The gravel bank edge of the Taylorville Resource Park site towering above rural-residential properties below is obvious, as seen in this view looking east along Taylorville Road, at Coal Creek just east of Greymouth. Photo: Supplied / Greymouth Star
The troubled Taylorville Resource Park site remains under the shadow of an investigation, although WorkSafe has returned the site to the operator -- under notice.
It follows an incident on 3 August when two workers were overcome by noxious gas while working on the private landfill on August.
One man was rushed to Christchurch Hospital in a serious condition while another worker, who managed to raise the alarm, was taken to Te Nikau Greymouth Hospital.
WorkSafe head of specialist interventions Dr Catherine Gardner said the site had been returned to the operator later in August, following the incident, under a series of enforcement notices relating to worker health and safety.
"This included three prohibition notices requiring appropriate safety measures to be in place before the pit excavation could continue," she said.
WorkSafe had also issued Taylorville Resource Park one prohibition notice and two improvement notices, relating to risk management "and edge protection across the site".
All the notices were complied with by September, Gardner said.
However, what led to the August 3 incident was still the subject of a broad inquiry and WorkSafe had yet to determine "enforcement action".
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
"WorkSafe's broader investigation is ongoing into the circumstances of the incident," Dr Gardner said.
This included investigating the operator's policies and procedures.
Gardner said WorkSafe has up to 12 months to file charges if there was "an identifiable reason" to prosecute.
"Our investigations usually span the length of this time to ensure all relevant information has been collected and all possible enforcement actions have been explored."
The West Coast Regional Council discussed the landfill behind closed doors during its 10 October meeting.
Chief executive Darryl Lew declined to comment about it following the meeting.
The closed-door discussion was four days after the latest odour abatement extension period expired. The council had granted an extension to 6 October following an application by Taylorville Resource Park.
An earlier extension granted by council, which ended on September 29, recognised the site had been under a WorkSafe investigation following the 3 August workplace incident.
Taylorville Resource Park representative Ray Singer said the relationship with council was good, but declined to comment further, only saying, "you don't tell the truth" before terminating the call.
- Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air