Pollution prevention partnerships, after the quake.

Environment Canterbury has been working with site operators and businesses across the city to protect Christchurch’s drinking water supplies from contamination in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake.

Spills of hundreds of thousands of litres of soft drinks, beer, wine and milk, as well as more dangerous contaminants such as fuel and oil, have had to be contained to stop them from getting into groundwater or surface water.

Waste and Hazardous Substances Team Leader, Don Chittock, said that a combination of rapid response, information sharing and close co-operation with site operators has paid dividends. Early talks with Christchurch City Council and the Department of Labour were also vital to ensure that work was co-ordinated and resources shared.

“On the whole, people have been willing to work with Environment Canterbury and were glad of the help and advice that has been offered,” says Don Chittock. “I think that people have been reassured that we are very much focused on advice, not regulation, at this difficult time.”

Environment Canterbury’s response team is made up of members of the pollution prevention team, consent compliance staff and enforcement officers who have been visiting sites around the affected areas to offer help and advice for a successful clean up.

Mr Chittock says that many industrial buildings and warehouses to the south and west of Christchurch withstood the quake, but in many cases their contents were lost. At one site, security cameras showed storage racks buckling and collapsing in a matter of seconds. Thousands of tonnes of stored goods were damaged and many premises were flooded by spills of stored liquids.

“Site owners have been quick to act and make use of existing resources such as loaders and earth-moving machinery to dig new swales, divert spillages to existing ones or build containment bunds using materials at hand – in one instance, flour was used,” says Mr Chittock.

“Manufacturers and suppliers of temporary storage tanks have stepped up, supplying on-site help at short notice and waste disposal companies have been quick to respond too, identifying issues that were arising and suggesting solutions. Some were already in action on their own initiative on the same day as the quake. By last Monday night, more than 30 specialist liquid waste disposal companies were on our list and just had to be told what was needed and where.”

Currently, quantities of non-hazardous liquid waste too large to store are being diverted to a discharge point near the mouth of the Waimakariri River, but this is a temporary measure. Clear signage states that water quality is affected downstream of the highway bridge.

“The list of proactive and co-operative companies is too long to mention here. I can’t speak highly enough of the tremendous resilience people have shown and of the can-do attitude that we have come across during our visits,” says Mr Chittock.

“Environment Canterbury will be working closely with industry, other agencies and local authorities in the months following the earthquake to develop plans and procedures to ensure the integrity of their facilities for the future.”