Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
DOC’s becoming increasingly concerned about the 70 million litres of raw sewage being pumped into the sea around the capital near the marine reserve, putting several species at risk.
The beaches are off limits after Wellington’s Moa Point waste water treatment plant failed, flooding the facility and sending massive amounts of untreated waste into the city’s south coast and Taouteranga Marine Reserve.
There are plans to redirect the overflow much further out to sea during the plant’s repair, but that could take months.
Meanwhile the environmental impacts of the discharge could have significant consequences for marine life.
Department of Conservation’s principal marine science advisor Shane Geange told Checkpoint DOC were “extremely concerned”.
“From an ecological perspective, raw sewage and waste water entering a marine environment poses an immediate and serve threat to a wide range of ecological functions and species, but I think the primary concern is around the public health concern which greater wellington health authorities are actively managing.”
He said raw sewage carried bacteria, viruses and parasites that could impact sponges, muscles and fish that eat particles in the water.
“They can also accumulate in shell fish which make them unsafe for consumption.”
He said the sewage could also impact penguin and how they regulate their bodies.
“Potentially you could get significant implication for the penguin population.”
‘Pretty disappointing’
Geange said DOC was working with Greater Wellington Regional Council to figure out how far the sewage had spread.
“In the process of undertaking a bunch of sampling to determine the concentration of contaminates within the sea water and how far they have spread at the moment…”
The marine reserve is 2km from the waste water pipe.
He said the sea water would “rapidly” dilute the sewage, but not enough to destroy the contaminates.
The environmental impacts of the discharge could have significant consequences for marine life. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Geange said mass fatality was his worst fear, but was highly unlikely.
“It’s pretty disappointing from an environmental perspective,” he said.
‘Environmental disaster’ – Wellington Mayor
Wellington’s mayor Andrew Little earlier told Morning Report there must be an independent inquiry into what happened, which he’s labelled a “catastrophic failure” and an “environmental disaster”.
“This is a sewage plant processing the sewage for a big city, and it has completely failed, it just completely stopped,” he said.
“Plants like this should not suffer the kind of catastrophic failure that we’ve seen.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
