That's when Van Betuw watches the effluent wreak havoc on the wastewater plant before it's sent out to sea off Dunedin's coast. Hundreds of companies have dumped contaminants – like blood, fat, and toxic chemicals such as ammonia and sulphides – into sewers in breach of their trade waste consents over the past year, RNZ can reveal. In Timaru, every trade waste consent holder has breached their conditions, while in Central Hawke's Bay, six of eight have done so. Meanwhile, the company's Timaru plant breached its consent 73 times between October 2019 and August 2020, including by dumping too much sulphide, zinc, chromium and ammonia down the drain. They don't want to fix the problems, they want to maximise shareholder value.”RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly Trade waste consultant Tara Okan.

Source: Stuff January 24, 2021 23:48 UTC