Abstract
Within the arena of Historical Pollution, corporate and governing bodies alike often employ tactics of agnosis to deliberately confuse and obfuscate the risks posed by environmental crimes to those who stand the greatest chance of being victimized. This chapter shall analyse the specific agnotological mechanisms employed by governing bodies in New Zealand concerning the levels of pollution and the risks posed by a decommissioned legacy landfill in Houghton Bay, Wellington. These agnotological tactics include the dissemination of verifiably false information regarding the level and pervasiveness of the landfill’s pollution, information which directly contrasted the lived experiences of those residing in proximity to the landfill. Other agnotological tactics included the deliberate omission of information concerning the area’s pollution from Land Information Memorandum or (LIM) reports that are provided to first home buyers within the area, reports that are supposed to include mention of any possible source of contamination or hazardous material. Coupled with a lack of any signage alluding to the pollution, these tactics of agnosis obscured the informational landscape concerning the landfill, leaving victims in perpetual states of confusion regarding the risk of exposure to pollution. Data for this chapter was compiled by a Masters thesis investigating the Houghton Bay pollution.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barton, Alana, and Howard Davis. 2018. “Introduction.” In Ignorance, Power and Harm Agnotology and the Criminological Imagination, edited by Alana Barton and Howard Davis, 1–12. Chav: Palgrave Macmillan.
Centonze, Francesco, and Stefano Manacorda. 2017. “Preventing and Sanctioning Historical Pollution beyond Criminal Law: An Introduciton.” In Historical Pollution: Comparative Legal Responses to Environmental Crimes, edited by Francesco Centonze and Stefano Manacorda, 1–21. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Christensen, Thomas H., Peter Kjeldsen, Poul L. Bjerg, Dorthe L. Jensen, Jette B. Christensen, Anders Baun, Hans-Jørgen Albrechtsen, and Gorm Heron. 2001. “Biogeochemistry of Landfill Leachate Plumes.” Applied Geochemistry 16 (7–8): 659–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0883-2927(00)00082-2.
Department of Conservation. 2019. “About Us.” Govt.nz. 2019. https://www.doc.govt.nz/about-us/.
Jayaratne, R., B. Williamson, I. Idris, N. Wood, J. Bhula, and A. Wilson. 2015. Our Capital Beaches—Effects of Stormwater Discharges.” Auckland: Water New Zealand.
Lisk, Donald. 1991. “Environmental Effects of Landfills.” The Science of the Total Environment 100: 443–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(91)90387-T.
Louisson, Charles. 2021. “Seeping Ugly.” Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington. https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Seeping_Ugly/14348003.
McGoey, Linsey. 2012. “The Logic of Strategic Ignorance.” The British Journal of Sociology 63 (3): 533–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2012.01424.x.
Mcgoey, Linsey. 2019. The Unknowers: How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World. London: Zed Books.
Natali, Lorenzo. 2017. “The Contribution of Green Criminology to the Analysis of Historical Pollution.” In Historical Pollution: Comparative Legal Responses to Environmental Crimes, edited by Francesco Centonze and Stefano Manacorda, 21–57. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International.
Njoku, Prince O., Joshua N. Edokpayi, and John O. Odiyo. 2019. “Health and Environmental Risks of Residents Living close to a Landfill: A Case Study of Thohoyandou Landfill, Limpopo Province, South Africa.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16 (12): 2125. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122125.
Proctor, Robert, and Londa Schiebinger. 2008. Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance. Uitgever: Stanford (Calif.): Stanford University Press, Cop.
Purchas, Chris. 1998. “Landfills in the Wellington Region.” Wellington: Resource Investigations Department. https://www.gw.govt/assets/Documents/1998/10/Landfills-in-the-Wellington-Region.pdf.
Rotolo, Giuseppe. 2017. “Historical Pollution: In Search of a Legal Definition.” In Historical Pollution: Comparative Legal Responses to Environmental Crimes, edited by Francesco Centonze and Stefano Manacorda, 57–91. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Stanley, Elizabeth, and Riki Mihaere. 2018. “Managing Ignorance about Maori Imprisonment.” In Ignorance Power and Harm: Agnotology and the Criminal Imagination, edited by Alana Barton and Howard Davis, 113–38. Chav: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stone, Glenn Davis. 2014. “Biosecurity in the Age of Genetic Engineering.” In Bioinsecurity and Vulnerability, edited by Nancy Chen and Lesley Sharp, 71–87. Santa Fe: School of Advanced Research Press.
Waste Management Institute New Zealand (WasteMINZ). 2018. “Technical Guidelines for Disposal to Land.” Auckland, New Zealand: WasteMINZ.
WCC. 2021. “Land Information Memorandum (LIM).” Wellington City Council. November 8, 2021. https://wellington.govt.nz/property-rates-and-building/property/reports/lim.
WCC, and GWRC. 2013. “Houghton Bay Stormwater Management Treatment Options” (pp. 1–3). Wellington: GWRC
WCC & Wellington Water. 2017. “Stormwater Discharge Consent Annual Report.” Wellington, New Zealand: WCC & Wellington Water. https://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/publication-library/technical-information/document/323/.
Wellington Water. 2015. “Houghton Bay Leachate—Wellington Water.” www.wellingtonwater.co.nz. 2015. https://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/your-water/stormwater/stormwater-in-the-wellington-region/houghton-bay-leachate/.
World Health Organization. 2021. “Lead Poisoning and Health.” Who.int. World Health Organization: WHO. August 23, 2021. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Louisson, C. (2024). A ‘Need-to-Know’ Basis. In: Gacek, J., Jochelson, R. (eds) Justice in the Age of Agnosis. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54354-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54354-8_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-54353-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-54354-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)