Consent No: CD940404W
Recommendation
DISCHARGE PERMIT
In accordance with Rule 11.4.1 of the Regional Coastal Plan (June 1999), and the
provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991, and subject to the attached
conditions, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council (the Council) grants a resource
consent to:
Wairoa District Council P.O. Box 54
WAIROA
to discharge treated sewage effluent from the Wairoa sewage treatment plant into the
Wairoa River estuary.
LOCATION
Address of Site:
Pilot Hill, Kopu Road, Wairoa
Legal Description:
Pt Lot 1 DP 3350 SO 7253, Wairoa District
Map Reference:
Treatment Plant: At or about NZMS 260 X19: 920-
291
Point of Discharge: At or about NZMS 260 X19:
925-290
DETAILS OF RESOURCE CONSENT
Effluent to be discharged:
Treated sewage effluent.
Consent duration:
Granted for a period expiring on 31 May 2019.
Helen Codlin
MANAGER ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
23 August 1999
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 1
Consent No: CD940404W
CONDITIONS
General
1.
The Consent Holder shall provide for the discharge as authorised by this
Resource Consent generally in accordance with the drawings, specifications,
statements of work techniques and other information supplied with the
application. Where a conflict exists between the application and the conditions
of this Resource Consent, the conditions shall prevail. This specifically
includes:
The report
Application for Resource Consent to Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council. Waste Water Discharge from Wairoa Sewage Treatment Plant (and its appendices) dated 27 July 1998.
2.
The total discharge of sewage effluent as authorised by this Resource
Consent shall not exceed 5400 cubic metres per day.
3.
The discharge of sewage effluent as authorised by this Resource Consent
shall;
(i) Only occur during periods of ebb tide 30 minutes after high tide to 6 hours
after high tide;
(ii) Only occur after 6:00 pm; and
(iii) Shall cease by 6:00 am at all times.
4.
During times of river mouth closure, the Consent Holder shall cease the
discharge of sewage effluent into the Wairoa River, unless:
(i) The ability to store excess effluent has been exceeded; or
(ii) Prior to full capacity, it is recognised that the maximum storage capacity is
likely to be exceeded during a time when no discharge is allowed.
Where discharge is required for reasons 4(i) and 4(ii) above, the discharge
shall only be in accordance with condition 3. The Consent Holder shall give
notice to the Environmental Regulation Section of the Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council of the date discharge was stopped due to river mouth closure, and the
date discharge re-commenced.
5.
The Consent Holder shall warn the public of a potential health risk during
times of river mouth closure by the use of public warning signs adjacent to the
Wairoa River estuary, and by the use of public notices in the local newspaper
and radio media.
6.
Discharge of sewage effluent as authorised by this Resource Consent shall be
by way of the existing structure, as displayed in figure 1 of the application
document.
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 2
Consent No: CD940404W
7.
A sampling station shall be maintained at or near the outlet of the treatment
ponds at a point accessible to Council Officers at all times.
8.
The discharge of sewage effluent as authorised by this Resource Consent
shall not after reasonable mixing, cause:
(i) The production of any conspicuous oil or grease films, scums or foams, or
floatable or suspended materials; or
(ii) Any emission of objectionable odours; or
(iii) The rendering of the water quality within the Wairoa River Coastal Marine
Area unable to meet the aquatic ecosystems Class AE (HB) water quality
standards pursuant to Rule 11.4.1 of the Regional Coastal Plan (June
1999).
9.
The Consent Holder shall accurately measure and maintain records of the
discharge of sewage effluent on a daily basis. Such records shall identify:
(i) The period over which the effluent was discharged and the relevant high
tide time;
(ii) The volume of effluent discharged during that period; and
(iii) The status of the river mouth (either opened or closed).
Records shall be supplied at monthly intervals to Council in an electronic form
compatible with Council software.
10.
The Consent Holder shall make available upon request all records kept in
relation to the operation of the sewage treatment plant, sampling, testing, and
analysis.
Effluent Discharge Standards
11.
Sewage effluent discharged from the treatment plant shall meet the following
standards:
COD
not greater than 220 mg/
l
Total Ammonia
not greater than 36 mg/
l
Suspended Solids
not greater than 87 mg/
l
Effluent Analysis
12.
All effluent sampling and analysis shall be in accordance with the 19th Edition
of
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published
jointly by the American Public Health Association, American Waste Water
Association, and Water Environmental Federation, or other appropriate
standards approved in writing by the General Manager of Council. All effluent
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 3
Consent No: CD940404W
quality analysis shall be undertaken by an independent laboratory accredited
to IANZ.
13.
At monthly intervals the Consent Holder shall take a representative composite
sample, collected at half hourly frequency over the duration of the nightly
discharge cycle, of the effluent being discharged from the sewage treatment
plant. Samples shall be analysed for the following analytes:
pH
COD
Total Ammonia
Suspended Solids
Conductivity
Enterococci
e. coli
14.
Results of all sample analyses shall be forwarded to Council (Environmental
Regulation Section) by the 20th of the following month, or at any other interval
requested by Council, in an electronic form compatible with Council software.
Discharge to Air
15.
The discharge of odour shall not be offensive or objectionable beyond the
boundary of the sewage treatment plant.
Note:
When assessing whether the odour is offensive or objectionable the Council
shall generally follow the procedure outlined on pages 29 and 30 of the
Regional Air Plan (January 1998)
16.
The Consent Holder shall log all complaints received. Wherever possible, the log
shall include:
• the date and time of the complaint;
• the nature of the complaint;
• the name, telephone number, and address of the complainant;
• weather information (an estimate of wind speed and direction);
• details of key operating parameters at the time of the complaint; and
• the remedial action taken to prevent further incidents.
