10 Wairarapa Midweek Carterton Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Water woes for council
Carterton
Emily Ireland Rips, punctures, and scratches – extensive damage has been discovered at Carterton District Council’s $12.7 million dollar wastewater ponds. Now the council has taken possession of the site and has removed the main contractor following repeated delays and the discovery of the damage to the lining of its three new ponds. It will cost an unbudgeted $1.3-$1.9m to fix and complete the project, the council says. In 2018, Central Hawkes Bay Earthmovers [CHBE] was contracted to undertake upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Pond Upgrade Project, part of which included earthworks and lining three new ponds. The work had an expected completion date of May 30, 2019. But to date the project has been delayed by a mudfish relocation task, the discovery of a high level of unsuitable ground material, the need for additional drainage work,
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Carterton District Council infrastructure, services, and regulatory manager Dave Gittings. PHOTO/EMILY IRELAND
bad weather, ephemeral channel relocation, and covid-19 lockdowns. CHBE claimed additional time extensions last year to enable them to complete major works. This was also done to “prevent additional costs being passed on to ratepayers”, council chief executive Geoff Hamilton said. But project delays continued into 2021, and the council’s project management team discovered the new pond liners had been damaged by the contractor. A total of 122 notices were issued to CHBE throughout the earthworks
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contract, with the latter of these to fix the damage and alter work practices that could avoid further damage. Proposed remediation plans were considered insufficient, and the contractor was removed from the site on September 9, 2021. “Upon taking possession of the site in September, the council discovered significantly more damage to the pond liners than was first anticipated,” Hamilton said. “Damage to the liner consisted of rips, tears, and scratches of varying depths in the new liner, as well as damage to gas vents.
“Damage to the liner at the top of the ponds is more of a risk, due to the additional effect of sunlight and ultraviolet light accelerating degradation of the liner material.” Carterton District Council will need to repair the damage before the ponds are filled to ensure the integrity of the liner and minimise any potential negative environmental impacts or breaches of resource consent conditions. The contract with CHBE allows for the council to complete the contract and seek reimbursement for additional costs within the
agreed scope of works. The council intends to follow this process to recover the cost of liner remediation and completing the contract works. The legal costs to enforce this would not be able to be recovered and were expected to be between $150-$300k. For the council to still be within its consent requirements the ponds must begin filling with partially treated wastewater by April 2022. This means the damage must be assessed and repaired as soon as possible. The real driver is the end of the council’s current discharge consent in January 2023 which is when the project must be completed. The council is set to meet today to approve additional budget for remediation and completion of the project. Carterton Mayor Greg Lang said he was “hugely disappointed, personally and on behalf our community, that we have found ourselves in this situation”. CHBE was approached for comment but requested more time for a formal substantiated response to the council’s claims, due to this being a legal matter.
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