Lower Clutha testing nearly finished

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 37

Lower Clutha testing nearly finished

PA Dunedin Preliminary geological testing of proposed Lower Clutha hydro-electric development sites by the Ministry of Works and Development should be finished soon.

The Ministry’s drilling unit in Dunedin has been testing river sites below Roxburgh as part of an over-all assessment for building hydro-electric dams in the area. A drilling rig was flown by helicopter to the left bank of the Clutha above Beaumont recently, said the manager of the drilling unit, Mr B. J. G. Mackenzie.

Similar testing has been done at Birch Island. The unit also has a barge working on the river at Beau-

mont. “It is all part of initial testing for hydro-electric power proposals — all very preliminary at this stage,” Mr Mackenzie said. “It is pretty general, although there are proposals in the pipeline.” Two drilling rigs, with a combined crew of six plus supervisory staff, are working in the area. Mr Mackenzie said the many months of work put in by his staff should be completed by the end of this month. Core samples are being assessed by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research geologists. Their findings will be passed on to the Ministry of Works planning team in Wellington, which will compile a pre-

liminary geological report. Mr Mackenzie said the report was expected out by the end of October. “A lot of the site drilling has been done in the worst known geological areas, so we know what we are in for right from the start. We have got through all of this quite well,” he said. Work on the left bank of the Clutha above Beaumont is centred on investigating landslide potential. Mr Mackenzie would not comment on what his unit had found in the Lower Clutha so far. “Our job is to recover the core, logging and geological interpretation, and this should be finished by the end of the month. Any comment would be up to D.S.I.R. geologists,” he said.