Electrical experts will assess damage at Wellington’s Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant for the first time today, as millions of litres of untreated wastewater continue to flow into the capital’s south coast.
The Prime Minister has called for a Government inquiry into the plant’s failure, telling RNZ he can understand the public’s “frustration about the quality of water assets in Wellington”.
The Moa Pt plant completely failed on January 5, becoming partially inundated after its 1.8km-long outfall pipe was unable to cope with the high volume following a night of heavy rain.
Speaking to Ryan Bridge TODAY, Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty said 70 million cubic metres of sewage a day - averaging between 1300 and 1400 litres a second - was still discharging into the water.
“Today will be the first day that we can safely get electrical experts into the plant to start assessing the damage,” Dougherty said.
“It still looks like about 80% of our plant was submerged or partially submerged, and it’s going to be months before we get that fixed.”
While officials are now able to screen the waste, it remains untreated, meaning it will be unsafe to swim anywhere along Wellington’s southern coastline until the plant can be fixed, Dougherty said.
“It’s completely unacceptable, we acknowledge that, but as I said the last time we talked, public health is the priority.”
Questioned about the failure’s cost, and who would front the repair bill, Dougherty said those conversations are happening “a pay grade above me”, with Wellington Mayor Andrew Little planning to meet the Prime Minister and Local Government Minister Simon Watts.
“We still don’t know the scale of the damage. Today will be the first chance we have to start seeing what can be salvaged and what can’t,” he said, noting that Wellington Water is getting “some of the best hydraulic modellers in New Zealand” to investigate possible causes such as air in the outfall pipe.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ’s Morning Report he would speak to Little today to discuss next steps, but backed calls for a Government inquiry into the plant’s failure.
“It is incredibly concerning for the public, and I can understand their frustration about the quality of their water assets in Wellington in particular,” he said.
“It is important that we do get to the bottom of what has actually caused such a failure in this way.”
Last week, Dougherty said the plant had suffered a “catastrophic failure” while remedial work was being carried out, causing raw sewage to flood the plant and flow freely into the city’s South Coast.
At the time, Dougherty estimated about “60-70% of the plant”, including control and electrical equipment, had been inundated with wastewater.
Wellington Water has been pumping raw sewage out of the plant since to avoid it turning septic.
When asked how bad the failure was on a scale of 1 to 100, Dougherty gave it a 90.
“I can imagine there’s something worse, but I just can’t quite think of it at the moment.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis questioned what caused the failure in an interview from Waitangi proceedings, saying it was a “real letdown for Wellingtonians”.
“Is this because the plant wasn’t constructed properly? Were there not enough checks and balances put in place? Has it been an operational error? What’s caused this? Let’s have some accountability on that.”
A rāhui from Ōwhiro Bay to Breaker Bay remains in place, with people advised to avoid the water and not collect or eat shellfish from affected areas.
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