A keen eye for the environment

	Jeremy Rusbatch at the Dowse-to-Petone roadworks

Being confronted by angry goats, putrid and unusual smells, and chicken waste in streams is all in a day's work for Greater Wellington's resource advisers.

It's a crisp morning with just a light southerly blowing. Resource adviser Jeremy Rusbatch is visiting the Dowse-to-Petone roadworks site in the Hutt Valley. He's investigating how measures to control sediment runoff and erosion have fared since a storm bucketed the city with up to 100mm of rain two nights earlier.

Jeremy is one of a team of 18 Greater Wellington resource advisers, based in Wellington and Masterton. They're often at the forefront of environmental protection, ensuring that businesses meet the conditions placed on their activities whether for taking water from a stream, operating a landfill, or undertaking earthworks for a major subdivision or roading project.

Jeremy's three-and-a-half years since joining Greater Wellington have been challenging - coming to terms with the Resource Management Act (the legal framework that ensures New Zealand's natural resources are sustainably managed), and with technical engineering and earthworks issues.

There's the need to deal with ever-increasing activity in the region, while site visits can also spring surprises. On one occasion on an odour-sniffing exercise at a landfill, Jeremy was confronted by a herd of angry goats!

Attention to detail is essential, says Jeremy. "There are so many issues to consider. On an earthworks site such as Dowse-to-Petone we're looking at whether clean water is being kept away from the site, and that there are measures in place for restricting soil erosion, and containing and treating dirty water.

"We also need to foresee any issues that might arise in the next stages of a project. That means explaining to people what we are trying to protect and why the conditions on their activities are so important."

That's something Jeremy finds hugely satisfying. "It's great seeing people understand their impact on the environment, doing things better and teaching others.

"If you can get across to them that muddy water in drains will ultimately affect freshwater fish in streams and the beaches we swim at, you're on the way to getting people to take ownership of their activities."

Having good intentions doesn't always translate into compliance. Almost 75% of the 2,000 businesses and individuals who hold consents with Greater Wellington do comply, but the other quarter only partly comply or don't comply at all. Non-compliance leads to a range of problems, including sediment getting into stormwater and streams, effluent from dairy farms entering streams, and odours and contaminants polluting the air.

Jeremy says education is a major part of getting change on the ground. Greater Wellington's Muddy Waters and Small Streams programme helps contractors manage the adverse effects of sediment discharges from earthworks and stream works. The Pollution Control team also educates businesses about pollution prevention through the Take Charge programme.

"Of course there are situations where we must get tough. We educate as much as we can, but if we are not getting change on the ground we will take enforcement action."

In serious cases, non-compliance can result in prosecution - convictions in the past year include Exide Technologies Ltd for breaching limits on lead released into the air, and the Capital Egg Company for illegal discharges of chicken waste into a stream.

Thankfully the vast majority of people do want to do the right thing, says Jeremy, and there are benefits for those who go the extra mile.

Greater Wellington offers the Nikau Compliance Award for consent holders who go above and beyond the conditions of their consent in managing environmental effects. "That means they have to identify potential issues and have measures in place to deal with them before they arise."