The Otago Regional Council was appealing for information to identify the source of the spill, and it had enacted a pollution response plan to mitigate the environmental impact.
The spill, which involved 400-600l of diesel going into the harbour from the South Dunedin stormwater network, was described as a serious breach by council compliance manager Tami Sargeant.
“We’re looking at a significant amount of diesel that has been discharged into the stormwater network, and our investigations team are very keen to identify the source and determine what’s happened here.
“Given the volume of the diesel, we think it’s highly likely someone in the community will know how it got into the stormwater system. The adverse effects on the environment from a spill like this can be quite severe.”
The booms have been placed at the stormwater outfall into the harbour to soak up as much of the diesel contamination as possible.
There was still diesel contamination in the stormwater network which would make its way to the harbour via the outfall pipe over the coming days.
“The time it takes for the diesel contamination to flush from the network depends on how much rain we get, but the booms will remain in place until the diesel has ceased discharging.”
Dunedin City Council 3 Waters group manager Tom Dyer said the council was disappointed by the situation and staff were working closely with the regional council.
Ms Sargent asked for anyone who had information about the spill to contact the council.
