The announcement the ORC was taking the issue to the Environment Court comes after it emerged last week it issued the Queenstown Lakes District Council five infringement notices this month alone, in relation to the alleged improper discharge of contaminants at its Shotover wastewater treatment plant. This was on top of five infringement notices issued previously.
It alleged the wastewater could have been leaching into the nearby Shotover and Kawarau Rivers.
ORC chief executive Richard Saunders said following the conclusion of a more than year-long investigation, a decision has been made to apply to the Environment Court for an Enforcement Order - under section 316 of the Resource Management Act 1991.
Mr Saunders said recent tests of the discharge showed a high level of treatment indicating that there would be no adverse effect on water quality in the river.
“While tests have shown the discharges to be highly treated, we want QLDC to be compliant with its consent. It’s up to the Environment Court to determine a decision on compliance,” he said
The issues around consent compliance mainly related to the performance of the plant’s ground disposal field where the treated water from the plant was expected to soak through the ground and not pond.
This was why the application to Environment Court had been made, Mr Saunders said.
“It’s vitally important for the environment overall that consent holders achieve compliance with their consent conditions."
Mr Saunders explained there was a distinction between seeking a prosecution, compared to seeking an enforcement order.
An enforcement order was a court issued directive requiring certain actions to be taken within set timeframes to fix a problem.
Mr Saunders said a prosecution was merely a punitive approach and did not address the underlying cause of non-compliance.
An enforcement order was an “escalated” form of compliance action, and if approved by the Environment Court, would require QLDC to take specified actions to avoid, remedy and/or mitigate adverse effects on the environment at the Shotover Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Any decision on the enforcement order application would be made by the Environment Court.
He said the investigation was the “highest priority” for ORC, and it took its role as regulator seriously, noting the investigation process had taken up significant staff time and expertise.
The Enforcement Order application follows the issuing to date of two abatement notices and 10 infringement notices.
ORC would still be working directly with QLDC staff and would continue to monitor the treatment station and undertake further testing if and when necessary.
- APL
