STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE OF FIONA FORREST

Transcription

1 Resource Consent Applications under the Resource Management Act 1991 an application to discharge contaminants (including odour) into the air from the Roto-o-Rangi piggery at 30 Kairangi Road, Roto-o-Rangi (renewal of existing consent AUTH ) to irrigate treated piggery waste water onto land and associated discharge to air at 83 and 62 Kairangi Road, Roto-o-Rangi (renewal of existing consent AUTH ) STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE OF FIONA FORREST

2 1 Witness introduction and background information 1. My name is Fiona Forrest. I have a BSc (Bachelor of Biology and Forensic Science), a DipEnvMgt (Diploma of Environmental Management). I am a Hazardous Substance Team Leader at QEC Ltd, 62D Victoria Street Cambridge. 2. QEC was contracted to Waratah Farms to conduct four odour assessments at their piggery located at 32 Kairangi Road, Roto-o-Rangi. 3. Although this evidence is not to be used in an Environment Court hearing, I confirm compliance with the Code of Conduct for expert witnesses in the Environment Court NZ Practice Note 2011: 3.1. I have read the Environment Court Code of Conduct Practice Note 2011 requirements for expert witnesses and confirm that I agree to comply with it. In particular I have complied with the Code of Conduct in preparing my evidence and will comply with it in giving any further evidence in the course of this hearing The evidence that is contained in this Statement, and that I will give at the hearing, is and will be within my area of expertise, except where I rely on the evidence of another witness, in which case I have referred to that witness I have considered material facts known to me that might alter or detract from the opinions that I have expressed and I have specified literature and other material used or relied on in support of the opinions expressed in my evidence. Scope of Evidence 4. This statement is in relation to the provision of a set of four targeted environmental odour monitoring assessments QEC had been engaged to

3 2 undertake by Bindi Ground of Waratah Farms Limited ( WFL ), 32 Kairangi Road. The scope of the work was to undertake four 10 minute odour assessments at just after sunset or early dawn in low or no wind conditions. I understand that the conditions in which the assessments were to be undertaken had been agreed between WRC officers and WFL, intended to reproduce the conditions in which odour complaints had been received from the neighbour at 37 Kairangi Road. Preparation for odour assessments 5. The dates and exact times were to be determined by QEC based on weather conditions and forecasts. Assessments were to be commenced from the 04 September On the 25 th July a scoping site visit was conducted by Leigh-Anne Peake and Vivian O Kane of QEC Ltd and myself, to gain familiarity with all farm boundaries. A farm walk around was undertaken, accompanied by Bindi Ground, to familiarise ourselves with, and differentiate between, onsite odours, such as the piggery and the effluent pond. 7. Following this visit the procedure titled Waratah Farm Odour Assessment WARF-01 was drafted to ensure consistency when carrying out odour assessments. As requested by Bindi Ground on 16 July 2018, odour assessments were to be carried out in as similar weather conditions as possible to some of the unverified complaints. Generally these are still conditions with little or no wind. The procedure I helped to document included desired weather conditions of calm, light air or light breeze as per land Beaufort wind scale WARF A warm day with humidity estimated to be between 55 and 70% with a slight south easterly wind direction is ideal, as these are the conditions that had resulted in complaints. I was involved in the writing of the procedure, which defined the methodology for undertaking an odour assessment. The odour assessments were to be undertaken on days that met these weather conditions, and when QEC competent staff were available. I was trained in the procedure, and completed a practical odour

