New consents needed for dumping sewage

A pond Ross Waldron dug for the disposal of sewage on Child Rd, Tangiteroria, without resource consents. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

The Environment Court has ordered a businessman to stop discharging sewage on land until he obtains a resource consent.

For more than a year, Ross Waldron has been pouring sewage - collected through his septic tank cleaning business - into ponds on a rural property without a resource consent, which prompted the Northland Regional Council to apply for a stop order four days before Christmas.

The council sought an interim enforcement order to prevent Mr Waldron moving his operation again to another site without first obtaining the required resource consents.

However, the court refused to issue an interim enforcement order because the council failed to provide evidence Mr Waldron's actions caused immediate health risks or
contaminated the environment as defined in the Resource Management Act.

The court said the council also did not think about unintended consequences, such as septic tanks overflowing during the busy holiday season if Mr Waldron was unable to continue his operation.

Mr Waldron owns and operates RW Septic Tank Cleaning. Since September 2015 he has been depositing untreated sewage from septic tanks, without resource consents, into ponds he had dug on Child Rd, Tangiteroria.

After the court declined its interim order, the council applied for an enforcement order which was granted two weeks ago.

Judge David Kirkpatrick said Mr Waldron was allowed to start collection and disposal of septic tank waste, sewage and septage when he has obtained all required resource consents from the council.

He ordered the council to give Mr Waldron written notice of whether or not it authorised the proposed dumping facility within two days after receiving his proposal.

Mr Waldron refused to comment but, in an earlier interview, said he had previously operated the same pond system at a property on Tangowahine Valley Rd and had informed the council he had transferred the resource consent he had for that operation to the new site.