An aerial view of Taylorville Resource Park looking east, with the Grey River in the background and the Greymouth townwater supply treatment plant site immediately to the right of the landfill site. Photo: Supplied / Greymouth Star
The Grey District Council wants a private landfill urgently shut down after it was found to be leaching contaminants into nearby land.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has carried out an investigation into the Taylorville Resource Park (TRC), near Greymouth, after a number of concerns were raised over the last 12 months.
EPA investigations manager Jackie Adams said the investigation found an unlined sediment pond was discharging contaminated water.
The EPA has issued the TRC with an abatement notice, giving it three months to complete work to ensure the landfill meets the required environmental standards. It said that failure to do so could result in further enforcement action under the Resource Management Act.
Adams said under the abatement notice, TRP must empty the existing pond and redirect the water to a new authorised storage facility or to an authorised facility off-site.
She said the work must be completed in three months, and the EPA would work closely with TRP to ensure the conditions of the abatement notice are met.
Grey District Mayor Tania Gibson said the landfill posed a risk to the district's infrastructure and the Grey River, as it sat above the Grey District water plant and Grey River.
"We are very concerned about the risk posed by the leakage from containment structures that are set in gravels with high water movement. We've not had any reassurance around how the site will stand up to prolonged heavy rainfall or natural events, such as earthquakes."
Gibson said the council welcomed the EPA's findings and strongly called on the regional council to revoke all consents and begin remediation work immediately.
The West Coast Regional Council has been contacted for comment. TRP said it had no comment on the EPA abatement notice.