4 3 assessment, with Leigh-Anne Peake, and wrote a report which was reviewed by Leigh-Anne Peake, and was subsequently considered competent. 8. In this procedure notification of affected parties was to occur as soon as the decision to attempt an odour assessment had been made. The notifications were as follows: Steve Monks, 39 Kairangi Road land owner notified by text; John Knowles, from the neighbouring goat farm notified by text; and Jennifer Matthys Waikato Regional Council, who opted to be notified by . The notification was to inform an assessment will be taking place and it will likely involve entry into their property. Short notice is typically given so that the persons notified have limited opportunity to interfere with the process, by tipping off the consent holder, or other actions that could lead to lack of impartiality or interference. Jennifer had asked to be notified as she had expressed an interest in attending. As assessments were weather dependent, mobilisation usually happened within a few minutes of deciding to carry out an assessment. Odour assessments 4 September 2018 QEC job Ref 7567 #1 Assessment including calibration 9. A side by side odour assessment was carried out by Leigh-Anne Peake, who is a calibrated olfactory assessor, and myself. We notified all parties, on short notice, that we were about to conduct the assessment. When arriving at the location, we each undertook a 10 minute odour assessment at the old tanker track at 39 Kairangi Road adjacent to the property where complaints have been received at 37 Kairangi Road. We undertook this side by side assessment to determine how my odour sensitivity compared to a calibrated olfactory assessor. We stood in the same location, but were far enough apart to be independent of each other and took our own 10 minute records, recording odour at 10 second intervals for 10 minutes. The wind direction was observed to be southerly and 4 on the Beaufort wind scale. The wind was blowing straight to us from the piggery. Odour was detected during the 10 minute assessment. My odour assessment record was exactly the same as Leigh-Anne Peake s indicating we had the same detection and impression of

5 4 the odour detected. Odour detected ranged from 1 to 3 intensity and was attributed to piggery odour. 10. A level 3 intensity of distinct, according to the Good Practice Guide for Assessing and Managing Odour, from the Ministry for the Environment, was detected twice during the 10 minute assessment. Odour samples are noted every ten seconds. The time between the ten seconds is disregarded (interval method). Breathe normally rather than sniffing 1. Based on this occasion I concluded, as noted in the 10 minute proactive Odour Assessment WARF check sheet, I did detect odour and consider it would be objectionable, if it became continuous. Continuous in this context means without interruption or gaps for a continuous period. 11. After the 10 minute assessment we travelled upwind and no odour was detected upwind at the Waratah Farm boundary. We both attributed the odour to the piggery. This report was forwarded to the client Bindi Ground on 05 September On the 5 September Leigh-Anne Peake received an from Jennifer Matthys, Resource Officer, Waikato Regional Council in response to correspondence over the assessment on the 4 th. In this Jennifer stated We are also wondering about the weather conditions during the assessment. I think we discussed at the meeting that the weather conditions which most closely resemble when the complaints occurred (almost zero wind) would be appropriate, yet I believe QEC may be doing the assessment shortly and the wind conditions are currently gusty and up to 19 km/hr (in Hamilton), and are predicted to not decrease below 13 km/hr before 6 am. I hope the weather is calmer at Roto-o-rangi so that the assessment is not a waste of time. As a result of receiving this , I had a meeting with Leigh-Anne Peake and we discussed making sure Jennifer Matthys was satisfied with weather conditions. This further impacted on our sampling day selection, as I became worried that any assessment I did may be later rejected by Waikato Regional Council. We further focussed the selection of days to sample on wind 1 Good Practice Guide for Assessing and Managing Odour, Wellington: Ministry for the Environment.

6 5 conditions and ensured any weather pattern that did not meet this criteria of calm with any breeze being from the southerly quarter were abandoned. It is noted the assessment conducted on the 4 September resulted in odour being detected beyond the boundary, however the weather conditions did not meet Jennifer Matthys specifications September 2018 We planned to conduct an assessment this day in the evening. I notified all affected parties prior to leaving work. When I got to the site at 16:20 the wind direction was observed to be south-easterly. Wind was 0 to 4 on the Beaufort scale. I undertook a ten minute assessment at the old tanker track at 39 Kairangi Road adjacent to the property where complaints have been received at 37 Kairangi Road and a full boundary walk of the piggery. Odour was detected during the 10 minute assessment. The odour was determined to have a faecal (like manure) character. The odour was very weak and not continuous. 14. During the follow up assessment around the boundary of the Waratah Farm site, I detected odour along the northern boundary. The intensity of the odour was 2, the intensity decreased to 0 when walking further east. The areas where I detected these odours were in the general area of the gap in the roadside boundary shelterbelt. The odour detected was attributed to the piggery. Following this assessment I was conscious of Jennifer Matthys previous comments about an assessment potentially being a waste of time if conditions were not calm, so I decided not to use this assessment as the wind didn t match the Waikato Regional Councils specifications, as it reached 4 on the Beaufort scale during the assessment September 2018 We intended to conduct an assessment in the evening. We checked the weather on and and conditions look favourable. We notified all parties of the assessment occurring. When Leigh-Anne Peake and I arrived at 16:05 we walked to old tanker track at 39 Kairangi Road adjacent to the property where complaints have been received at 37 Kairangi Road. We started the assessment however, the wind was changing and the strength did not meet the conditions

