Greymouth dump cleared but mayor fears disaster
By local democracy reporter Lois Williams,
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has lifted the abatement notice it served on the owners of a private dump near Greymouth, saying it now meets national standards for a landfill.
But Grey mayor Tania Gibson says the Taylorville Resource Park – sited directly above the intake for Greymouth’s water supply - is still a disaster waiting to happen and should be closed.
“If there’s a major slip or an earthquake - it doesn’t bear thinking about what would happen. The enormity of this keeps being played down,” she said.
EPA investigators issued an abatement notice on the dump’s owners after they found it was leaching contaminated water from an unlined sediment pond.
The authority was asked by the West Coast Regional Council to step in as an independent investigator after the Grey District Council challenged the WCRC’s handling of resource consents for hazardous waste at the site.
The EPA’s investigations manager, Jackie Adams, said the extensive work needed to bring the landfill up to national standards has now been done.
“[Taylorville Resource Park] had to empty the existing pond and build a new, lined storage facility.
“This has now been completed and recent water samples taken from the area show that contaminated water is no longer being discharged from the site.”
The EPA’s investigation was now concluded and its intervention was at an end, Adams said.
“Ongoing regulation and monitoring of the site remain the responsibility of the regional council."
But Gibson said her council was a long way from being convinced the Taylorville site is safe.
Although the Grey District council had issued the original subdivision consents for the landfill, it had not been informed when the Regional Council had consented it for hazardous waste, the mayor said.
“We were not considered an affected party – unbelievable. We’ve got tonnes of toxic material - building materials, coal tar, paint, sitting directly above our public water intake that supplies 10,500 people, schools, hospitals."
The Grey District Council would continue paying for additional independent tests of its water which came from a bore at the Taylorville site above the Grey River, Gibson said.
So far tests had not found unsafe levels of any potentially harmful substances in the town’s water.
“But we will keep paying for tests – if anything happens we want to be able to say as a council that we did everything we could to prevent it.”
Taylorville Resource Park has been approached for comment.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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48.5% Yes
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49.6% No
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2% Other - I'll share below
Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
www.humansofchch.org......
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