Meatworks, council clam up over effluent breach
The ANZCO Kokiri processing plant and Arnold River in the background. Photo: supplied / ANZCO
Owners of the Kokiri meatworks are refusing to answer questions about the latest breach of its resource consent while the matter is under investigation by the West Coast Regional Council.
ANZCO Foods Ltd was prosecuted by the council and fined $60,000 in the Greymouth District Court this month for submitting false and misleading monitoring reports about its effluent discharges.
Kokiri is permitted to release 6100 cubic metres of wastewater a day from its oxidation pond into the Arnold River.
The effluent includes wastewater from toilets, stock wash-down facilities and the plant itself.
The company told the council this month that it had exceeded that limit on April 7.
But it has declined to answer further questions about why it was unable to stick to the consented limit.
Local Democracy Reporting asked the company how the excess effluent release happened, whether the oxidation pond flooded and whether it had plans to enlarge its system or take other steps to avoid repeats.
In court, the company said its previous misreporting was down to "a serious lapse of judgement" by one employee and it had new systems in place to ensure accurate monitoring and reporting.
LDR has asked if that meant Kokiri would simply do a better job of reporting its consent breaches in future rather than take steps to prevent them.
The company's communications manager Janet Wright responded: 'The event you're inquiring about is an open event with the Regional Council and as such we're unable to comment on it.'
The council has declined to say by how much Kokiri exceeded its allowable effluent discharge on April 7, because it is in the throes of investigating the breach.
It did say that its records showed the company had exceeded E.coli counts in its releases three times between 2017 and 2023.
LDR has asked under the LGOIMA (Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act) whether the West Coast Regional Council will review the conditions of Kokiri's resource consent.
- By Lois Williams
Local Democracy Reporter
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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