Source: Radio New Zealand
The no go zones include Ōwhiro and Island bays. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A business owner who has lost tens of thousands of dollars due to Wellington’s sewage leak wants a more targeted rāhui so beach users can return to parts of the coast that are currently off limits.
The city’s southern coast has been off limits since the Moa Point treatment plant failed catastrophically sending about 70 million litres of untreated sewage to the sea daily.
The no go zones include Ōwhiro and Island bays, just a few kilometres from the plant.
The results of water samples taken on Friday along Wellington’s south coast show a significant drop in the amount of bacteria in the water, but the Rāhui or ban is still in place.
Wellington Water said work on the larger air vent for the outfall pipe has finished, which should help the flow of water through the long outfall pipe and reduce what goes through the short outfall pipe in bad weather.
Dave Drane owns Dive Wellington at Island Bay, and the spill has already cost his business significantly.
Drane told Checkpoint the business was down $25,000 in comparison to February last year.
“We have no other option of where to take people. The marine reserve’s our big draw card and that’s what brings people to us and we’re unable to dive it at the moment.”
At this time of year, the school would normally have 20 to 30 people a day diving in the marine area that is now blocked off.
The business also runs a dive diploma, training divers for a full year.
“They dive just about every day, they do 100 dives in a year, so it’s affecting them quite dramatically.”
“We’re diving in the harbour when we can, but as soon as there’s a big northerly, it kills the harbour diving for us, like the south coast is where you have to go in a big northerly.”
Untreated water was leaking onto the capital’s south coast beaches. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Drane said the other option is to take the boat out further towards Red Rocks, but strong winds often make that difficult too.
The marine reserve extends through Ōwhiro Bay, which Drane said often experiences pollution already.
“As soon as there’s a downpour of rain, we have the overflow from stormwater. So if they’re testing in Ōwhiro Bay, quite often they’re getting the result of that anyway.”
Drane said he wants to see the Rāhui lifted for places further out from Moa Point, including Ōwhiro Baywhich he said has had close to clean testing for a while now.
He told Checkpoint he is “disappointed and pretty angry” at what had happened, and it was “embarrassing” to have to inform customers that they couldn’t go in the water.
“We’ve got this jewel, Tapituranga Marine Reserve, right on our doorstep, and we’ve spent years just like leaving it alone to grow as it should, and now it’s getting polluted, supposedly, and it should never have happened in the first place.”
“There’s other businesses that are suffering more than us, even, like the surf shops in Lyall Bay and things like that, it must be devastating for them.”
Drane said they would not be covered by insurance for the losses caused by the spill.
“My thought would be that Veolia or someone’s insurance company should have some sort of compensation underneath their insurance.”
While he recently attended a meeting fronted by Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, and various Green MPs to discuss the spill, Drane said no-one from Veolia was there to front up.
“Those that need it, give them compensation and make sure this never happens again.”
Drane said it was “terrible” to be not know how long it would take before the beaches were safe for use again.
After taking samples on Saturday morning Wellington Water was still urging people to avoid swimming, diving, gathering or eating kaimoana along the south coast.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
