Ōhakea water scheme to avoid PFAS contamination should be ready by Christmas 2021

Wednesday, 19 August 2020

Properties near Ōhakea air force base need a new water supply due to the groundwater in the area being contaminated with a chemical formerly used in firefighting foam at the base.

Manawatū residents whose drinking water is contaminated with chemicals from toxic firefighting foam will have to wait until 2021 for a long-term solution.

The groundwater and soil around Ōhakea air force base is contaminated with PFAS, a chemical found in a variety of products, including non-stick cookware and some food wrappers.

It was also in firefighting foam previously used at the base. The PFAS leached into the surrounding area.

The chemical is notoriously slow at breaking down in a natural environment. PFAS is expected to stay around Ōhakea for as long as 125 years over an area as large as 1600 hectares.

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Landowners near the base have been getting water shipped in since the PFAS discovery became public in 2017.

A long-term solution is in the pipeline and the Government is paying 75 per cent of the $14.4 million cost for a water scheme in the area.

The scheme, to be managed by the Manawatū District Council, will pipe in clean water to PFAS-afflicted properties.

When announcing the funding in December 2019, Environment Minister David Parker said much of the design work was already done and construction was to begin in 2020.

But the council has not applied for a resource consent, as of Tuesday.

Council general manager of infrastructure Hamish Waugh said the scheme should be up and running by Christmas 2021 and the consent application filed “sooner rather than later”.

The only part of the project needing a consent was the water source, with a site near Sanson’s supply the best choice.

PFAS is expected to move through the ground and water for years, but modelling showed the Sanson location was safe, Waugh said.

“Anywhere north of the base or east towards Sanson would be suitable.”

Going west was an option, but could have meant water being taken from the Rangitīkei District Council’s area, creating additional logistical problems, he said.

The design of the reticulation network – everything between the water source and the properties – was halfway ready.

Running pipes either involved the Manawatū District Council asking itself if it was alright to put pipes below its roads, or going to NZ Transport Agency for pipes beneath state highways, Waugh said.

“It is a reasonably straightforward process… [with] no challenging part to it.

“It’s just the time to get it all together.”

The building of each section of the scheme – the bore, the reticulation network and where to get the water on properties – could happen at the same time, Waugh said.

Councillors had been keeping people informed, while the council had held community meetings since the PFAS discovery.

Consultation with people was difficult during the coronavirus lockdown, but property owners were being kept in the loop and another community meeting would likely be held soon, Waugh said.