Council escapes fine for discharging excess E.coli into Tukituki River but faces big bill for report

Monday, 10 July 2017

A Hawke's Bay council that discharged an excessive amount of E.coli into the Tukituki River will not be fined but must undertake a costly review of its wastewater plant.

Central Hawke's Bay District Council pleaded guilty to a charge laid by Hawke's Bay Regional Council for exceeding a resource consent condition of the Waipawa wastewater treatment plant. The consent allows the council to exceed the amount of E.coli it discharges into the Tukituki River five times over a twelve month period.

The Tukituki River receives discharges from the Waipawa and Waipukurau wastewater treatment plants.

The council was sentenced in the Environment Court in Hastings on Monday.

Before the appearance both councils agreed that rather than HBRC seeking the imposition of a fine, ratepayer funds would be better spent on commissioning an independent technical review of the wastewater plant.

The Waipawa wastewater plant discharges to the Waipawa and Tukituki Rivers.

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Judge Craig Thompson agreed with the councils approach and issued an enforcement order that will see CHBDC commission an independent review of the Waipawa wastewater plant.

If the review includes any specific recommendations for improvements or upgrades then they will be undertaken by CHBDC within a reasonable time frame up to a maximum cost of $100,000 (including the costs of the review).

If the review recommends improvements or upgrades that exceed $100,000 (including the cost of the review) CHBDC will have to advise HBRC of its actions, including the securing of any necessary additional funding, for further work required.

A preliminary report must be provided to HBRC and filed in the Environment Court no later than December 18, containing contain results from all tests completed including the results from the 12 month monitoring program.

A final report shall be finalised and provided to HBRC and filed with the Environment Court by September next year.

CHBDC chief executive Monique Davidson said she wanted to make it 'absolutely clear that CHBDC is committed to ensuring that the Waipawa WWTP continues to comply with the limits in the resource consent conditions for the plant and, in that regard, is committed to taking seriously any recommendations made from the independent review'.

'The decision by the court allows CHBDC to implement the recommendations of the review while remaining fiscally responsible and accountable to its ratepayers,' Davidson said.

The consent had allowed the council to discharge 4,000 colony forming units (cfu) of the bacteria per 100 millilitres of wastewater.

This was exceeded in 2015 on November 5 and 19 and in 2016 on January 28, July 14, August 11 and September 22.

The amount of E.coli discharged on several dates far exceeded the allowable level. The readings were respectively 16,000 cfu/100ml, 4,800 cfu/100ml, 9,820 cfu/100ml,14000 cfu/100ml and 28,000 cfu/100ml.

It was the September excess that resulted in the charge being laid in November last year.

Other charges laid at the same time in relation to the Waipukurau wastewater plant were withdrawn.