Nearly a billion liters of untreated sewage was dumped into a marine reserve and a film of toxic poo spray coated homes around Wellington’s south coast.

Strong winds and bad weather are exacerbating an already severe wildlife problem, forcing local residents to remove fecal droplets from their homes, fearing a public health risk.

“It was just a shitty show,” resident Roger Young said.

“Sorry for the pun, but I’m tired of it.”

Roger Young has lived in Houghton Bay for decades. His house is 100 meters from the coast and was still dirty from Monday’s storm.

“The swell on Monday morning was seven metres, and the sea foam was moving across Houghton Bay, Princes Bay, Lyall Bay and possibly even Island Bay, with probably contaminated faeces flowing all the way through.”

He said the windows of his home were stained with what appeared to be more than salt and sand.

Chris, a resident of Island Bay, owns a home on the Esplanade. It used to be a cream color, but despite 3 tries with the hose, a brown stain remained.

“It’s a slimy stain. If you run your fingers through it, you’ll get a brown mark of this residue. This is definitely not from the salt.”

So what is it?

“Poop,” he said.

“It’s sewage residue floating up and down the coast.

“The house has to be completely scaffolded and washed down, now threatening the health of the occupants.

“It’s completely unacceptable that we have to put up with this.”

Dr Jill McKenzie, medical officer of health at the National Public Health Agency, said the health risk from contamination from sea spray was expected to be very low.

“Insects that cause disease do not survive long on dry surfaces and quickly dilute in the environment,” she says.

“Testing of homes, vehicles, windows and soil is not currently recommended by public health as it is not considered useful in assessing health risks.”

“Bacteria are always present in the environment around us, so the best prevention is to wash and dry your hands regularly, especially before preparing or eating food and after outdoor activities.”

However, residents were not the only ones affected. Puku Paiz, a popular eatery in Lyall Bay, was also feeling the effects.

Most mornings, the windows are covered in gritty, smelly sludge, said Riley, the manager.

“The other day, when Monday’s storm hit…I couldn’t even see out the window,” Riley said.

“So I had to do it as soon as I got here in the morning, and I had to clean them. Yeah, I had to do it at least once every two days. It’s tedious.”

During the meeting, Mr Young said that Wellington Water Commissioner Nick Leggett I dragged my feet and resigned.I will leave the apology unsaid.

“Could this happen in 2026? And how could we think that Nick Leggett, the director of Wellington Water, is going to resign and walk away from this issue?” Young said.

“People need to be held accountable, and those in charge need to take it seriously.”

Young said her son was left without water for several months and broke down in tears.

“I started crying too. I’m going to hell. This is our backyard and this happened.”

Chris said he plans to charge Wellington Water for his time washing his home if toxic sea spray continues to plague the coast.

The alternative was a quote of $900 to have it professionally cleaned.

“Perhaps the chief executive might want to get up from his comfortable chair and come and see what’s really going on around the district,” he said.

“I’m really angry.”

Wellington Water did not yet know the cause. More points failure And how long will the plant be shut down?

They were not sampling on private land, but instead are sampling the ocean around Wellington’s south coast to understand the local impact of the More Point spill. It was the role of the National Public Health Agency to assess whether environmental conditions posed a public health risk and provide health advice where appropriate.

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