Statements from Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and Otago Regional Council (ORC) regarding QLDC’s Shotover Waste Water Treatment Plant:

QLDC:

Council has been in regular contact with ORC about some ongoing challenges at Shotover Waste Water Treatment Plan (WWTP). These are exacerbated during and after periods of heavy rainfall like we have seen in recent months. No untreated or partially treated effluent has been or is being released from the WWTP during this time. ORC is currently investigating on-site and hence it isn’t appropriate to provide further comment until that investigation is complete, other than to confirm that QLDC has allocated substantial investment in the early part of its current Long Term Plan to develop and implement a new effluent disposal strategy. We’ll continue to update the community regarding progress at the current facility and this future strategy.

ORC:

ORC’s Compliance Manager Carlo Bell said: “ORC was notified by QLDC of an issue at the site relating to their discharge. Staff have been kept up to date by QLDC on steps that they are taking in response to this. A staff member is attending the site this afternoon to check compliance. ORC are continuing to investigate issues on site and as these are active investigations no further comment can be provided at this time. Any compliance action, if needed, will be taken in line with ORC’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy. ORC takes its role as regulator seriously and has been actively monitoring compliance with the consents. Compliance action has been taken to date and investigations are ongoing.”

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