Complaints shall be reported to the Council within 24 hours of receipt, and the
log of complaints shall be made available to Council Officers on request.
Non-Compliance
17.
The following steps shall be undertaken in the event of the Consent Holder
receiving information indicating an exceedance of the effluent discharge
standards of condition 11:
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 4
Consent No: CD940404W
(i) Notification shall be given to Council within 24 hours of the Consent
Holder receiving information of the exceedance;
(ii) Immediate re-sampling (taken as being within 24 hours of the
determination of the exceedance) will be required in the following
circumstances:
(a) Where sample analysis values are within the following ranges on two
consecutive occasions:
COD
greater than 220 but less than 224 mg/l
Total Ammonia
greater than 36 but less than 40 mg/l
Suspended Solids
greater than 87 but less than 98 mg/l
(b) Where any single sample analysis value exceeds the following
values:
COD
greater than or equal to 224 mg/l
Total Ammonia
greater than or equal to 40 mg/l
Suspended Solids
greater than or equal to 98 mg/l
(iii) Any re-sampling required in accordance with (ii) above shall involve taking
one sample of effluent for analysis of the non-complying analyte (including
recording the volume of discharge for that period of sampling) every two
days until the standard complies with condition 11.
(iv) The Consent Holder shall forward the results of any re-sampling to the
Council within six hours of receipt; and
(v) A report detailing the cause, mitigation and remediation measures shall be
forwarded to Council within two weeks of reinstating compliance to
condition 11.
MONITORING BY THE COUNCIL
Routine inspections of the site of this consent will be undertaken by Council officers
at a frequency appropriate to the discharge period. The costs of these routine
inspections and any formal monitoring programme that may be established in
consultation with the consent holder will be charged to the consent holder.
“Non routine” inspections will be made on other occasions if there is reason to
believe (e.g. following a complaint from the public, or monitoring) that the consent
holder is in breach of the conditions of this consent. The cost of non-routine
inspections will be charged to the consent holder in the event that non-compliance
with conditions is determined, or if the Consent holder is deemed not to be fulfilling
the obligations specified in section 17(1) of the Resource Management Act (RMA)
1991 shown below.
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 5
Consent No: CD940404W
Section 17(1) of the RMA 1991 states;
Every person has a duty to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any adverse effect on the
environment arising from an activity carried on, by or on behalf of that person,
whether or not the activity is in accordance with a rule in a plan, a resource consent,
section 10, section 10A, or section 20.
REVIEW OF CONSENT CONDITIONS BY THE COUNCIL
The Council may review conditions of this consent by serving notice of its intention to
do so pursuant to section 128 and section 129 of the Resource Management Act
1991.
Times of service of notice of any review:
During the month of June 2004,
2009, and 2014.
Purposes of review:
1.
To ensure the Resource Consent
conditions are consistent with any
policies and rules in operative
regional
plans
that
may
be
established after the commencement
of this Resource Consent.
2.
To deal with any adverse effects that
may become apparent as a result of
the exercise of this resource consent.
3.
To require the Consent Holder to
adopt the best practicable option to
remove or reduce any adverse effect
on the environment relating to the air
discharges, which is beyond the
scope of the effects authorised by
this Resource Consent.
4.
To modify the monitoring programme
if the record of monitoring to date
indicates that it is appropriate to do
so.
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 6
Consent No: CD940404W
CHANGE OF RESOURCE CONSENT CONDITIONS
In accordance with s.127 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Consent
Holder may apply to the Council for the change or cancellation of conditions, at any
time during the month of October in any year. This also applies to any application for
change of the nature or frequency of the monitoring.
REASONS FOR DECISION
1.
The current system of sewage treatment and disposal has not been shown to
be creating any actual significant adverse effects to the receiving environment
of the Wairoa River estuary.
2.
The recommended resource consent conditions of the attached schedule will
ensure that any potential adverse effects to the receiving environment of the
Wairoa River estuary are avoided, remedied or mitigated.
3.
The required AE(HB) water quality standard for the lower Wairoa River will be
maintained by the imposition of discharge standards as per the recommended
conditions of the attached schedule. This will ensure the sensitivity of the
receiving environment (SA-15 Regional Coastal Plan) is protected.
4.
The requirement for the consent holder to communicate warnings to the
community of Wairoa during times of restricted river mouth conditions will
avoid a potential public health risk.
5.
The continued discharge to the Wairoa River estuary better meets the
purposes of the Resource Management Act than discharge onto land because
the establishment of a land discharge option will create significant adverse
effects the Wairoa community’s economic and social wellbeing, while not
necessarily being able to provide for their health and safety better than the
current system.
6.
There are low cost, low technology upgrades that would accommodate cultural
concerns as well as providing a better level of treatment prior to discharge to
the estuary. A consent duration of 20 years provides sufficient time for these
options to be investigated for a future upgrade, while not burdening the
community of Wairoa with short term repeat costs associated to consent
renewal.
7.
The recommended five yearly review of consent conditions allows opportunity
to amend or alter such conditions if the record of monitoring indicates that it is
appropriate to do so.
8.
The renewal of the discharge permit is consistent with the relevant policies
and rules of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Coastal Plan, and the New Zealand
Coastal Policy Statement.
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 7
Consent No: CD940404W
9.
The renewal of the discharge permit is consistent with the purposes and
principles of the Resource Management Act 1991.
__________________________________________________________
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Safeguarding Your Environment
Page 8
