Fish deaths still puzzle company

Press, 2 July 1979, Page 4

Fish deaths still puzzle company

No reason has been found |i for the death of large num- i bers of fish at the South | Branch of the Waimakaririp River on January 20 and 21. ! A final report on the in-;< vestlgations made by the|. Canterbury Frozen Meat| Company has been given to ar meeting of the water com-i] mittee of the North Canter-i bury Catchment Board. i The dead fish were found| below the meat company’s I effluent outfalls, into the;, river. The toxins that killed! the fish could have come I from the outfalls or been in-;, troduced into the river nearby, said the report. Nothing could be found in ’ the works processes during ' the week-end the fish died ( to show how they were 1 killed. Samples taken by the ! Christchurch Drainage Board the day after the deaths showed sulphide values six times those normally, recorded during normal working hours, said the . board's regional water engineer .(Mr M. J. Bowden). Direct evidence suggesting the meal company’s effluent caused the kills did not exist, but . investigations indicated week-end discharges from the works

l might have killed the fish, | he said. i ‘‘The fish have survived: I high concentrations of sul-: Jphide in the past,” said the : chairman (Dr W. R. i | Holmes). ! The water committee ! voted to receive the company's report. I Investigation I The University of Canter- ’ bury will be asked to ini vestigate the effect of its I I water discharges into the J I Avon River and the Okeover I ’stream. "It is always a matter of I suspense to see what shape: the Avon is in,” said Dr; Holmes. “It can either be I quite good or quite bad.” Nine discharge rights, all from air conditioning units

lin the various departments, [were renewed. Refusal The Ellesmere County [Council, may be refused per- ’ mission to discharge effluent J frpjn local oxidation ponds [into nearby pasture. i A special tribunal of the i board has recommended that an application from the | county to discharge up to 1820 cubic metres a day be j refused. In the past problems of seepage and ponding had : occured downstream from i the area over which the effluent was discharged. In the i application no provision had been made for the control of this seepage. The tribunal recommended that the application be refused without prejudice, allowing the county to submit another application showing how it could deal with the problem.