Geothermal bore: Rotorua Events Centre reopened, work to stop leak continues

Geothermal activity behind the Rotorua Sportsdrome on Hatupatu Drive, pictured last week. Photo / NZME

Rotorua Energy Events Centre has reopened after a geothermal gas leak forced its closure yesterday.

But work still continues to cool a bore that spewed hot water, gases and steam from Hatupatu Drive last week.

Despite being "quenched", the bore began heating again yesterday, prompting more steam and gases to escape.

Rotorua Lakes Council closed the events centre and Sportsdrome and cancelled events as a precaution due to the detection of higher-than-usual hydrogen sulphide gas levels related to the geothermal activity.

In an update on its Facebook page just after 5pm today, the council stated work was continuing to re-quench the bore on Hatupatu Drive.

"Once the bore is cooled, council's contractors will be looking to repair the part of the bore casing that is suspected to have split and caused the steam and gas to escape."

Hydrogen sulphide levels around the events centre and Sportsdrome had dropped and the centre was open again today. Monitoring continued.

Geothermal activity behind the Rotorua Sportsdrome on Hatupatu Drive, pictured last week. Photo / NZME

The post stated the recent issues in Hatupatu Drive and Kuirau Park were due to failures of the bores' casings "and not due to any known increase or change in naturally occurring geothermal activity".

"In this instance, it is suspected that the acidity of the geothermal water has corroded the bore casing over time, causing the failure," the post stated.

Yesterday, the council told the Daily Post it could not be sure how long the quenching would take.

"It's important that people avoid the bore site due to potentially unstable ground, very high temperatures from steam and water, exposure to hydrogen sulphide, and machinery and staff actively working on the site."