Contaminant mystery stumps local authorities

‘‘It's so bad it brings on headaches, particularly in the morning. ’’

An unknown contaminant is leaching into the Seaview Marina, but local and regional authorities are unsure what it is or its source.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council received a call on September 16 to investigate pollutants leaking into the Hutt City Council-owned marina.

A stormwater catchment was discovered releasing some form of hydrocarbon, regional council environmental protection team head James Snowdon said.

But as for the chemical breakdown of the substance or its source, it was a ‘‘mystery’’.

The marina is situated at the northeast end of Wellington Harbour, comprising 267 berths.

It was once a grimy anchorage on a rough tar seal dock, but is now shipshape due to an industryled initiative.

Its nearly 17 hectares was the first in the Wellington region to attain Clean Marina status - a voluntary programme developed to protect coastal water quality.

Sherie Sullivan, whose partner has a boat docked there, said she could often smell diesel or oil when she visited.

‘‘It’s so bad it brings on headaches, particularly in the morning. It’s an awful smell to wake up to.

‘‘It’s been getting worse over the last few months, and the volume of crap in the water is horrifying.’’

The regional council received at least three calls ‘‘over the last couple of weeks’’ about the marina’s water quality, Snowdon said.

He admitted there ‘‘an ongoing issue with intermittent discharges of small amounts of hydrocarbons’’.

‘‘We’re not sure what hydrocarbon it is; whether it’s diesel or oils leaching form the ground, or what exactly it is.’’

The council is collaborating with its harbour management, Hutt City Council, and Wellington Water in order to discover and stop the contaminant at source.

‘‘We have taken some samples but they don’t necessarily tell us where they came from,’’ Snowdon its said.

‘‘Our first priority is preventing any further discharges.

‘‘And depending on the scale of the effects that its having, we do have enforcement tools so we will investigate from that point of view and whether any offences have taken place.’’