‘No adverse effect’ on inlet from Bell Island discharges
Nelson’s Waimea Inlet has suffered no adverse effects from treated wastewater discharges, a resource consent panel has heard.
The first day of the consent hearing for the Bell Island Wastewater Treatment Plant discharges saw arguments in support of the plant’s continued operation.
The plant is co-owned by the Nelson City and Tasman District councils, and run by the combined Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit (NRSBU).
The NRSBU presented legal arguments and backing evidence for its application for five resource consents covering the usual operation of the plant, in particular the discharge of odour into the air and up to 25,000 cubic metres of treated wastewater per day into the Waimea Inlet for the next 35 years.
Dr Donald Morrissey, senior coastal scientist at the Cawthron Institute, said there was no significant ecological effect from the discharge of treated wastewater into the inlet, either positive or negative.
He said the inlet was in a ‘‘generally healthy ecological state’’, but had been considerably affected by habitat loss, sedimentation from upstream land use changes, and enrichment with nutrients encouraging nuisance algal blooms. ‘‘However, none of these areas are in the downstream path of the discharge from the Bell Island outflow.’’
Morrissey said the inlet was ‘‘well flushed’’ by tides, and the strong tidal flows mixed the treated wastewater and carried it out into Tasman Bay.
‘‘Based on a monitoring programme, Cawthron scientists have concluded that after 35 years of operation of the discharge, there is no adverse effect on the receiving environment.’’
However, commission panel chair Sharon McGarry highlighted the concerns of local iwi, one of which submitted that discharging wastewater into the sea was ‘‘culturally abhorrent’’.
‘‘Even if there are no [measurable] adverse effects . . . there are adverse effects on the mauri (spirit) of the water.’’
NRSBU general manager Don Clifford said the appointment of iwi-selected representative Frank Hippolite of Nga¯ ti Koata as an adviser to the NRSBU helped to address iwi concerns by giving mana whenua a voice at the table when decisions about the plant were made.
Clifford also highlighted a pilot programme the plant was hoping to begin soon. It would process some of the treated wastewater so it could be reused for industrial purposes, which would decrease the amount of water discharged into the sea.
Public submissions on the application were heard by the panel yesterday. There were 15 submissions, eight of them against the application.