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Update 13 September 2019

Auckland-Regional-Landfill-Latest-Update

This month we can update on ongoing environmental monitoring at the proposed site, as well as completion of the Human Health Risk Assessment.

What’s happening on site?

To develop a thorough understanding of the environment at the proposed site, baseline data is being regularly collected by a range of experts.

This includes an ecologist who captures seasonal variations, as well as a team who monitor groundwater and surface water.

All the data collected will make up the baseline for the rigorous environmental monitoring Waste Management will carry out if the landfill goes ahead.

Human Health Risk Assessment

Auckland Council requested that a separate Human Health Risk Assessment be collated from expert reports as part of the Auckland Regional Landfill resource consent process. This report has now been completed by environmental and engineering consultancy company Tonkin & Taylor and is available to the
public.

The purpose of this independent assessment is to evaluate any potential risks to human health from any possible exposure to leachate and landfill gas, regardless of how unlikely that may be.

Tonkin & Taylor has found that, using a conservative screening approach, there would be no unacceptable hazards or risks to human health.

Factors that have been considered include:

  • Inhalation of airborne contaminants
  • Ingestion of drinking water supplied from nearby roof collected water
  • Use of water from the nearest farm bore to the landfill itself, which is on a neighbouring property, for stock watering and to irrigate a vegetable garden
  • Harvesting and consumption of wild eels, fish and watercress from nearby streams, including immediately downstream of the landfill
  • Ingesting water from nearby streams or the Hoteo River
  • Eating beef or drinking cow milk from grazing animals on the nearest farm to the landfill, which is
  • Springhill farm within Waste Management’s land.

The report notes that, as eating eels caught in streams closest to the landfill have been assessed and considered to be safe, consuming fish in the Hoteo River and Kaipara Harbour would therefore also be safe by a significantly greater margin.

To view a copy of the entire report, contact Warwick Pascoe, Principal Project Lead at Auckland Council, by email at warwick.pascoe@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or you can view the report along with the other resource consent documentation at these locations:

Auckland CBD: Graham Street Service Centre, 35 Graham St, Auckland
Warkworth: Warkworth Service Centre, 1 Baxter St
Wellsford: Wellsford War Memorial Library, 13 Port Albert Rd
Orewa: Orewa Service Centre, 50 Centreway Rd

ARL website
We welcome you to contact us with any question that may not be included in the FAQ section on
arl@wastemanagement.co.nz or 0800 927 837.

Consultation is continuing

We are continuing to consult with iwi and the community, answering questions and hearing feedback on the proposal. This includes hosting visits to our Redvale Landfill and Energy Park to help explain how a modern landfill operates.

If you have any feedback or questions, or would like to know more about the proposed landfill, please contact our team on arl@wastemanagement.co.nz or 0800 927 837.