Compromise in bay wastewater discharge bid
by John Jones - Gisborne Herald
Wednesday, 21 March, 2007
THE concerns of tangata whenua and the issue of discolouration of the waters of Poverty Bay have been met in a revised application for the upgrade of the city’s wastewater system, independent commissioners were told on Monday.
The hearing of applications, in which Gisborne District Council seeks a
35-year consent for a biological trickling filter system discharging into the sea through the submarine outfall pipe, resumed before five independent commissioners on Monday after an adjournment of nearly a year.
The commissioners were told a consultation process during the adjournment had led to the revised application involving the biological trickling filter (BTF) plant. Commissioners praised the work of WARG (the wastewater adjournment review group) to obtain a compromise between the council and submitters.
Appearing for the council, Mr Nicholas Wright said the new treatment had given rise to several significant improvements.
The discharge of trade waste into the bay created a plume that led to concerns the council might face serious problems securing a consent in light of section 107 of the Resource Management Act, which said a consent could not be granted if there was any conspicuous discolouration of water.
All industries, with the exception of Cedenco, were now in full compliance with the trade waste bylaw, he said
The process entered into by the council and tangata whenua was a fine example of good faith and open-mindedness in action.
From the perspective of tangata whenua it renewed faith in the council’s commitment to hearing their concerns, led to significant improvements in the treatment process from a cultural perspective, and largely convinced tangata whenua that continued discharge into the sea was simply unavoidable at present.
The magnitude of the shift from both parties should not be understated, said Mr Wright,
"The council and tangata whenua have long stood toe-to-toe on these issues, both at council and Environment Court level. For the first time, movement on the path of both parties have seen them move shoulder-to-shoulder," he said.
District Council engineering and works manager Bill Turner said the selection process had gone on over a number of years leading to the selection of the BTF process and the Gisborne Airport site.
Since 1996 major industries had spent $5 million on treatment of trade waste with operating costs of $1 million a year.
Cedenco had an extended period of being non-compliant in the 2006 season. Since then it had commissioned an additional treatment upgrade, which was being installed but had been delayed because equipment shipped from Australia had been damaged.
In answer to a question from the commissioners, he said the council had the power to shut down Cedenco under the Trade Waste bylaws but would not like to take a step like that because the company employed several hundred people and a lot of growers depended on it.
Gisborne Airport had raised a number of concerns. The airport was a vital transport link for Gisborne, which could not be jeopardised, Mr Turner said.
The applicant had assured the airport it would be involved in future decisions and proposed conditions would address their concerns.
It was recognised that disposal of human waste to water was offensive to Maori. WARG recognised that ongoing disposal through the outfall was unavoidable at this stage.
A significant amount of time was spent developing conditions that would ensure appropriate standards were met.
That included the establishment of a Turanganui-a-Kiwa water quality project, said Mr Turner.
A large part of the applicant’s evidence on Monday was taken up with technical witnesses on the possible effects of the treatment plant.
It included expert evidence on the nature of the BTF process from Dr Peter Loughnan and Dr Jim Bradley, evidence on the potential for odour generation from Dr Paul Heveledt, on the potential visual effects from landscape architect Dr Michael Steven and evidence on the effects of the proposed discharge on existing ecology from marine scientist Paul Barter.
The hearing continued yesterday.
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