Locals irked by Matapihi waste spill
Matapihi residents want a meeting with the council about a wastewater overflow that saw approximately 80 cubic metres of sewage enter the harbour.
Residents, including one who opposed the $107 million southern pipeline’s passage through Matapihi, are disappointed and frustrated by Wednesday’s spill and Tauranga City Council has launched a review of maintenance procedures.
The overflow happened 100 metres on the Matapihi side of the harbour-spanning wastewater pipeline about
3pm, the council said.
Director of city water Stephen Burton said contractors were doing routine maintenance on air valves along Matapihi Rd.
“Wastewater pipelines require air valves at various points to release gas associated with transport to treatment plants, which need to checked and maintained on a regular basis.”
An air valve 100m above the Matapihi carpark was taken off for maintenance and normally an isolation valve would seal off the pipeline, Burton said.
However, this was not securely sealed even though contractors believed it to be closed and that the valve was working.
He said it was hard to say precisely how much wastewater spilled.
“It may have been approximately 200 cubic metres. Contractors were able to stop 120 cubic metres from entering the harbour by using sucker trucks.”
Burton said it took more than three hours to stop the overflow.
“The southern pipeline flow was immediately diverted to Chapel St when the overflow was notified. Sucker trucks were brought in to prevent as much flow as possible from entering the harbour while the isolation valve was manually closed.”
He said the spill area to the bottom of Matapihi Rd had been cleaned and disinfected, including the carpark, surrounding vegetation and bridge accessway.
“Warning signs have been placed on the foreshore and the waterfront steps along The Strand until water quality samples have been tested and show the water is safe.”
Any shellfish found would also be sampled, Burton said.
Neighbouring residents were offered alternative accommodation for the night while the clean-up was under way, he said.
Burton said council staff were investigating what further protocols could be put in place to prevent similar incidents in future.
“It is likely more than one preventative measure will be added to ensure air valves are isolated prior to maintenance,” he said.
Hayden Henry of Nga¯i Tukairangi hapu¯ said this kind of incident was what he and others in Matapihi feared when they fought the pipeline plan.
Henry said even if the leak was due to human error, it was “very disappointing” given the council’s past assurances of emergency response procedures.
“This matter requires a community meeting with council staff so we can express our disappointment and also hear what the council intends to do to better manage the whole process of the pipeline going forward,” he said.
“There have been repercussions on the wider community which is also very disappointing, and we need to make sure this does not recur.”
Matapihi Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Greg Milne agreed a meeting was needed. “It’s very disappointing, frustrating, and obviously not an acceptable situation.”
He said it appeared the overflow was the result of human error and he knew the people involved and council staff would be very upset that it happened.
“I know there will be outrage among the Matapihi community, particularly those who were opposed to the southern pipeline through this land for this very reason.
“I’m confident the council will do everything they can to solve this problem and make sure this does not happen again.”
Burton said the council shared the community's sentiments.
“This has been disappointing and frustrating to all of us. We are in the process of organising a hui with the Matapihi community next week. We’ll share what we know about what caused this, what measures have been put in place to prevent similar issues and provide opportunity for the community to talk to our team and ask further questions.”
He said there was no problem with the pipeline itself and all valves worked.