7 6 in our procedure and Jennifer Matthys specification, so we decided to abandon it September 2018 We had scheduled an odour assessment this day however we abandoned it as we deemed the wind wrong, wind was North to Northeast September 2018 we had scheduled an odour assessment this day however we abandoned it as the wind was wrong, being stronger than Jennifer Matthys had said was acceptable, being easterly at 13km p/h September 2018 we had scheduled an odour assessment this day however we abandoned as the wind did not match the specification we had been given September 2018 QEC Job Ref 7672 #2 - We planned to conduct an assessment this day in the morning. I notified all affected parties prior to leaving home. When I got to the site the wind was very nearly calm at 0 to 1 on the Beaufort scale. What little wind there was came from the south west,, but generally the conditions were calm. I undertook a ten minute assessment at the old tanker track at 39 Kairangi Road adjacent to the property where complaints have been received at 37 Kairangi Road and a full boundary walk of the piggery. Odour was not detected during the 10 minute assessment. During the boundary assessment I detected odour along the northern boundary of Waratah Farm. The scale of intensity of the odour was 2, the intensity decreased to 0 when walking further east. The areas where I detected these odours were in the general area of the gap in the roadside boundary shelterbelt. The odour detected was attributed to the piggery. I concluded I did not detect any objectionable odour October 2018 We had scheduled an odour assessment this day however we abandoned due to rain October 2018 QEC Job Ref 7692 #3 - I undertook a 10 minute odour assessment in the morning. I notified all affected parties prior to leaving home.

8 7 The wind was noted as calm. Odour was not detected during the 10 minute assessment. During the assessment odour was detected along the northern boundary of Waratah Farms. The scale of intensity of the odour was 1 to 2, the intensity decreased to 0 when walking further west back to the entrance to Waratah farm. The odour detected was attributed to the piggery. Odour was detected along the southern boundary of Waratah Farm. The scale of intensity of the odour was 3, the intensity decreased to 0 when walking further east. The odour had a sulphur smelling character, possibly from the composting area on Waratah Farm. I concluded I did not detect any objectionable odour October 2018 we had scheduled an odour assessment this day however we abandoned as the wind was from the wrong direction being north-north westerly October 2018 QEC Job Ref 7717 #4 - I undertook a 10 minute odour assessment in the morning. I notified all affected parties prior to leaving home. The wind was noted as calm. Odour was not detected during the 10 minute assessment. During the 360 o boundary assessment no odour was detected on the northern boundary. Odour was detected at one spot along the southern boundary. The odour detected was a sulphur like smell potentially pond odour and a piggery odour. The scale of intensity of the odour was 1 to 2. I concluded I did not detect any objectionable odour. Conclusion 24. I have carried out four complete odour assessments as QEC was engaged to do by Waratah Farms. I followed the QEC documented procedure Waratah Farm Odour Assessment WARF-01 when carrying out these assessments and used the accompanying worksheets to record my findings. The only assessment in which I noted odour exceeding a level of 2 was the first assessment on 4 September During that assessment I noted mainly 0-2 strength of odour, with two entries at odour strength 3. I concluded from this assessment that I had detected odour that would be objectionable if it was

9 8 continuous. By continuous I mean if it was an ever present odour of that character and strength. During other assessments I did not detect any piggery odour, except when following up with a walk around the boundary of the piggery, when I detected low level odour that was not objectionable. DATED: 5 December 2018 F Forrest