Greater Wellington is prosecuting Reid’s Piggery owners Noel and Elaine Reid and manager Stephen Shivas following an incident in which pig effluent entered an unnamed tributary of the Parkvale Stream.

The incident involved the discharge of pig effluent onto land in a manner which caused ponding and subsequent run off into the stream. It occurred on 26 November 2008.

A resident notified Greater Wellington about contamination in the stream and a Greater Wellington enforcement officer found effluent discharging from an open hydrant onto a paddock and subsequently into the stream.

An analysis of stream samples confirmed that the incident caused substantial increases in the level of contaminants downstream from where the effluent entered the stream, with bacterial counts similar to those found in raw municipal sewage. The contamination had the potential to adversely affect stream plants and animals near and downstream of the discharge.

Greater Wellington Environmental Regulation Manager Alistair Cross said the piggery had a long history of non compliance with resource consent conditions.

Greater Wellington had imposed new operating, monitoring and reporting consent conditions on the piggery in March 2007 which were aimed at managing any potential environmental effects.

“This incident could have been prevented if systems had been in place to identify the hydrants and taps, check their status and ensure that there were lids on any not connected to the effluent irrigation system,” he said.

A timeframe for the court hearing will be determined by the District Court.

For more information, please contact:

Alistair Cross
Manager, Environmental Regulation
Greater Wellington
M 027 201 3571
E Alistair.Cross@gw.govt.nz

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