Source: Radio New Zealand
The Moa Point Treatment Plant. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington leaders are calling for an investigation into Moa Point Treatment Plant’s failure.
The local MP says concerns have been raised over whether the plant’s privately-owned operator Veolia was fulfilling its contract.
Crews have spent the weekend trying to clean up Wellington’s wastewater plant so they can assess the damage after it was shut down due to being flooded by raw sewage. It’s likely to be months before the Moa Point plant is back in operation.
In the meantime, millions of litres of untreated sewage continue to spill out into the Cook Strait since early Wednesday.
Green MP Julie Anne Genter, who is the local MP, told Morning Report it was devastating.
“It’s really disappointing. I know so many people in Wellington love our south coast, and this is precisely the time they would be out there on a beautiful day on the beach,” Genter said.
“… It’s bad for us, but it is even worse for our wildlife.”
She said there were little blue penguins, or kororā, in the bay and a pod of dolphins there on Sunday.
“We can do better, we have to do better.”
Green MP Julie Anne Genter. RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Genter said the council was putting enormous amounts of money into Moa Point, with an upgrade happening at the wastewater treatment plant.
She said concerns have previously been raised over the performance of Moa Point plant’s privately-owned operator Veolia.
“There seems to be some separation between the private company, Wellington Water and the ability of the elected people to get the results that we need,” she said.
Genter said there needs to be a full investigation.
Wellington mayor Andrew Little said last week that he would raise what he has called a “catastrophic” failure of the city’s sewage plant with the prime minister. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday.
Little said one of the questions in the days ahead would be about setting up an appropriate investigation or inquiry into what happened.
“We can’t let this happen again,” he said. “We can’t let such a critical plant for a modern city fail in the way that this has and cause the environmental degradation that it has.
“It’s important we get the facts and it’s important we understand what we need to do to prevent it from happening again.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
