Sewage discharge in harbour to continue

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 7

Sewage discharge in harbour to continue

The Lyttelton Borough Council will continue to discharge raw sewage into Lyttelton Harbour for some time yet The North Canterbury Catchment Board’s resources committee criticised the discharges at its meeting last week, asking the council to come up with a works programme to improve them by June next year. One board member said it was “completely unacceptable” that raw sewage went into the harbour. However, spokesmen for both the council and the Health Department say that health risks from the discharges are negligible. The Lyttelton Town Clerk, Mr Don Hillier, said tests at the raw sewage outfall at Sticking Point, near the Cashin’ Quay container terminal, had shown the water quality was “not aH that bad.” The possibility of installing treatment equipment would be looked at in the next five to 10 years, he said.

“You have to be a bit realistic about things. You are faced with a cost of a million dollars for which the ratepayer isn’t going to see any material advantage. They may not vote for it I don’t think there is much that the Catchment Board can do about it”

Improving the water supply at Lyttelton and Diamond Harbour were higher priorities than improving the Sticking Point outfall, Mr Hillier said. The council also wanted to get the treated-effluent outfall at Cass Bay into the main system, which would cost more than $1 million. The District Medical Officer of Health, Dr Bill Malpress, said that health risks from the outfalls were “extremely negligible.” Lyttelton was a small town, and the harbour was a substantial body of water to dilute the effluent. The health hazards of sewage discharge in Wellington Harbour, where a big quantity of partly treated effluent was dumped, were much more serious.

The situation at Lyttelton was being monitored, he said.

“We are ready to help local authorities come to the best possible practical solutions to special problems they have. Some small local authorities still have room for improvement,” he said.

The group leader of the Regional Water Board’s water quality section, Mr Bob Airey, said that although the public health risk was not significant at the Sticking Point and Stoddard Point outfalls, it was a potential problem at Cass Effluent discharged at Cass Bay was treated, but not to a level that swimmers should bathe near it. It was safe to swim at the Cass Bay foreshore, although swimmers should avoid the middle of the bay, where the outfall was sited. A sign should be put up warning swimmers of the risk, said Mr Airey.