Abatement notices and letters of direction have been served on the Grey, Buller and Westland councils, which have been given until July 31 to resolve the issues.
It comes just after Taumata Arowai confirmed last week it was prosecuting the Grey District Council for failures that led to prolonged boil water notices on the greater Greymouth water supply in April 2025.
For the past three years the regional council has been sending strong signals to the district councils that they were all falling behind on meeting their environmental obligations for wastewater.
In a statement, WCRC regulatory and policy group manager Matt Smith said each of the council chief executives had been told the investigation was under way.
The Buller District Council was the first to admit it had been issued an abatement and notice of direction. Grey and Westland only admitted they had received the same after being contacted by the Greymouth Star.
Westland District Council chief executive Barbara Phillips refused to discuss the issue with Local Democracy Reporting.
Her council has multiple issues, including effluent ponds at the tourist hotspot of Franz Josef which has been under regional council watch since 2016, and the end-of-life Hokitika wastewater treatment plant.
The Grey District Council has yet to fully address sewage and stormwater separation issues in Greymouth to stop raw sewage flowing into the Grey River.
Mr Smith said all three councils had been given successive notices and letters about the situation.
Buller’s council agreed last year to fund a multi-year programme to separate stormwater from its wastewater network to stop sewage flowing into the Buller River.
The regional council has repeatedly warned Westland’s council in the past decade the threat the Waiho (Waiau) River posed to the Franz Josef sewerage ponds was urgent.
Meanwhile, Westland has delayed costly plans for a new wastewater treatment plant in Hokitika, with consents for the current oxidation ponds due to expire this year.
Westland Mayor Helen Lash has previously said her council will seek an extension to re-evaluate options for sewage disposal. She was unavailable for comment after being admitted to hospital last week.
Greymouth Mayor Tania Gibson said the letter of direction and the separate abatement notice to her council was ‘‘disappointing’’.
It came at a time when the district council and regional council were already working together closely on the issues, she said.
Grey District Council had undertaken a huge amount of infrastructure improvement, with big commitments in the past decade to meet the new requirements.
Mrs Gibson noted a new wastewater system would be commissioned shortly for suburban Cobden.
The regional council letter of direction sought ‘‘annual reporting’’ from the district council on its environmental monitoring. — Vihan Dalal
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
