An aerial view of Taylorville Resource Park, with the Greymouth town water treatment plant to the right. Photo: Supplied / Greymouth Star
The West Coast Regional Council says it is committed to resolving issues with the Taylorville Resource Park after the private landfill was found to be leaching contaminants into nearby land.
Earlier this week, the Grey District Council called on the regional council to revoke all resource consents for the Coal Creek landfill after the EPA issued it with an abatement notice.
Several issues arose at the dump in 2023, including unauthorised or unconsented discharges to air, and landfill leachate discharge to land.
As a result, the regional council stepped up monitoring of the landfill's consents.
It served an abatement notice on the landfill to stop discharge from a sediment pond beyond the consented site boundary and while considering further enforcement action, transferred the investigation to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA then issued an abatement notice for the landfill, after an investigation found an unlined sediment pond was discharging contaminated water.
But Grey District mayor Tania Gibson said the the landfill posed a risk both to the district's nearby water treatment plant and the Grey River.
She called on the regional council to revoke all consents and begin remediation work immediately.
There have been a number of complaints about the landfill, which is consented to take demolition waste and contaminated material including asbestos and coal tar.
Regional council chair Peter Haddock said the issue was a high priority and acknowledged there was significant public interest in the matter.
"We have not received any advice from our staff or the EPA that there are any potential drinking water contamination issues. However, we will continue to monitor the landfill activity closely."
Since both councils had authorised the landfill, he said they would be working together on all matters, considering possible future actions under the Resource Management Act.
The EPA abatement notice gave Taylorville Resource Park three months to comply with its requirements.