‘It’s a catastrophe’: Wellington rages as millions of liters of raw sewage pour into the sea | New Zealand

ON A tide of anger is rising in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city’s toilets continue to flush directly into the sea more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant.

Millions of liters of raw and partially screened sewage is already there spilling into pristine reefs and a marine reserve daily along the south coast since February 4, prompting a national investigation as authorities struggle to get the decimated plant up and running.

Deserted beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline, with the environmental disaster zone next to the airport where thousands of international visitors lift off every day.

Fears for the safety of marine ecosystems – including vulnerable species such as the little blue penguin, or kororā, that nest along the coast – are mixed with concerns about the length and cost of disruption to those who depend on the coast for income, well-being and recreation.

As a southerly storm lashed the lower North Island this week, churning up polluted seawater, hundreds of residents turned out for a public meeting seeking answers.

“They’re warning us to close our windows because a shit-laden hurricane is coming our way,” said South Coast resident and environmentalist Eugene Doyle, whose home faces the ocean. “Everyone in charge did a terrible job, and they need to be held accountable.”

Ray Ahipene-Mercer, 78, who led a 16-year campaign to get the treatment plant built throughout the ’80s, said he was feeling bored. Before 1998, the sea smelled and looked terrible, with visible faeces on the rocks and surfers regularly turning up with ear infections and gastroenteritis.

“I thought it was all over, and here we are back to where we were 30 years ago,” said Ahipene-Mercer, of Ngāi Tara descent. “It’s a catastrophe.”

On February 4, an overnight power outage flooded the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant and destroyed 80% of the equipment. Initially, raw sewage was pumped directly from a five meter pipe near a beach at Tarakena Bay. Now most sewage is sent 1.8 km from the sea into the Cook Strait, after it has been screened for large objects such as tampons and wet wipes.

Water management has long been a contentious issue in New Zealand, with legislation to centralize its control and overhaul outdated services thrown out by the Nationals-led coalition government in favor of local reforms in early 2024.

In Wellington, aging pipes have caused problems with waste water and stormwater flooding. The Moapunt plant is owned and overseen by two layers of local government and a council-owned water supplier – Wellington Water – which has contracted French-owned waste management company Veolia to run the plant.

“It seemed complicated to me, and it wasn’t clear where the current authority lay,” Wellington elder Andrew Little, who has been on the job for four months, told the Guardian, adding that Wellingtonians were in a “state of shock.”

A coronial inquiry called by Local Government Minister Simon Watts will investigate the causes of the disaster. “The public owes us assurances that we understand what led to this failure and that we are taking steps to prevent it from happening again,” Watts told Radio New Zealand.

He said as part of the coalition government’s water reforms, a new entity, Tiaki Wai, would take over from Wellington Water in July, which he hoped would improve services. Councils were responsible for underinvestment in water infrastructure, and new legislation would address this, he said.

Little said he could not speculate on the causes because of the investigation. Wellington Water did not respond to specific questions by deadline and said it could not comment publicly due to the ongoing investigation. Veolia also declined to comment.

Pat Dougherty, chairman of Wellington Water, told Radio New Zealand earlier that there had been underinvestment at Moapoint over a long period of time and he supported an investigation. “I’m concerned that maybe there were some early warning signs that there were problems with the dismissal and we missed them. But everything has to be on the table.”

But for many, this is cold comfort. Local residents say low-level pollution has already characterized the short Wellington summer, with recurring sewage discharges pointing to a deeper issue at the plant. Official reports show ongoing issues and warnings of underfunding for years, and authorities have said a solution could still be months away.

“We are looking at generations of negligence, at a time when our climate is changing dramatically,” says Tamatha Paul, the Green Party MP for Wellington Central and former city councilor who convened this week’s meeting.

“The way it’s going to affect really vulnerable, delicate species that are already endangered, the fact that their entire habitat is being destroyed is heartbreaking.”

Central government help is crucial, she said.

Local iwi (tribes) have long opposed any waste water going into the sea, Taranaki Whanui chairman Te Whatanui Winiata said. “This is our source of food, we are relations with the moana (ocean). We have cried about this from the beginning and said this kind of sewage system only causes havoc. The reaction of our people is outrage, shock and fear.”

As beaches remain closed and businesses report losses, University of Victoria marine biologist Christopher Cornwall said “huge numbers” of marine animals that called the various reefs around the south coast home would suffer the most.

Continued pollution could cause a mass kelp die-off in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve – home to species such as mussels, kina, pāua, sea sponges, fish, lobsters, octopuses and penguins – killing their homes and food sources, he said.

Human-transmitted bacteria and viruses can make these marine animals sick, along with the accumulation in shellfish, making them unsafe to eat. Microplastics end up in the stomachs of seabirds and penguins that eat human waste, tricking them into thinking they are full so they starve.

The Department of Conservation said the extent of the damage is not yet known, but will be affected by the length and volume of discharge, ocean currents and wind.

New Zealanders needed to rethink why waste water goes into the oceans in the first place, Cornwall said. “I have no idea why you would put a pipe between two reefs anyway, and now all that faecal matter is just swept right in. Why are we pumping sewage out to a kelp forest? It’s clearly not right, and we should never have been in this situation.”

It is a feeling shared by many. From her home in Island Bay, Kayla Henderson regularly watches dolphins playing in Taputeranga Reserve. Outside the meeting this week, the young sea lover felt helpless.

“I just care about the environment,” she said. “And I want faith that we won’t have raw sewage and trash in protected marine waterways. I didn’t think it would be this difficult.”