Local Government Minister, Simon Watts, has announced a Crown Review Team will conduct an independent review into failures at Wellington Water’s Moa Point sewage plant.
The plant suffered a complete failure earlier this month, causing raw sewage to flood the plant and flow into the capital’s South Coast beaches.
Wellington Water has today advised that a further failure in the early hours of this morning also led to a discharge of partially treated wastewater into the ocean at Rukutane Point.
The Minister said the failures are a key part of the capital city’s critical wastewater infrastructure and ensuing impact on communities, the local economy and environment was “completely unacceptable”.
“After discussions with Wellington Mayor Andrew Little we have agreed an independent and transparent investigation is required to determine the causes of this failure,” Mr Watts says.
“The public is owed the assurance that we understand what led to this failure and that we are taking steps to prevent it from happening again.”
The review team will comprise independent senior water services sector figures with relevant technical engineering, governance, commercial and legal expertise.
The plant is owned by Wellington City but Wellington Water Ltd is responsible for its operation. Therefore, the review team will be appointed to both Wellington City Council and to Wellington Water Ltd in a parallel process to ensure it has the necessary scope to fully investigate and report on the failure of the Moa Point Plant, the Minister confirmed.
“The review team will be tasked with delivering clear, actionable recommendations which set out concrete next steps, including specific actions for Wellington City Council where necessary,” Mr Watts says.
Under Local Water Done Well, management of the metropolitan Wellington region’s water services will soon transfer from Wellington Water to the new council-controlled organisation (CCO) Tiaki Wai Ltd.
“Given this imminent change and the ensuing transfer of assets to the new CCO, including the Moa Point plant, we need timely findings and recommendations,” Mr Watts says.
“As a nation, the need to invest more in our water infrastructure is clear as we fix the basics and build the future. We need to make sure ratepayers’ investment in water infrastructure is used wisely.”
