11 December 2014

Clear plan needed to meet CHB Wastewater treatment standards

A clear plan is needed from the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council on how it intends to modify its wastewater plant to meet the stricter new standards required for the discharge.

That’s the message HBRC Group Manager Resource Management Iain Maxwell gave yesterday’s Environment and Services Committee, which discussed a report on concerns about the effectiveness of the new Waipukurau and Waipawa wastewater treatment plans.

The plants needed to be upgraded to meet stricter standards required under new resource consents, which came into effect in October.

CHB District Council chose to construct floating wetlands with chemical dosing, sand filtration and UV treatment to meet the new treatment standards. But the report says there are ‘serious concerns’ about high levels of nutrient and E.Coli being discharged from the plants and asks for urgent action by the CHBDC to rectify the situation.

CHBDC says capacity issues with the sand filters, triggering an overload shutdown are causing the problems and it is seeking international advice on how to overcome the issue.

Mr Maxwell says HBRC did not play any part in the final selection of a wastewater treatment option or its design, and its role now is to ensure CHBDC meets the required standards. He says while he accepts many people would like to see a full prosecution against CHBDC, it is too early to make that call.

“What I am interested in is seeing a positive outcome and meeting those new standards, taking court action against them at this point in time will not achieve that,” says Mr Maxwell.

He says meeting the new discharge standards is a non-negotiable bottom line and HBRC will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure a process is in place to achieve that.

ENDS

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