Hawke's Bay District Health Board chair has 'serious concerns' about Lowe's Pit

Hawke's Bay District Health Board chairman, Kevin Atkinson has raised "serious concerns" around Lake Lowe. Photo / File.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board chairman Kevin Atkinson and his board have "serious concerns" about the state of Lowe's Pit, and are shocked by the apparent "lack of concern" by the region's officials.

His sentiments contradict the Medical Officer of Health, the Hastings District Council and Hawke's Bay Regional Council, who are adamant the risk is "negligible".

Atkinson, who has been overseas, voiced his concern at an Audit and Risk Committee meeting last week about the levels of E.coli being discharged into the pit, and asked why HDC has not been held accountable for breaching its consent.

Conditions at the pit at 15 Hazlewood St were thrust into the spotlight in September when a resident wrote to a Hastings district councillor and other influential people asking for "positive action".

Lake Lowe from the ground. Photo / File.

It came to light that, in June 2018, a report to the Works and Services Committee said the pit was a "potential risk to the Heretaunga Plains aquifer".

It's also been discovered that since consent was granted for the pit in 2017, the HDC has been non-compliant with it by not monitoring E.coli levels in 2017/18, and not testing the water four times in 2017/18 and in the 2018/19 monitoring years.

Atkinson said: "We've been given one wake-up call, why would we allow the council to breach the consent conditions for discharging into that lake? I can't see why you would bother issuing consents if you are not prepared to enforce them."

He noted the pit was close to private bores.

He believes "urgent action" is needed, adding that he "would have thought someone would be right on to that and looking at the options to deal with it".

He said the solution doesn't seem to be "too complicated": either the council treat the stormwater before it is discharged into the lake, or it is redirected back into the main stormwater drain.

However, the health board saidit only became aware of the elevated E.coli readings in a consent monitoring report at the joint working group (JWG) meeting. "Hastings District Council advised it was investigating the source of the E.coli and had also commissioned a risk assessment for Hastings drinking water associated with Lowe's Pit, and the DHB awaits this report," Medical Officer of Health, Dr Nicholas Jones said.

Consultant engineers Tonkin and Taylor are looking into the risks around Lowe's Pit, but have yet to publish their report.

In the meantime, Jones said preliminary information from the DHB indicates the risk of contamination from Lowe's Pit is extremely low.

"It is important to note that in addition to the barrier provided by depth and distance between the pit and the closest Hastings bore, there is also the added protection of chlorine as recommended by the Government Inquiry."

Regardless of the issues raised by Lowe's Pit, Jones said the DHB remained concerned about the impact of stormwater discharges on groundwater quality generally, which is why it has worked hard to improve the rules around stormwater discharges in the TANK Plan change.

District Council group manager asset management Craig Thew confirmed they have had discussions with both the HBDHB and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, where they have shared information and "the path forward".

Thew saida "highly conservative analysis approach" found the current risk to be "negligible" and nothing further has happened to cause them to believe this has changed.

"The municipal drinking water is tested every day for bacteriological contaminants, has continuous online monitoring of the raw water at the bores, and the drinking water is being treated with chlorine," Thew said.