The Whakatāne District Council’s Hearings Committee has appointed three highly-experienced commissioners to hear land use consent applications for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Kopeopeo Canal remediation project.
The land use consents are amongst a number of Resource Consents lodged by the Regional Council to allow the removal and clean-up of contaminated sediment from the canal. Funding for the project has been provided by the Ministry for the Environment. The contamination arose from the presence of PCP (pentachlorophenol) timber treatment chemicals in the surface water draining into the canal from the former NZ Forest Products sawmill (which operated from a site close to the present Bunning’s Warehouse outlet) between 1950 and 1982.
PCP is now known to have contained dioxins, which can cause cancer in humans. Recent investigations have confirmed that dioxin levels in the canal sediment are unacceptably high and if left in place, will continue to pose a risk to human health and the environment.
The commissioners appointed to hear the land use resource consent application to the Whakatāne District Council are Alan Bickers (Chairman), Nigel Mark-Brown and District Councillor Christine Chambers. They will consider the application to transport, store and remediate approximately 40,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment at sites in close proximity to the canal. This would involve the construction of three capped storage cells, where the sediment would be exposed to bioremediation processes involving fungal and enzyme treatment, which trials have shown can successfully reduce dioxin contamination to acceptable levels.
Mr Bickers is a vastly experienced and respected commissioner with a successful career background in engineering and local government management. Mr Mark-Brown has more than three decades’ experience in environmental and civil engineering, including serving as a commissioner on the Tui Mine remediation project, and is considered an expert in contaminated site remediation. Councillor Chambers is an accredited commissioner under the Resource Management Act, with a chairperson’s endorsement. She formerly chaired the Council’s Hearings Committee and has many years of experience in dealing with consent applications.
WDC General Manager Strategy and Planning, David Bewley, says the appointment of the commissioners confirms that the Council is taking every possible step to ensure that community concerns about the remediation project are considered.
“The Council is very aware that there is anxiety amongst many people that the excavation and treatment of the contaminated sediment may lead to exposure to dioxin and possible health effects,” he says. “The application includes measures which are designed to prevent any prolonged exposure and also deal with soil and groundwater effects, dust, noise, odour and traffic issues.
The commissioners will consider submissions from all parties and evaluate whether the measures proposed in the application will provide an adequate level of protection for the community.”
Mr Bickers and Mr Mark-Brown will also hear the consent application required for the canal dredging aspect of the project, on behalf of the Regional Council.
Submissions for or against the applications should be made to the Whakatāne District Council or the Bay of Plenty Regional Council by 5.00pm on Friday, 17 May 2013.