Fears of wine-waste pollution

Photo: CAROLYN THOMAS

FOURTH GENERATION: Waimauku resident Ross Kerr-Taylor does not want the land around him to be polluted by increased wastewater from Matua Valley Wines.

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 It was the rolling green pastures that attracted Ross Kerr-Taylor's great grandfather to Waimauku in 1864.

The farmer has grown up and raised five children on the land.

He says it will be threatened if his neighbour, Matua Valley Wines, increases its wastewater.

"It's a beautiful valley," the 65-year-old says.

"I don't want to see it become a sewage pond."

The Foster Group-owned company proposes to increase its wastewater limit from 30 to 40 cubic metres a day.

It withdrew an earlier application to the Auckland Regional Council for 50 cubic metres because it breached resource consent conditions.

Other changes include relocating the disposal area, which it now proposes to increase from 1.5 hectares to about 2 hectares.

Mr Kerr-Taylor's concerns include cleaning chemicals being released into paddocks and waterways.

He has watched the operation grow from a small, family-owned business in 1974.

"When does a boutique winery become a factory?" he asks.

"It is now the fourth-largest winery in New Zealand."

Wastewater is piped to a holding pond and then sprayed across paddocks.

"It's putrid," he says. "We cop it on an easterly wind."

An aeration tower to oxygenate the wastewater and reduce the rotten-egg smell has recently been installed.

He says it is not enough because the present system simply cannot cope with more wastewater.

"Dairy farmers are getting pulled up left, right and centre. Others are cleaning up and so should they."

He credits the company for being innovative wine makers and hopes it finds a way to recycle the wastewater.

"There's only so much land out here. You can only pollute it so much."

Matua spokeswoman Sarah Ammundsen says the wastewater limit is rarely reached, except during vintage in March and April.

The winery produces more than four million litres of wine each year and the proposed changes reflect growth in sales and production. She says it has researched environmental improvements for three to four years and has committed more than $300,000.

"The winery is currently in working on improving the quality of our wastewater management," she explains.

"In our application we propose to irrigate on to the existing grapevines and also to create a wetland area at the stream end of the field.

"This will be designed and planted to clean any potential run-off water during wet months."

The planned removal of some grapevines will not go ahead after neighbours opposed its effect on the vineyard's appearance.

The winery's Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand accreditation followed an audit in 2009 and is valid until the completion of an audit mid-year.

- © Fairfax NZ News