Grey council asks Ministry to investigate dump above water supply

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Lois Williams:

The Grey District Council has asked the Ministry for the Environment to investigate the process that led to a company being given consents for a private dump directly above the Greymouth water treatment plant.

Mayor Tania Gibson says her council is not satisfied the Taylorville Resource Park landfill is safe and has not been able to resolve the issue of how consents were granted, by the West Coast Regional Council.

Neither the council nor the dump’s neighbours, nor local iwi were consulted when the WCRC consented to the dumping of demolition and construction waste on private land at Coal Creek.

The company – whose directors are also directors of Timaru-based Paul Smith Earthmoving - was served with an abatement notice in March by the Environmental Protection Authority, after tests showed an unlined sediment pond was leaching contaminated water.

That notice was lifted this month after the company complied with orders to empty the pond and build a new lined one.

But Grey District mayor Tania Gibson says that does not go far enough.

“We believe the landfill should never have been consented for this sort of waste in the first place; who builds a dump ab ove a water supply these days? We’re unhappy that we weren’t considered an affected party and we’ve written to the Ministry for the Environment asking them to look into how that was allowed to happen.”

Her council had also written to the Ministry of Health alerting it to the potential hazard it believes the dump poses to public health.

“We all learned from Havelock North’s experience and we want to make sure the risks are known to the authorities – in case there’s a major landslide or earthquake and contaminated material comes down, and enters the water supply.”

The regional council had declined to give her council information about the investigation and monitoring process, citing legal advice, Mrs Gibson said.

“It’s been very frustrating when one council won’t share information with another - they asked us not to go to the Ministry, but they’ve left us no option."

Both the WCRC and Taylorville Resource Park Ltd. have been approached for comment.

*LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.