Tom McDowall's vermicast farm, Ecocast, processes solid waste and sludge from council wastewater systems throughout the Bay of Plenty. Photo: LDR / Troy Baker
Independent commissioner Gina Sweetman heard about "nauseating odours" endured by logging yard employees near the Kawerau worm farm over the past 10 years, at a hearing on Tuesday.
The hearing, held at Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Whakatāne office, was to hear submissions and reports on Ecocast's application for resource consents from the regional council and Whakatāne District Council to expand its worm farm operation on the outskirts of Kawerau.
The worm farm has been operating since 2008, but increased the amount of biosolids it received from council wastewater plants as it took on waste from more Bay of Plenty councils, including Rotorua in 2011 and Tauranga in 2022.
The applicant, Ecocast owner Tom McDowall, said it took approximately one year from the time the raw material arrived on site until it was able to leave as fertiliser used in the horticulture industry.
He said the expansion of the site would increase the amount of land to a greater degree than the volume of raw material received, and would allow operating practices that would significantly decrease odours.
Manulife Forest Management environment manager Sally Strang spoke to her submission on the effects of the vermicast business on workers at the neighbouring log yard.
"The objectionable nature of these odours ranges from very unpleasant to nauseating and unbearable."
The frequency of the odours was variable.
"Several weeks can pass with no issues, but on other occasions the odour has occurred daily."
Attending the hearing with Strang was Kajavala Forestry owner Jacob Kajavala who has 25 staff working at Manulife's Kawerau Processing Yard, and one of those employees, mechanic Winton Thompson.
Kajavala said when the odours became severe, they found it more useful to communicate with Ecocast directly rather than make a complaint to the regional council because by the time someone from the council arrived on site, the smell had often dissipated.
"Unfortunately, this meant there was no record of complaints to the council," he said.
To give a sense of the frequency of issues and level of impact and frustration it caused, example screen shots from Thompson's phone were provided to Sweetman.
The texts revealed smells so bad that staff weren't able to eat during their breaks. It would linger inside buildings and vehicles.
Strang's original submission asked the commissioner to decline the submission. Since then, she and Kajavala had met with Ecocast staff who took them on a site visit, showing them proposed changes to biosolids deliveries to a bunker further from the log yard.
They were shown that covering the raw materials with wood chip immediately after it was unloaded from the trucks significantly reduced the odour.
"Which then gave me the impression that the odours in the past had been just because of them not having good work processes that ensure the solids that are dropped off are covered immediately - not five minutes or half an hour later."
She seeks consent conditions that ensure this happens all the time.
Kajavala said he was amazed on visiting the site to experience the effectiveness of mixing human waste with bark.
"You could still smell it, but it wasn't the stomach-churning, nauseating, throw-up sort of stuff.
"We want that operation to work. It's a good thing for the community if it works well, but it tramples our mana when we're trying to have lunch, and we can't."
Ngāti Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust kaumatua were unable to attend the hearing but trustee Sandie Rota and former trustee, Kawerau mayor Faylene Tunui, spoke on their behalf to support the iwi request for cultural consideration.
She said the conversation with Ecocast at which the iwi first shared its concerns had been four years ago.
The main concern of the iwi had been with blood, which was considered tapu, being present in human waste being trucked into the rohe from other areas.
"Our kuia had real concerns that the tension is that the western science and Māori maatanga do not always meet in the middle.
"One size does not fit all in te ao Māori and there is some location specific practices that need to be respected and understood a little bit more.
Tunui said there was a willingness among the settlement trust to meet with Ecotrust to discuss a way forward.
"I would just ask, commissioner, that it is resourced appropriately."
After some private discussion during an adjornment, Ecocast's lead planner Simon Banks expressed the company's commitment to better operational practices to reduce odour, on granting of the consent, and willingness to carry out and pay for cultural induction training for employees under the guidance of the settlement trust.
Sweetman said once she had made a decision on the next steps she would let all the parties know in writing.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.