court against an Environment Court ruling allowing the prison to go ahead. A group of young people briefly occupied the head office of the Department of Corrections, calling the prison development "an act of terrorism against the people of the land." The High Court judge turned down the appeal. "This is not the end," said spokesperson Toi Maihi.

A new concern has emerged for opponents of the prison, Riana WiHongi told the Militant. High concentrations of mercury have recently been found in waters downstream from the construction site. While the standard for drinking water is two parts per billion, the Northland Regional Council has reported levels of over eight parts per billion.

Soils at Ngawha contain high levels of mercury because it is part of a geothermal area, and a mercury mine was previously located nearby, WiHongi explained. She said that local people are worried that the mercury contamination will flow into larger waterways, affecting fish and shellfish gatherings, and recreational activities in this popular tourist region.

Felicity Coggan is a sewing machine operator and a member of the National Distribution Union.  
 
 
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