innovative
solar power farm, farmers and a group
who have worked to safeguard freshwater
and efforts to improve biodiversity in the
eastern hill country.
Our work to let people know if it’s safe for
a dip in the sea, a river or a lake ramped up
for the summer with weekly Can I Swim
Here? monitoring at 41 popular swimming
spots. The message is for people to wait
three days after heavy or prolonged rain
and check our website for warnings. Water
users such as boaties,
of skimmer pits indicating relatively good
water quality. A drip tray (tarp) had been placed under the mud shaker chutes and this was
collecting/catching a lot of mud and preventing discharges to ground. Both liquid and dry chemicals were
being stored in the onsite metal bund and these were covered by tarps to prevent rain from falling on
product. Appropriate bunding was noted around the rest of the site.
15 October 2018
Kowhai-D wellsite: A new filter sock was being installed within
national
regulations. Methanex currently holds a consent for a flood control structure in the
Waitara River.
Section 14 of the RMA stipulates that no person may take, use, dam or divert any
water, unless the activity is expressly allowed for by a resource consent or a rule in a
regional plan, or it falls within some particular categories set out in Section 14.
Methanex currently holds two abstraction consents for the Waitara River.
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6
Section 15(1)(a) of the
wellsites. Inspections were undertaken on 28 July and 31 October 2022, and
8 March and 16 May 2023. Additional monitoring was undertaken during the monitoring period in relation
to drilling at the Kapuni-J wellsite. This will be discussed in the annual drilling report.
28 July 2022
Heavy persistent rain and strong winds have proceeded the inspection. The stormwater system was working
well, with all stormwater being collected and directed for treatment prior to discharge from site. The site
Freshwater bodies of outstanding or significant value in the Taranaki region,
Waiwhakaiho River and Te Henui Stream, and less frequently at Lake Opunake, were due
principally to resident wild fowl populations in the vicinity of recreational usage sites (as
confirmed by inspections and more recently by DNA marker surveys).
In terms of E. coli, bacteriological water quality in the latest survey period was similar in
comparison with historical surveys. The total number of samples falling within the “Alert”
or “Action” categories (29% of samples) was 1% higher than the long-term
were on 9
August and 19 October 2022, and 7 March and 29 May 2023.
9 August 2022
Persistent rain and strong winds were present during the inspection. The stormwater system was observed
to be working well, with all stormwater being collected and directed for treatment prior to discharge from
the site. The site was tidy and processes appeared to be well managed as no spills or stains were evident on
the ground. Operationally good practices were being adhered to, with drip trays and
Taranaki Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Plan 2018-2023
spills having occurred. The peripheral
drains around the site appeared to be clear of any sewage contaminants. The sludge disposal area had been
reinstated with vegetation following the disposal operation that occurred in 2019-2020. In June 2021, the
TDF was shut down temporarily in order to replace a damaged seal. Otherwise, NPWWTP staff noted that
the plant had been operating well and that there had been no major performance issues.
Heavy rain had preceded the first inspection, which
increasingly popular as storage system, which is easy to install, reduces odour and no
rainfall into the tank means you can considerably reduce the amount of storage needed, an option to consider
in high rain fall areas.
Typically, farm dairy effluent is directed to a sand trap then tank with pump system, effluent is then applied
directly to land or to the bladder.
The Bladder will have a return valve, effluent is gravity feed from the bladder back to the tank, were it is then
applied to land