Te Mata Mushrooms owner Michael Whittaker says he is relieved that the source of the Havelock North water contamination has been found, and that despite "rumour and innuendo" was not linked to the mushroom farm.
At the time of last year's outbreak, the business came under the spotlight because of its proximity to the Brookvale bores, and the Hastings District Council's release of a draft report implicating it in another contamination event at Anderson Park in 2013.
At that time suspicions were raised that earthworks carried out at Te Mata Mushrooms near Bore 3 could have penetrated the aquitard that was thin or fragile in the area, leaving the area vulnerable to contaminated water entering the aquifer.
The earthworks were later discounted as being related to the 2013 event, but the inquiry was critical that the Hastings District Council did not investigate the impact of the earthworks further or contact the regional council about the matter.
In October 2015, earthworks at Te Mata Mushrooms were implicated in another contamination at Brookvale bore 3, which the inquiry said should have led the district council to conduct an urgent and robust investigation of all relevant matters pertaining to that property.