In December we reported that as a result of Waikato District Council’s wastewater spill at Raglan in June 2013, it was being taken to court by its cousin, the Waikato Regional Council. The case was to have been heard in January. It has now been adjourned until 28 February 2014 at 10am in the Hamilton District Court.
Following the incident, Waikato Regional Council completed a full investigation and as a result, a single charge of discharging a contaminant into the environment under the Resource Management Act 1991 was filed in the Hamilton District Court. Around 5 million litres of partially treated wastewater entered a tributary of the Raglan Harbour. A number of factors contributed to the overflow including the failure of the discharge pumps to start operating and a lack of telemetry alarms in the event of a pump failure.
The Raglan Community Board asked for a full report on the incident and it is still waiting for that.
The Waikato Regional Council sent a ‘Letter of Direction’ to Waikato District Council in November 2013 requiring it to undertake a full review of the Raglan Wastewater Plant’s operation and also to take steps to reduce the growth of algae below compliant levels.
The Waikato District Council’s Service Delivery General Manager Tim Harty said on February 10th, “We are currently working on a plan to address issues raised in the letter and we should have that completed by March for reporting to Council and relevant committees/boards.
The addition of the Whaanga Coast waste to the plant is unlikely to cause treatment issues as the suspended solids concern is algae growth related. I will be able to provide further details once we have investigated the matters in more detail”.
RCB received a one page copy of the Executive Summary, but not the Detailed recommendations and the actions that WDC has addressed or auctioned or has planed to address. This report was promised by the CEO in December last year. I now look forward to the report he is compiling for the Raglan Community Board.
The Community Board needs to keep asking for this. WDC is taking far too long.