The incidents on the site are ORC’s highest priority investigation and are being taken very seriously.

There are a number of active investigations under way and any decision on further compliance steps for the site is still a live process.

To date abatement notices and infringement notices have been issued for the site, both of which are forms of compliance action.

The Otago Regional Council is investigating and working on compliance enforcement options as a priority in relation to the Shotover Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Investigations include regular discharge testing which occurs alongside the separate testing by plant owner-operator Queenstown Lakes District Council.

ORC tests in recent months shows the discharge is well treated and complies with the limits set in consent conditions, while the detected limits are well below the contact recreation guidelines.

“We want our consent holders to achieve compliance with their consents and this site is no exception.  Staff are involved in a process where we’re considering all the options available to bring about compliance. We’ve had a team working very hard on this and are taking these issues seriously. As part of ongoing investigations ORC has sought technical specialist advice around the site since July.”

QLDC is the plant operator and they must comply with their consent obligations and take actions on the site to do this.  If issues occur, ORC will continue to take appropriate compliance action, in line with policy and the RMA.

Please refer questions on the day-to-day operation, inputs into the site and how they are working to achieve compliance to QLDC. 

A recent news report of high exceedances of conditions in discharges at the plant relates to an on-site issue of a mechanical failure in the plant during last December and January this year. This was reported on at the time and prompted ORC to issue infringement notices. These notices are a form of compliance action.  

 ORC continues to investigate discharge issues on site and as this is still an active investigation, we are unable to release explicit details, as this could potentially prejudice any actions we may yet take.

“As the owner-operator of the plant, QLDC needs to go through all the treatment processes involved with the plant’s operation, to see that the discharges are better contained and the site is operated as set out in their consent. As is the nature of wastewater treatment plants anywhere ongoing management of wastewater is needed and it is not as simple as stopping all inputs into the plant.”

 Any future compliance action would occur in line with ORC’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy and the tools available to the Council under the Resource Management Act 1991.

There could potentially be a decision on this in coming weeks, once the investigations have been completed.  However, any compliance investigation needs to be thorough and to a high standard and in undertaking their investigations ORC is ensuring this happens.

The delta where any discharges may occur is not a popular swimming area due to deep, dangerous currents. People are urged to regularly check the LAWA safe-swimming website during summer for Central Otago swim spots. ORC monitor the Kawarau River as part of our summer programme and will continue to do so for contact recreation.

“We’ve issued two abatement notices and a total of six infringement notices since 2021. The operation of the site is being closed monitored, with regular testing and visits from staff.”

ORC is following the appropriate compliance processes.  Compliance tools range from abatement notices, infringement notices, enforcement orders and prosecution and all are being considered in line with policy. ORC staff are onsite regularly to monitor the discharges and compliance.

“The discharge issues at the Shotover treatment plant remain our highest priority investigation.”

Tests

On November 20 2024, Otago Regional Council staff conducted wastewater sampling around the Shotover Wastewater Treatment Plant disposal field.

10 samples were collected from different locations and tested for the routine set of tests. Additionally, seven of these locations were tested for Microbial Source Tracking (MST). MST is a scientific method that uses genetic markers in bacteria to identify the source of bacterial contamination. This analysis aimed to determine whether human effluent is present.

The MST results only detected human MST markers on one of the seven samples and that was just over the level of detection. However, caution is advised as this result is based on a single sample and close to the detection limit. The other 6 samples were below detection limits, and this includes all samples taken from the disposal field itself.

The routine testing results were received by ORC on 3 December 2024.  The laboratory analysed E.coli samples to a range of “less than 1000 CFU/100ml”.  Whilst specific values would be more useful, they indicate that E.coli levels were not high at the discharge point and did not increase across the sampled area.  We have since undertaken further sampling.

More recent sample results: Preliminary results for samples taken on 3 December show that any discharge is highly treated. The E.coli result for the discharge from the disposal field was less than 10 CFU/100ml. These test results will undergo further analysis and review by staff.

Attribute: ORC’s Chief Executive, Richard Saunders