$1000 fine over gastro bug outbreak

A $445,000 ratepayer-funded investigation into Hastings District Council’s role in the Havelock North gastro outbreak has ended with the issuing of fines totalling $1000.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council spent $445,000 on its investigation to determine whether the campylobacter contamination of the Havelock North bores was due to resource consents not being met.

This cost is separate to $453,000 the regional council has spent on the government inquiry into the outbreak to date.

On completing its investigation, the regional council had decided to prosecute the district council. The prosecution, which delayed the government inquiry and angered the inquiry panel, was later withdrawn and replaced with the issuing of two infringement fines of $500 each. Hastings District Council paid the fines before Christmas.

The full inquiry into what caused the outbreak was supposed to have started in November. It starts in Hastings District Court on Monday.

The regional council will discuss the expenditure on the investigation and the inquiry at a meeting this week.

In a paper before the council, staff noted that a science caucus involving regional council experts and external advisors had been working through December and January to determine the facts surrounding the contamination event.

The paper said an extensive review of evidence provided by other parties to the inquiry had revealed ‘‘accusations and inaccuracies about actions of HBRC that require a response’’.

HBRC resource management group manager Iain Maxwell said the investigation was far broader than simply looking at the bores, and has provided information that will be vital to the government inquiry. It involved months of extensive sampling of groundwater and surface water as well as an ‘‘exhaustive suite of genomic testing by ESR to find the source of the contamination’’.