Council looking at its own role in fish deaths
Otago’s regional council is promising to take responsibility and look at changing its practices if tests show it is behind the deaths of hundreds of fish.
Its Dunedin pollution team visited a Kaikorai stream over the weekend after hundreds of dead smelt, flounder, bullies, trout and inanga (whitebait) were found.
Water samples have been taken at the site to be tested for pollution, and the Otago Regional Council (ORC) is investigating the cause.
The council’s regulatory general manager, Richard Saunders, previously said there were a number of factors that could influence fish deaths.
‘‘The most likely scenario in this case is that warm temperatures and reduced dissolved oxygen in the water exacerbated underlying water quality issues in the stream, leading to the fish deaths.’’
But he said council flood control work nearby could also be a factor.
The ORC’s engineering team opened the coastal mouth at the Kaikorai estuary over the weekend.
‘‘Opening the coastal mouth is something ORC does regularly as a flood protection measure, and it’s essential to avoiding leachate from the Green Island landfill entering the stream.’’
The ORC’s operations general manager, Gavin Palmer, said whether the river mouth activity had anything to do with the fish deaths remained under investigation.
‘‘We would look to make changes to how we conduct the activity if it is found to be a factor.’’
Saunders said the council was still waiting on the results of the water sampling, which usually took about a week. ‘‘We are committed to being fully transparent.’’