Source: Radio New Zealand
Diggers working at the burnt-out Bromley wastewater treatment plant on 10 June 2022. Christchurch City Council
A putrid stench lingering in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs from the city’s wastewater treatment plant is expected to persist for at least another week.
Locals have complained of nausea and headaches and say the odour from the Bromley plant is driving them inside behind closed windows and doors.
Offensive odours have plagued Bromley and neighbouring suburbs since a fire at the plant in in 2021 but some neighbours believe the pong has become worse than ever in recent days.
The fire badly damaged the plant’s two trickling filters, affecting the quality of effluent flowing into the system.
The stench left people battling nausea, worsening asthma, sleepless nights and deteriorating mental health for months.
Christchurch City Council said recent heavy rain had affected the health of oxidation ponds and treatment plant staff were trying to improve the water quality.
Environment Canterbury said since Monday it had received 530 odour reports from east Christchurch suburbs which were likely related to the plant.
Since the beginning of this year 610 residents had reported odour issues to the regional council, it said.
In a statement, the regional council’s acting compliance manager Lauren Hamilton said it was aware “and we understand that these odours are affecting people’s daily lives in very real ways”.
Environment Canterbury continued to work with the Christchurch City Council to ensure they were “meeting their consent requirements and putting suitable odour mitigation measures in place wherever practicable,” she said.
Bromley woman Tracy Andrew said the smell was “absolutely vile”.
“The smell yesterday was the worst I have smelt it for a couple years. It woke me up, just about being sick. I have turned my HRV off as it was making the house so much worse,” she said.
Andrew said she was forced to keep doors and windows closed.
Gabrielle Barry said it was unfair that people were expected to live with the smell.
“It’s horrific it gives me and my children headaches, gets in your clothes so you can’t even hang your washing out, even with all the windows shut it somehow seeps into the house,” she said.
The Bromley Wastewater Plant in May 2022.
Another Bromley woman, who did not wish to be named, said she was concerned about her health.
“Everyday coming home from work I smell that, it’s very terrible. It smells like toilets. Hopefully the council can fix it because it’s alarming for the community,” she said.
Bromley local Sharon said the smell had been strong around Maces and Ruru Roads but it was dependent on the way the wind blew.
“I’ve had enough. For a lot of people I think that are paying their rates it’s about, ‘hey you’re charging exorbitant fees for our rates but you’re making us suffer with this putrid smell in the area’,” she said.
Christchurch City Council head of three waters Gavin Hutchison said the council expected higher-than-normal odour levels to continue for at least another week.
He said the council had received 12 complaints about the smell in the last week and 14 in total this year.
“The recent period of heavy rain has significantly affected the health of several oxidation ponds. Monitoring from this week showed a drop in dissolved oxygen levels across the system. These low-oxygen conditions create an environment where odour is much more likely to be released,” he said.
“This is different from what we’ve seen in the past. During previous wet-weather events, the additional rainfall has generally supported pond recovery, improving overall pond health and preventing odour issues. However, this time the ponds have not responded in the same way. Our staff are continuing to collect and analyse data to understand why these conditions have developed on this occasion.
“We’ve also seen increased loading to the ponds, which also put more pressure on the ponds, increasing the likelihood of odour.”
Hutchison said staff were trying to minimise the odour by using all available tools to improve the ponds’ water quality.
“We know odour impacts are disruptive and we want to reassure our community that reducing them is a priority for us,” he said.
Hutchison said work started on a new $140 million sludge plant, with construction expected to take about three years.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
