The investigation into a plumbing fault that led to the contamination of an East Taieri creek is dragging on, with no conclusions now expected for a further two weeks, Otago Regional Council staff say.
An announcement by the regional council on whether it intended to launch a prosecution of the Dunedin City Council, or the plumbing company involved, had been expected by late last week.
However, contacted again yesterday, ORC director of resource management Dr Selva Selvarajah said more work was needed, including reviewing DCC records relating to the incident, before a decision was made by the regional council's senior management.
"It's not an easy case to investigate, given that it [the fault] got fixed before we got into the whole investigation," Dr Selvarajah said.
The fault saw cross-connected sewage and stormwater pipes at two homes in the Orchard Grove subdivision, allowing human waste to empty into a popular stream crossing the subdivision.
The mistake went undetected for 18 months after being missed by DCC building inspectors during the certification process.
DCC development services manager Kevin Thompson last week told the Otago Daily Times the inspections process had been changed.
Drainlayers would in future be asked to prove they had correctly connected the pipes - by identifying what tests they had used - before buildings were certified, he said.
