Media Release: Waikato District Council, 19 August 2015
From Tim Harty, Waikato District Council Service Delivery General Manager:
“Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 18 August) a wastewater overflow was reported in the Lorenzen Bay/Greenslade Road area (Raglan). Council staff attended the incident, stopped the overflow and cleaned the area.
Waikato Regional Council, Health Officer, Councillors and key community stakeholders were advised of the overflow as soon as Council management was made aware of the incident. Signage was installed advising the public not to swim, fish or collect shellfish in the Lorenzen Bay/Greenslade Road area until further notice.
The likely cause of the overflow is similar to an incident earlier this month where tree roots have grown through the pipes. Following the last overflow, Council staff have been inspecting and carrying out CCTV inspections in the Lorenzen Bay – Greenslade Road area but had not yet assessed the sections involved in yesterday’s event.
At this stage the quantity of wastewater entering the harbour is approximately 4,000 litres (equal to 4 cubic metres). A full report including this information will be prepared for Waikato Regional Council and will be made available to the public on our website at a later date. The overflow is not related to the new SCADA computer system. Because the overflow occurred through a manhole, SCADA would not have been alerted to the overflow.”