The next step in the consents process for the beleaguered Shotover wastewater treatment plant is an Environment Court hearing. Submissions on the proposed consents closed earlier this week with 10 submissions lodged.
The submissions were released yesterday with six opposed, three neutral or partly neutral and one in support.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council is seeking consents from the Otago Regional Council which includes allowance for discharging treated water into the Shotover River and diverting water within the bed of the river and disturbing the bed of the river to build a diversion channel.
The plant had been at the centre of controversy over the past few years with abatement notices issued and complaints over smell.
Queenstown Lakes Community Action said in its submission it strongly opposed the consents.
The group was established in March this year in response to the district council’s decision to discharge treated effluent from the plant into the river for five years while it works to get a more permanent response.
It said the discharge of wastewater into the Shotover River represented not only a local environmental threat but a fundamental governance failure.
"For over five years, systemic non-compliance, lack of transparency, and avoidance of accountability have eroded public trust," the group said.
"Granting retrospective consent without rigorous evidence, clear alternatives, and independent oversight would undermine the intent of the RMA and the integrity of environmental regulation in Central Otago."
There was no contingency plan proposed in case of a failure within the plant and there were no enforceable milestones or reporting requirements to demonstrate progress toward a long-term solution, the group said .
"There is a persistent pattern of testing non-compliance, delayed reporting, and lack of transparency from QLDC," the submission said.
The district council had invoked an emergency consent and discharged to the Shotover River due to the threat of bird strike to the nearby airport in March this year.
But the group said the district council did not have the grounds to invoke an emergency response.
"Evidence indicates that the situation arose from long-running operational problems that were foreseeable and manageable, rather than from a sudden, unpredictable event."
The current testing and reporting practices at the plant were inadequate and fall short of community standards for transparency.
Nga Papatipu Rūnaka ki Murihiku opposed the application, saying it had adverse effects on the cultural landscape.
"The applicant has known for a considerable length of time that the current consent and subsequent discharge method has failed, yet the failing infrastructure continues to be utilised by new developments further exacerbating the issue," it said.
Shayne Galloway said the consents sought to legitimise an emergency measure the district council undertook in March this year.
"In practice, this amounts to a physical and operational extension of the wastewater treatment plant into the active braided riverbed, fundamentally altering the river’s natural state," Dr Galloway said.
The Queenstown Airport Corporation and the Department of Conservation were neutral on the proposal while Kawarau Jet Services Ltd was not completely neutral.
The airport said aviation safety was critical and it was concerned the applications, and ongoing operation of the plant did not adversely affect the safe operation of the airport.
Doc said it was important appropriate conditions were put in place to minimise the risk of disturbance to birds during the breeding and egg-laying period for braided river bird species.
Kawarau Jet Services was neutral on discharging treated wastewater to the Shotover river. The disturbance to the bed of the Shotover river to create and maintain a diversion channel required further clarification, it said.
Graeme Lester, the only supporter of the submitters, hoped anyone in opposition to the consents "does not flush their poos or wees down a pipe which leads to the treatment plant, nor shower except when it rains".
