19 June 2020
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Meade St mudpool follow-up
Enquiry
Just following up on the mudpool opened up in a Meade St property last year, leading to the house being deemed uninhabitable.
I have a few questions:
How much testing has been done at the site since? What was being tested and what was found?
Has this event changed the way these sorts of things are tested for?
What is happening to the house?
Has there been extra monitoring of this house or other properties - private or commertial? If yes, where is the other monitoring going on and why?
What is the likelihood of this happening in any other property in the city?
Are any other houses in danger of this happening to them? Where?
Has there been an increase in geothermal activity in the city in the past year?
Response
From Geothermal and Regulatory Inspector Peter Brownbridge:
How much testing has been done at the site since? What was being tested and what was found?
Testing continued frequently on site until the activity died off. Since there is now minimal-to-no activity, staff physically visit the site to monitor about once a month. If there are environmental factors such as rain, this triggers extra visits to check for activity.
Has this event changed the way these sorts of things are tested for?
No.
What is happening to the house?
You would need to contact the property owner.
Has there been extra monitoring of this house or other properties - private or commertial? If yes, where is the other monitoring going on and why?
No. Other than standard geothermal monitoring, we rely on reports from the public about any new geothermal activity. Instances vary from year to year but as a rule, new geothermal activity happens a couple of times a year.
What is the likelihood of this happening in any other property in the city?
Some small areas within Rotorua are more susceptible to this type of activity because of their location within the geothermal field. These types of incidents are relatively rare and in most cases, there would be some type of warning such as heat, gas or vegetation dying.
Are any other houses in danger of this happening to them? Where?
No, not that we are aware of.
Has there been an increase in geothermal activity in the city in the past year?
No, not that we have noticed. GNS Science carry out geothermal monitoring twice a year and would notify Council of any changes.
