The frozen fish carcasses which could cost the culprit tens of thousands of dollars. Photo / Supplied
The frozen fish carcasses which could cost the culprit tens of thousands of dollars. Photo / Supplied
New evidence has identified a person allegedly involved dumping of more than 60kgs of frozen fish into a Napier waterway, Napier City Council says.
The council's manager of environmental solutions Cameron Burton said it was grateful for the critical information received from the public in relation to dumping in thethe Purimu Waterway, which leads to the Ahuriri Estuary.
"This morning [Tuesday] we have been provided with the address that the fish came from during a house move, the registration plate of the offending vehicle, and the name of the alleged offender, who is now based out of the region," Burton said.
"We will be following this lead and hoping that the person will be able to assist us with our inquiries."
Burton said most of Napier's stormwater networks, from Meeanee and EIT, Poraiti Hills to Napier Boys' High, Hospital Hill to Jervoistown, entered urban waterways that lead directly to Ahuriri Estuary.
"Dumping anything other than rain water into Napier's stormwater networks, whether it is frozen fish, waste oil, sawdust shavings, hydraulic fluid, detergents, or dirt and mud from building sites for example, is illegal," he said.
"It is a breach of our recently adopted Stormwater Bylaw, the Local Government Act and Resource Management Act (enforced by the Regional Council) and potentially a contravention of the Litter Act too."
Since the illegal frozen fish dumping incident a little more than a week ago, the council's Environmental Solutions Team had four further call-outs over and above their normal work, Burton said.
