Media Response: Newshub

Answers to questions:

1. Locals want to know "Are you going to put the environment ahead of
profit?"
Auckland needs a new landfill.
Waste Management conducted a detailed search for a site for a new landfill for
Auckland, which considered a range of factors. In particular, avoiding as far as
possible, any known areas of cultural significance, sensitive environmental and
ecological areas and areas of native bush.
Waste Management identified the site in Wayby Valley after weighing up all these
factors.

2. What is your response to the community protests and efforts to stop the
landfill in their area?
We respect the rights of all New Zealanders to expressing their views, safely.
We have engaged widely with the local community including iwi since we
announced our proposal last September to explain and answer questions about
our proposal.

This has included four open days, with more than 200 people in attendance.
We have been pleased to engage with iwi, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Rango,
Ngā Maunga Whakahii, Te Uri o Hau and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, as well
as presenting to a range of people at various local community groups.
Our dedicated Auckland Regional Landfill website pages have had approximately
6,000 page views and more than 60 people have signed up to our email updates.
Finally, we have also hosted several iwi and local stakeholders on tours of our
Redvale Landfill and Energy Park, which is currently operational, and continue to
have ongoing discussions with them. This is ongoing today, with another
community group coming to Redvale. We have been pleased to provide a firsthand experience of a modern engineered landfill and energy park.

3. This area appears to be near a water way does that not disqualify Dome
Valley under the landfill guideline criteria?
Waste Management’s independent specialist consultants have carefully
considered the geological features of the proposed site, including the tributaries
and waterways.

Their assessments and those of other specialists in the areas of air quality,
archaeology, cultural values, leachate management, noise, engineering,
hydrogeology, traffic, landscape, visual, erosion and sedimentation, seismic,
stormwater, waste acceptance, aquatic and terrestrial ecology have been
included in Waste Management’s 2000-page Consent Application and
Assessment of Environmental Effects, lodged with Auckland Council in late May.
The proposal is to develop a highly engineered and environmentally secure
modern landfill facility in the Wayby Valley which will not be a risk to the
community.

4. Is placing a rahui on the river irrelevant?
We are aware of this but are unable to comment any further than that.

5. Will the river be protected from overflow of waste in the event of heavy
rain?
Best practice stormwater management techniques will be designed and
constructed for the landfill to mitigate potential environmental effects on the
surrounding environment.

The proposed landfill location is at the head of a catchment area. Any clean
stormwater upstream of the landfill will be diverted around the waste.
Downstream of the landfill there will be a series of stormwater management
ponds (dams) and wetlands. These will be designed to remove sediment before it
is filtered by wetlands and released to streams onsite and eventually into the
Hoteo River (approximately 3km away from the end bottom of the landfill).
We will constantly monitor the quality and volumes of stormwater and will be
required by consent to report regularly to Auckland Council.

The area covered by the proposed landfill footprint will be less than 0.25% of the
catchment for the Hoteo River.

6. If locals win...where would the rubbish go? Is it an increasingly hard task to
find a place to put a landfill?
The Dairy Flat landfill, owned by Waste Management, is known as Redvale
Landfill and Energy Park. Waste Management also part-owns Whitford Landfill
and Energy Park in a joint venture with Auckland Council.

Whitford opened in July 1994 and is consented to receive waste until 2041.
Waste Management consented, designed and constructed Redvale and has
operated it since it started to receive waste in 1993. It is currently consented until
2028 and is expected to stop receiving waste by then.
As Auckland continues to grow, a new landfill will be needed once Redvale stops
receiving waste.

Waste Management spent several years to conduct a detailed search for a site
for a new landfill for Auckland, which considered a range of factors. In particular,
avoiding as far as possible, any known areas of cultural significance, sensitive
environmental and ecological areas and areas of native bush.
Waste Management identified the site in Wayby Valley after weighing up all these
factors.

7. What misconceptions or miss information is circulating?
We are continuing to engage in open consultation with the community, clarifying
how the landfill will work and our proposed operations.
We are unaware of anyone intentionally spreading misinformation.

8. What is your message to the community?
With the resource consent application now lodged, there are a number of
necessary internal Council processes to be completed before the formal
consultation commences.

The 2,000 page consent document is available from Council, so the community
can have as much time as possible to review that before submissions will be
sought. We encourage the community to submit feedback through that process.
As it will be some time before that happens, we will be pleased to continue to
provide updates, respond to questions and engage with the community at
meetings or with visits to Redvale Landfill and Energy Park.

9. Anything else you would like to add?
For further background visit our website wastemanagement.co.nz/arl