Source: Radio New Zealand
Dive Wellington runs sessions in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve almost everyday. Supplied / Dave Drane
Wellington divers are not only worried about the environmental cost, but the financial fallout of having raw sewage spewing onto the south coast.
The beaches are off limits, after a “catastrophic failure” at the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant flooded the site, and sent raw sewage spilling from an outfall close to shore at a rate of 70 million litres a day.
A couple of kilometres from the outfall is the eastern boundary of the Taputeranga Marine Reserve.
Since 1998 Dive Wellington has overlooked the reserve, with owner Dave Drane telling RNZ he was lucky to have it on his doorstep.
“It’s a jewel you know, but no one will be using it for the … forseeable future, and it’s a major part of our business taking people diving in it.”
Since the treatment plant’s failure was discovered – around 1am on Wednesday – Wellington Water has found 80 percent of its equipment damaged, with full repairs expected to take months.
In an update on Thursday evening, it said it was working to redirect the untreated wastewater into an outfall 1.8km offshore, as soon as possible, and put screening in to remove items such as sanitary pads.
But it warned the temporary fix would not completely stop periodic discharges from the outfall pipe close to shore.
A rāhui from Ōwhiro Bay to Breaker Bay remained in place, preventing people from going in the water, collecting seafood, or walking their dogs on the beach.
Drane said the dive and snorkelling business was used to navigating ‘no swim’ warnings following bouts of heavy rain, but the current situation would cost it severely. Supplied / Dave Drane
Drane said the dive and snorkelling business, between Ōwhiro and Island bays, was used to navigating ‘no swim’ warnings following bouts of heavy rain, but the current situation would cost it severely.
“It’s going to affect us financially, in lots of ways. Even the bad advertising from it, where people think, ‘well, I’m not going to learn to dive in Wellington’, but also the bookings that we’ll have to cancel.”
Drane said 30 students were lined up to dive in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve next week, which now would not happen.
Diving in the harbour was an option, he said, but it was nothing like the reserve, where divers were guaranteed to see crayfish, extensive fish life, and even octopuses.
The whole thing had left him feeling “pretty rubbish,” he said, and he believed water quality in the marine reserve was an ongoing concern.
The failure had come amid upgrades at the treatment plant that should reduce discharges according to Wellington Water, but in the meantime had limited the plant’s capacity.
“There’s been overflows everytime there’s a significant downpour of rain,” Drane said.
“We get a notification to say that you can’t go on the coast for the next two days or in the harbour or wherever. I think it’s good that they’re doing upgrades to the treatment plant … it’s long overdue, definitely, but I think it’s a bit late possibly and that’s half the problem.
“We’ve got this jewel right on our doorstep and we’re ruining it.”
Mountains to Sea Wellington provides lessons, a community snorkelling programme and marine education. Supplied / Mountains to Sea Wellington / Kristine Zipfel
Busiest time of year at risk
Following the news of the wastewater plant’s failure, Zoe Studd was scrambling to figure out what to do with “potential months” of beach closures.
The co-founder of Mountains to Sea – an organisation that aimed to connect people to nature – said it was their busiest time of year.
“We run a huge number of school programmes and they’ve all been impacted by the spill.”
Studd said a month of community snorkelling days were also up in the air.
“That’s 600 to 700 people, so they can’t take place. So we are scrambling to think about … some of the other locations where we can hold [them].
“A spill like this obviously really impacts us, but it’s really devastating to think about what some of those potential impacts might be for our coastal environment as well.”
She said it was hard to understand how a failure on such a scale had happened, but said the initial shock at the news had turned to sadness.
“Just really upset about it. That’s our backyard, we spend all our time in those waters, we absolutely love it – most Wellingtonians do.
“We won’t be the only people by any means who are feeling really distressed by the idea that they can’t be in and around their coastline.”
Studd was hopeful the issue would get resolved quickly, but until then said she would not be going anywhere near the water.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand