Sewage plant gets consents
Independent commissioners have granted a suite of resource consents for the Nelson regional sewage treatment plant, including a permit to discharge treated wastewater into Waimea Inlet.
However, the five permits, which enable the Bell Island Wastewater Treatment Plant’s operations to continue, come with a duration of 20 years, rather than the 35 years sought.
They also include a raft of conditions, such as requirements to submit a Monitoring and Technology Review Report every six years, and to arrange a hui for Te Tau Ihu iwi each November.
The plant is overseen by the Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit (NRSBU), a joint committee of the Tasman District and Nelson City councils. It treats municipal wastes – mainly domestic sewage –from Nelson City, Stoke, Tahunanui, Richmond, Wakefield, Brightwater, the Waimea Basin and Ma¯ pua, as well as industrial wastewater from Alliance Nelson, the former Enza site, and Nelson Pine Industries.
In November 2017, the NRSBU applied to the Tasman District Council for resource consents to continue operating the treatment plant for 35 years, including the ongoing discharges of odour into the air and up to 25,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater a day into Waimea Inlet.
A three-day hearing was held in November 2019 before three commissioners. It was adjourned to enable a revised set of proposed conditions to be circulated, then closed on January 31.
The commissioners said they agreed with council natural resources consents team leader Leif Pigott that ‘‘there are significant risks in predicting water quality effects and climate change beyond 20 years’’.
The commissioners also outlined the arguments for a consent duration of 35 years, including the ‘‘significant capital and operational investments required’’.
‘‘However, we consider many key parts of the [plant] itself are coming to the end of their life and need upgrading or are in need of significant maintenance. Having considered all of the factors raised and the conclusions reached in our assessment of effects, we consider the appropriate consent duration is 20 years.’’
The commissioners acknowledged that concerns raised in submissions and the Cultural Effects Assessment ‘‘express fundamental opposition to discharges of human effluent to water’’.
‘‘All express concern about cumulative effects and degradation of the Waimea Inlet,’’ their report said. ‘‘We accept the discharge is having significant adverse effects on cultural values and relationships, and the ability for tangata whenua to exercise practises such as kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga.’’
The commissioners agreed that the discharge should not further degrade water quality or ecological and human health. ‘‘We are satisfied that conditions and limits can be imposed to ensure the quality of the receiving environment is maintained and the effects are appropriately monitored for the duration of the consent.’’