Time ticking on polluted sites

The Waitaki District Council is in a race against time and tide to tackle three contaminated sites.

The council is consulting with the public about its plans for dealing with two illegal dumping sites on Beach Rd as well as the Hampden Closed Landfill.

Rubbish from all three sites has washed out on to the beach and council staff have only until 2027 to transfer 30,000cu m of contaminated material to the Palmerston Landfill.

WDC solid waste manager Steve Clarke said removing the waste was important because coastal erosion was an issue throughout the country, including Waitaki.

‘‘We have conducted geological surveys and know that we are facing coastal erosion,’’ Mr Clarke said.

‘‘This, coupled with the fact that the Palmerston Landfill consent expires in August, 2027, means we need to act now and help avoid an environmental issue.’’

The Beach Rd landfills are two historic landfills that were never specifically opened or approved by council.

About 3km south of Oamaru, it is thought that the landfills were in “operation” from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The unofficial landfill areas were investigated and partially remediated in 2017, after complaints by locals about rubbish washing out of the cliff face on to the beach.

Following the complaints, about 60,000 tonnes of waste material was removed to Oamaru and the areas were closed.

Illegal dumping, fly-tipping, is still prevalent today.

The Hampden Closed Landfill is a former municipal solid waste landfill that was in operation from 1970 until 1996. In that time, it received around 30,000cu m of waste.

The Hampden landfill has also been subject to coastal erosion exposing previously buried waste, with some waste washing out on to the beach.

The council carried out some remedial work to prevent any further exposure of waste and contamination of the beach. In 2009, a total of 5090cu m of compacted waste was transferred to the Palmerston Landfill.

All three sites are in danger of slipping into the sea.

It is estimated there is about 25,000cu m to be removed from the Hampden site and about 5000cu m from the two Beach Rd sites.

The council plans to move the rubbish to the Palmerston landfill but only has four years to get it done.

Palmerston landfill consents expire in August, 2027.

After that date, the nearest landfill that would receive the waste is the AB Lime Landfill, in Winton, Southland. The WDC has been given approval from the Otago Regional Council to remove the waste to Palmerston Landfill.

The Project Reclaim team is holding four local questionand-answer sessions about the plan and more information can be found at www.projectreclaim.co.nz.

The meetings are at Hampden Hall, Wednesday, March 29 from 5pm; Palmerston Community Centre, Thursday, March 30, from 5pm; Kakanui Community Centre, Tuesday, April 4, from 5pm and, Oamaru Opera House, Wednesday, April 5, from 5pm.