Otago Regional Council: QLDC sewage samples to stay secret
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Both the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) are refusing to provide evidence that the QLDC has not fabricated their March 31st sewage samples.
Both councils have, without the agreement of Crux, given themselves 20 working days to answer urgent questions about a missing 24 hours in the QLDC’s “totally clean” sewage sample.
The delay has been engineered using official information request legislation that is designed for complex information releases, not situations where the information is readily available.
The QLDC has not (as at 2.00 pm April 16) released any effluent sampling data apart from the March 31st data that the council claims was “less than 10 cfu’s per 100 ml.” The consent and public safety limit is 260 cfu’s.
The QLDC promised regular water quality data releases via their website – but there’s been nothing posted there since March 31.
ORC’s CEO Richard Saunders told Crux today that he’s “satisfied with our (ORC's) assessment of the (QLDC) data.”
Mr Saunders indicated that he had seen QLDC’s sample sheets from March 31st but would not release them to Crux.
The QLDC has published a water sample report, provided by their contractor Veolia, that shows the sample was taken at midnight at March 31 (before the emergency discharge started) but was not submitted to the test lab until 8.30 am on April the 1st – over 24 hours later.
E coli tests need to be started (in Invercargill) within 24 hours of being collected. Therefore the QLDC sample is invalid.
The QLDC’s media release claiming “totally clean effluent” on March 31st was widely published as fact by national and local media.
The consented and safe sewage limit is 260 cfu’s of e coli per 100 ml.
Crux - mid discharge channel 9.20 am March 31st - 570 cfu’s per 100 ml
ORC - discharge channel March 31st 3.00 pm - 730 cfu’s per 100 ml
ORC - Shotover river - downstream March 31st - 370 cfu’s per 100 ml
QLDC - Final Effluent point (either 00.00 or 9.00 am March 31st - disputed - no paperwork apart from midnight timing ) less than 10 cfu’s per 100 ml. Sample not submitted to Eurofins until at least 23.5 hours later at 8.30 am April 1st - e coli results invalid due to 24 hour time limit. No explanation for 24 hour delay. E coli must be tested at the Invercargill Eurofins lab within 24 hours of the sample being taken in order to be valid.
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