Whakatū wastewater spillage on State Highway 51 could lead to enforcement action

As a precaution, Hastings District Council is asking the public to avoid the Clive River mouth and Muddy Creek after a wastewater spill onto State Highway 51 on Thursday. Photo / NZME

An independent review into an incident in which 200 cubic metres of wastewater spilled onto State Highway 51 on Thursday could lead to enforcement action.

Both lanes of SH51 between Buckingham St and Station Rd in Whakatū were closed from about midday to about 5pm on Thursday because of flooding.

A Hastings District Council statement revealed a power outage interrupted a routine wastewater flushing operation, disabling the automatic gate function and resulting in a wastewater overflow.

The gate was opened manually when staff were alerted and the overflow ceased at 12.45pm.

"It is estimated that about 200 cubic metres of wastewater spilled onto the road and into the adjacent rural drain," the statment said.

Traffic was diverted through Whakatū while vacuum trucks were used to remove the debris and the road was washed and disinfected before reopening.

Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle acknowledged the incident should not have happened and apologised to the community.

"This is a serious matter. Our immediate focus has been on responding to the incident."

He said he would be commissioning an independent review next week into the incident to understand how it happened and expected recommendations to ensure similar events could not happen again.

"The report and its findings will be made public."

As a precaution HDC has asked the public to avoid Muddy Creek and the Clive River mouth, including for food collection, until further notice.

The statement said Hawke's Bay Regional Council would carry out its own investigation as the regulator and HDC expected that would result in enforcement action.

HDC had also notified Hawke's Bay District Health Board of the incident.