Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Whakatane District Council are joining forces to inspect industrial sites around Whakatane which could pollute waterways.

Staff from the district council's water and waste team, and the regional council's pollution prevention team will be talking to more than 50 site operators where discharges could affect water quality to discuss their management plans, and identify any potential issues, such as run-off to stormwater systems.

A stormwater drain. File photo.

This follows both councils having to respond to recent two incidents where contaminants have poured into the town's stormwater system, including a spill of 20 litres of oil into Whakatane's Sullivan Lake through stormwater pipes in August.

Regional council's project implementation officer Reece Irving says the two-week project will enable both councils to identify and discuss potential issues with business operators, helping them to establish better management and mitigation plans.

'We can also map and define where discharges to both land and water might come from.

'The regional council has undertaken combined audits with Tauranga, Rotorua and Western Bay of Plenty councils, which have led to improved business practices in those districts. Pollution incidents have decreased from those commercial and industrial sites, which mean a cleaner environment and less burden on ratepayers, who have to fund the clean-up of untraced industrial spills.”

'We can suggest improvements to business practices, so the risk of contaminated discharges can be controlled and managed,” says Reece.

Following initial visits to high-risk sites, inspections of other sites will be run during November.