Results Overview

 

During the 2007-08 financial year, a total of 1037 incidents were reported to NRC.

Distribution of Incidents

The map below shows the distribution of incidents throughout Northland during 2007-08. The darker colours represent the greatest number of incidents reported. Whangarei had the highest occurrence of incidents, with 342 being reported to NRC. The Hokianga Coast, Kaipara Coast, Rangaunu Harbour & Whangaruru Harbour areas all had one incident recorded each. The high number of incidents in the Whangarei area is related to the urban nature of the catchment and greater population density.

Incident Types

The table below shows the different types of incidents reported in terms of numbers and percentage of the total 1037 incidents.

Burning and smoke nuisance incidents were by far the most common incidents in Northland, however this may be related to the fact that people are more likely to notice and/or be affected by a smoke nuisance than other incident types. Odour, sewage and earthworks/vegetation clearance incidents were the next most common incidents reported in 2007-08.

Incident Type	Number	Percentage
Abrasive Blasting	4	0
Burning & Smoke Nuisance	217	21
Contaminated Stormwater	35	3
Dead Stock	28	3
Dead or Dying Organisms	13	1
Discolouration & Foams/Scums in Water	33	3
Diversion & Drainage Works	18	2
Dust Nuisance	36	3
Earthworks & Vegetation Clearance	90	9
Farm Dairy Effluent (FDE)	13	1
Flooding Hazards & Erosion	34	3
Hazardous Substances	15	1
Industrial Emissions	20	2
Miscellaneous	21	2
Natural Phenomena	4	0
Odour	70	7
Oil, Diesel & Other Fuel Spills - non ma	21	2
Other Agency Responsible	1	0
Other Coastal Activities	52	5
Other Contaminant Discharges	44	4
Other Water Pollution	26	3
Refuse & Other Dumping	34	3
Sewage	95	9
Spraydrift	30	3
Structures in Water bodies/CMA	65	6
Vehicle on Beach	12	1
Water Abstractions	6	1
TOTAL	1037	100

Resource Affected

Of the 1037 incidents reported in 2007-08, 37% (384 incidents) were air related. Other incidents were recorded as affecting inland waters (254 incidents), the Coastal Marine Area (CMA) (213 incidents), land (155 incidents), groundwater (4 incidents) or the riparian management zone (RMZ) (26 incidents) (as shown below). One incident was reported to NRC but responded to by another agency.

Due to the small percentage of incidents reported as affecting groundwater (4 out of 1037) and the small number of reports that were responded to by another agency (1 out of 1037 – recorded as ‘not an incident'), these show as 0% on the graph below.

Impact on the Environment

The impact of every incident on the environment is categorised and reported to Council on a monthly basis. Of the 1037 incidents reported to NRC in 2007-08, the majority of incidents (77%) were recorded as having no, or only a minor, impact on the environment. A minor impact means that effects were localised and/or short-lived with non-significant deterioration of the environment. On the other hand 57 incidents (6%) had a significant impact on the environment. For 16% of the incidents reported, it was not possible to determine their impact on the environment.