The mayor of New Zealand’s capital city took an afternoon dip on Wednesday, hoping to assuage public fears after a breakdown at a local wastewater treatment plant led to raw sewage being pumped into the ocean and sprayed onto coastal homes.
Millions of litres of raw sewage have flown into the waters off Wellington’s picturesque south coast beaches since the breakdown of the Moa Point facility on February 4.
Sporting swimming trunks and a rash guard shirt, mayor Andrew Little dived face first into the surf as he sought to reassure angry residents that the water was now safe.
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“I do want to be clear, a risk remains but monitoring results so far show that it is low and it’s now up to people to decide how they respond,” Little said.
The Wellington City Council had previously urged people to refrain from swimming or fishing due to the public health risk.
The situation escalated last week when a storm hit the city, fuelling swells of up to seven metres (23 feet) that sent contaminated sea spray flying onto homes.
Residents said a brown residue was then found coating their homes.
“It’s been disgusting,” resident Roger Young told national broadcaster RNZ.
Another local described it as “slimy grime”.
“When you run your finger along it, you get these brown marks of this residue that’s on there and that’s certainly not from salt,” Island Bay resident Chris told RNZ.
“It’s residue from all that sewage that’s floating up and down the coast.”
Wellington Water, which manages the Moa Point plant, has brought in experts from Australia to diagnose what went wrong but it remains a mystery.
On Wednesday the utility said it was still working to clean the plant.
“Increased odour is an ongoing concern,” it said.
Mayor Little said a “major” fix was required to get the plant back working.
“I want to thank Wellingtonians and local businesses for their patience and understanding,” Little said.
“Today’s progress marks a turning point, but we are far from the end of the journey.”
