After two years of campaigning, a community group opposed to the development of a large landfill in north Auckland has finally had its case officially heard.
Dome Valley Photo: The Wireless / Luke McPake
The group 'Fight the Tip, Save the Dome' led by Michelle Carmichael, put forward its opposition at a resource consent hearing in Warkworth on Friday afternoon.
They spoke in front of five independent commissioners, a panel charged by the Auckland Council with hearing the screeds of evidence and submissions into the controversial business of where Auckland sends its waste.
Years of work has gone into research and campaigning by a group intent on stopping a mega-landfill being built on the northern outskirts of Auckland.
"It is a huge day, absolutely," Carmichael said. "It's like the beginning of the end, hopefully."
Those driving on State Highway 1 north of Auckland may have seen hand-painted hoardings urging people to oppose the project.
The 60 hectare landfill would be run by Waste Management, which is majority owned by the government of China and required Overseas Investment Office approval to buy the site in the Wayby Valley area. It would eventually take half of Auckland's rubbish starting no earlier than 2026.
A major concern is the effect on the environment if the landfill breaches or leaks, and its proximity to the Hoteo River, which feeds the Kaipara Harbour.
Carmichael accepted a landfill has to go somewhere and said their opposition is not a NIMBY thing but was based on evidence.
"We have a waste expert, an environmental scientist, we have a geologist and an ecologist... You've got to look at the groups that have presented as well - the Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird, Auckland Council, their whole range of experts that have come through. There's a lot of scientific evidence that is contrary to what Waste Management is saying," Carmichael said.
So what is Waste Management saying?
For a start - Auckland's throwing more and more in the bin, so a new landfill somewhere is unavoidable.
They say modern, engineered landfills are nothing like the old-style dumps; these ones are safe, hi-tech and protect the environment.
Its general manager for sustainability, Marsha Cadman, said potential sites were extensively scoped, and this site ticked all the boxes.
It's high up in a valley to reduce flooding risk, a kilometre from the nearest neighbour, with good access to roads and minimal risk to waterways.
"We have heard loud and clear the concerns around the Kaipara Harbour. We want to reassure people that this landfill is going to be 35 kilometres in distance away from the Kaipara Harbour. It's hard to imagine an event that would cause the landfill to impact the water in the harbour," Cadman said.
The company claimed it'd even capture almost all of the methane gas produced and turn it into energy.
In terms of any leakage, Cadman said the landfill's natural and synthetic linings were two metres thick.
A hikoi opposing the landfill was held in Auckland in July Photo: RNZ / Jogai Bhatt
"So there's a large amount of lining that we put in to make sure there's protection over protection over protection in case any one of those layers of that lining system would fail."
The lining will have pipes within it to pick up any of the landfill's leachate - or "rubbish juice", colloquially.
Fight the Tip's advisor, environmental scientist Rochelle Rodgers, doesn't doubt Waste Management would try do right, but said the worry was the unforeseen and unplannable, and what that could do to a sensitive marine environment.
"Significant locations nearby, significant species, significant sources of things - it's just not worth the risk. There has to be better locations," Rodgers said.
The panel of commissioners has now heard all external parties, and will possibly hear from Auckland Council.
It'll then consider the evidence given, before returning its view on the Auckland Regional Landfill next year.
"We cannot just keep making decisions that put our future generations' environment at risk," Carmichael said.
"There's too much opposition against it across the board, from iwi to government level to community level. If it gets approved there is something seriously wrong with the system."