Wairoa mayor Craig Little talks about the town’s big Lotto win amidst the ongoing Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up
Video / Neil Reid
* Wairoa locals and Hawke’s Bay iwi have campaigned since 2017 to ban mortuary waste in local wastewater.
* The treated embalming waste includes toxic chemicals, blood and medication remnants.
* A bylaw change in 2023 prohibited the waste but council says change may take another 12 months.
Iwi and other Wairoa locals are closer to the banning of mortuary waste – including dead people’s blood, water and chemicals used in the embalming process – being pumped into the local wastewater system.
But it will be at least another year before the offending liquids are not in the wastewater that sometimes goes directly into the river.
Michelle McIlroy said mortuary waste in the water has long been a cultural concern for the Wairoa community. Photo / RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The liquids – which can total more than 100L per embalming – have been drained into the wastewater, treated and then discharged about 150m offshore from the Wairoa estuary during night-time outgoing tides.
But during heavy rain – which has become increasingly common in recent years – the northern Hawke’s Bay town’s wastewater system has overflowed directly into the Wairoa River.
It’s been a profound breach of cultural and spiritual values
Michelle McIlroy – chairwoman of the Body Representing Māori interests in Wairoa (BRM) - said the disposal has been a long-running and significant cultural concern for the community.
“In Māori tradition, tupapaku (deceased people’s bodies) are considered tapu, or sacred,” she told the Herald.
“It is culturally unacceptable to dispose of something so sacred in wastewater, as this not only disrespects the sanctity of the tupapaku but also desecrates the awa (rivers) and moana (seas). This issue is therefore not just a technical concern but a profound breach of cultural and spiritual values.”
Seven years ago, members of iwi and other concerned locals, “appalled” that some of the treated waste from dead bodies was ending up in their river, started campaigning for the process to end.
The Wairoa District Council (WDC) has since changed the area’s wastewater consent to include “a specific requirement for the separation of mortuary waste”.
“This stipulation ensures that mortuary waste does not enter the general sewer network” a briefing paper to WDC’s infrastructure and regulatory committee stated.
Plans are now in place to build a mortuary waste disposal site at Wairoa Cemetery, with Mayor Craig Little saying the current disposal method was not acceptable.
“Culturally it is not acceptable, that [removing it] is what we are working on. That is the plan,” Little told the Herald.
“It is something that was probably overlooked for many years to be quite honest. We want to do everything right.
Wairoa is a northern Hawke’s Bay town with a population of 8680. Photo / Neil Reid
Little said appropriate removal of the waste will come at “huge expense” and the council was working with a local funeral director and embalmer to curb additional costs while also minimising waste before it leaves the premises.
Once the plant was built, the liquid would be trucked there, he said.
The mayor believed it would be at least a year before the full changes were able to be made.
The Wairoa Awa Restoration Project, other locals, the Māori Wastewater Working Party (MWWP), BRM and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated are among the groups who have campaigned since 2017 to have the liquid remnants of embalming removed from its wastewater.
Protecting the quality of Wairoa River - a popular whitebaiting spot - and cultural concerns saw locals and iwi campaign for the removal of mortuary waste from the town's treated wastewater which can overflow into the waterway. Photo / Neil Reid
Michelle McIlroy told the Herald the Wairoa River – also known as Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Mātangira - is a highly significant taonga (treasure) for local iwi.
It is also a popular whitebaiting river and both the estuary and coastline are important fishing spots.
“It is regarded as tapu, and its mauri (life force) must be safeguarded and treated with the utmost respect,” McIlroy said.
“For centuries, the river has sustained the practice of mahinga kai, providing food essential to the community’s way of life.”
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little says change will be costly, but is 100% the right thing to do. Photo / Neil Reid
The matter was the subject of a hearing before the Environment Court in November and December 2020, including a call for the WDC wastewater regulations to ban the presence of mortuary waste in wastewater.
For centuries the river has sustained the practice of mahinga kai, providing food essential to the community’s way of life
Changes were later made to the council’s waste bylaws, with mortuary waste being listed as a “prohibited waste” since mid-2023.
But it still is present in treated wastewater due to ongoing work on a new treatment process, the mayor said.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated’s environment and natural resources director Ngaio Tiukatold the Herald the multi-year process to get changes to the wastewater consent was at times “long and painful”.
The Wairoa River runs right through the middle of the heartland New Zealand town, and is considered a "taonga" by locals. Photo / Neil Reid
But he said the community concerns “couldn’t be ignored”.
A document presented to the WDC’s infrastructure and regulatory committee earlier this month outlined the mortuary waste created in the embalming process.
A chemical solution is injected into the body to remove blood.
Between 10L-25L of liquids – including chemicals and water – is used during an initial injection process. Chemicals include formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and methanol.
The process sees between 4L-6L of blood being removed; along with the residue of any medications, including chemotherapy drugs.
Wairoa locals and iwi have worked hard to protect the quality of their waterways, including around the river mouth of the Wairoa River. Photo / Neil Reid
Normally at least 100L of water is also used in each embalming, including diluting other fluids.
McIlroy said she was pleased with the council’s commitment to remove mortuary waste from the town’s wastewater, a move that will no longer see it being discharged into waterways around Wairoa.
There was regular hui between the council, the BRM and MWWP and a “positive and ongoing relationship has developed, with a genuine commitment to improving wastewater treatment in Wairoa”.
“What benefits the cultural wellbeing of the community also supports the environmental health of the region, paving the way for a cleaner, more sustainable future for both the people and the ecosystem.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.
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