There is an ongoing discharge of untreated wastewater from Moa Point Treatment Plant. On Wednesday 4 February, a fault at the treatment plant caused it to go offline, resulting in untreated wastewater being released into the environment from the short outfall pipe at Tarakena Bay. Since 6 February, this untreated wastewater has been primarily discharging through the long outfall pipe, which is 1.8km long and roughly 1km off the coast. Water sampling has been undertaken daily at 23 sites along the coast, and results indicate that harmful bacteria is not reaching the shore.
It is possible that the untreated wastewater will again discharge via the short outfall pipe during rainfall. This poses an increased public health risk due to its proximity to the coastline. If any discharge occurs via the short outfall pipe, sites on LAWA from Ōwhiro Bay across to Breaker Bay will display red for 48hours until after the discharge has ceased and been rediverted to the long outfall pipe.
Please note that there is still a rāhui currently in place for Tarakena Bay until further notice, put in place by Taranaki Whānui. Note that this is not a site that displays on LAWA as it is not monitored routinely as part of the Recreational Water Quality programme.
We advise people check the ‘Can I Swim Here?’ status on LAWA for the most up to date risk assessment. Standard advice is to not enter the water during rainfall, or after rain for 48 hours.
We also advise that people do not collect any kai moana from the area.
Please note that while the near shore is safe, caution should be taken for any activities taken further out in the Cook Straight near the long outfall pipe.