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Ziwi’s sewage discharge processes led to 224 complaints to the regional council.
A pet food company behind a “putrid” sewage odor from its Mt Maunganui plant has been fined $ 66,000.
Ziwi Ltd was indicted by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for odor and sewage discharges in 2018 that complainants described as “putrid”, “rank” and “overwhelming”.
The company pleaded guilty to the charges, which had prompted 224 complaints between 2008 and 2017 from the local community.
The odor prosecution was based on odor discharges on five separate dates and followed a previous enforcement action that included abatement notices, violation notices, formal warnings on “verified offensive and objectionable odors.”
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The first notice of reduction was issued in November 2016.
Separate complaints were submitted to the Regional Council in April 2018 about discharges from the Ziwi site to the city’s stormwater network, which flows into the port of Tauranga.
Further investigation by the Regional Council revealed that process wastewater from the Ziwi Wash Bay was discharged into a stormwater collection pit at the site, which drained directly into the nearby open storm drain.
In response to these inspections, the Regional Council filed charges against Ziwi for sewage discharges on April 19, 20 and November 13, 2018.
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Ziwi took an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to its wastewater, according to Judge David Kirkpatrick.
Regional Council compliance manager Alex Miller said both prosecutions highlight the importance of companies being aware of their environmental impacts.
“These cases demonstrate the severity of the releases that invade the community’s ability to enjoy their neighborhood and impact our waterways.
“The fines in these prosecutions are an excellent result and will hopefully serve as a strong deterrent to future downloads.”
Tauranga City Council Environmental Program Leader Radleigh Cairns said it is critical that industries understand their responsibilities and take a leadership role in improving what is discharged into the stormwater network.
“Our stormwater network is designed for rainwater and goes directly to streams, the harbor, and the ocean. It is essential that both businesses and the community dispose of pollutants and debris properly so they are kept out of the stormwater system to protect our environment and wildlife, ”he said.
Judge David Kirkpatrick concluded in his wastewater sentencing decision that Ziwi’s staff took an “out of sight, out of mind” approach when discharging industrial wash water into the municipal stormwater system.
“It is not difficult to understand to what extent each discharge, no matter how small, can have cumulative effects in the basin and over time,” he said.
Ziwi Managing Director Richard Lawrence said the company accepted the court’s findings “and wishes to apologize to the local community for the 2018 odor discharge and the release of the small amount of wash water from its processing site of Mt Maunganui ”.
He said the company focused on reducing its environmental footprint and as part of that installed a new wastewater treatment system, with production at the site also moving later in the year to a new purpose-built site at Napier.
The Regional Council encourages anyone experiencing unpleasant odors or other pollution issues to call the Pollution Hotline at 0800 884 883.
