A critical report has painted a grim picture of the Otago Regional Council, saying the relationship between the former chief executive and elected officials seemed "unwell, if not broken".
The Clutha River-Mata Au at Balclutha. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The report, released today, detailed how hazardous rubble came to be dumped into the Clutha River-Mata Au in March 2021.
Sir Graham Panckhurst QC explored the sequence of events leading up to and following the event, including why it took three months for the material to be removed from the river.
The retired High Court judge was critical of the council's judgement and process.
Balclutha based Andrew Haulage 2011 Limited dumped the contaminated material into the river adjacent to the company's yard to prevent further erosion of the river bank.
Andrew Haulage managing director Colin Calteaux claimed he ordered the work be carried out after speaking to two engineers from the Otago Regional Council, who gave it the thumbs up.
That put the council in a bind as normally its engineering department would oversee remediation of such a breach, but it felt there was a conflict of interest.
Similarly the council's compliance department felt it was conflicted in investigating the issue due to another department being implicated.
The Environmental Protection Authority was brought in to investigate.
That led to an almost freezing of the process to remove the material, which should have been remediated immediately.
That meant the material remained in the river for 95 days, a period described as "simply unacceptable" by Sir Graham.
The council's engineers never gave evidence to the Environmental Protection Authority and were ultimately issued with warning and educational letters as Calteaux's version of events was not fought, despite questions about its veracity.
Then-council chief executive Sarah Gardner did not inform councillors of the gravity of the situation until July last year, four months after the material was dumped into the river.
Sir Graham said that was inexplicable.
"The communication failure, and absence of transparency, is in another league," he said.
"Good communication between staff and the CE (chief executive); and also the CE and councillors, is crucial in an organisation of this size and kind. Staff to CE communication occurred, but the blockage between the CE and councillors was inexplicable. Such a failure cannot be put down to mistake, rather that the relationship between the CE and, the chair and councillors, was unwell, if not broken."
He called for action.
"Action is needed in relation to communication and transparency. Unfortunately, the problems exposed in July 2021 in relation to the Clutha River incident are not unique," he said.
"Interviewees during the inquiry commented on the existence of a divide between staff and councillors. In essence it seems the problem is that staff think that councillors do not stick to their role of strategic direction and policy; and if monitoring performance councillors do not treat staff with respect.
"Councillors, however, consider that staff seek to influence strategy and policy; and as for communication that they are only told what staff wants them to know. If these perceptions are shown to be correct there are fundamental problems related to leadership, and culture."
Gardner resigned as chief executive last month.
She had overseen a fraught term in which former Labour Environment Minister Marian Hobbs was ousted as chair and later resigned, as well as councillors butting heads over rates, water and Māori partnership.
In response to the report, the council said the report "speaks for itself".
The council was pleased to receive the independent report, and to gain an understanding of what happened and why, a statement said.
"The inquiry was about process and procedures, not about people."
Chairperson Andrew Noone said he and interim chief executive Dr Pim Borren were aligned and supported the findings of the report in full.
"There are lessons learned for everyone, and I am pleased that changes have been implemented as per the conclusions and recommendations from Sir Graham Panckhurst."