Homebush project 'doomed to fail'

SATURATION: Yellowing grass on land intended for irrigation wastewater that David Holmes says was saturated by a moderate rainfall. Behind is old pond 2. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A lot more money may have to be spent on the Homebush sewage treatment plant without any guarantee the scheme is going to work, according to project watchdog David Holmes.

The Masterton district councillor has again broken ranks to speak out about what he sees as the abject failure of the scheme to do what it is supposed to do, most notably the inability of the irrigation areas to absorb wastewater.

Mr Holmes said a "lot of people with a lot of knowledge" of the mechanics of sewage treatment schemes have warned him Homebush is "doomed to failure".

This, he said, was largely as a result of the make-up of the soil, the structure of which has been destroyed by the relentless physical work done on the site.

Wastewater irrigated onto the land does not penetrate the sub-soil or drain away, Mr Holmes said. "The land cannot absorb the water which runs off and accumulates in wipe-off drains and infiltration basins.

"It ends up being recycled back into the ponds and I believe it once overflowed into Makora Stream which is not allowed under the consent for the project."

At last count the scheme, originally intended to cost $23 million but for which a tender was eventually let to Hopper Construction for $32 million, has cost around $47 million but Mr Holmes said he is fearful more money will need to be spent "rectifying something that may never work".

The council's total indebtedness against the Homebush project now stands at $36 million.

Mr Holmes said last summer an area known as Holmes Bend had been levelled off ready for border dyke irrigation but when 44mm of rain fell after a dry spell the rainwater water lay on the ground, ponding and unable to get away.

He said half of the old pond 2 and all of old pond 3 "cannot be drained at all", and that with the land being unable to absorb the irrigation water pastures are turning yellow.

This has resulted in very low quality baleage being cut from it for sale to off set project running costs.

Mr Holmes said the council may have to resort to mechanically busting up the soil and systematically replanting the affected grassed areas. "And we still don't know if that would work, we are in a real dilemma," he said.

He sees the only prospect of Homebush working as it was intended as being to store the wastewater and then pipe it under the Waingawa River for sale to farmers. "A consortium would buy the water and on-sell it to farmers," he said.

It could even be the owners of the wastewater could work in tandem with the Wairarapa Water Users Group which is wanting to establish a dam or dams for storing and distributing irrigation water, Mr Holmes said.

Whereas the underlying reason for building the Homebush plant was to keep effluent out of the Ruamahanga River by discharging up to 30 per cent of it to land Mr Holmes said millions spent to achieve less than 10 per cent to land was " a complete waste of ratepayers money."

He said "sooner rather than later" wastewater will not be allowed to be discharged into the river "and rightly so".

"Masterton District Council does not have a Plan B," he said.

The scheme's former irrigation pasture management officer Patrick Nelson, who was the council's only employee working at Homebush and who resigned last December, would not comment on the project at all. Mr Nelson said he would "love to talk about Homebush" but that he had been warned off by a lawyer acting for the council.

The council claimed he had signed confidentiality agreements that forbade him from ever discussing aspects of his employment while with the council. "I have had a warning that if I do speak legal action will be taken against me," Mr Nelson said. Mr Nelson is a farmer with a BCom degree in farm management and had extensive experience with cropping and irrigation while living in Canterbury.