Landfill waste still seeping into river
Officials are still considering how to stop waste flowing down the Rangitı¯kei River, more than 18 months after its path cut into a historic landfill.
Contractors diverted the river as a temporary measure last year, however those efforts failed and the district council is now scrambling to find amore permanent solution.
The Putorino landfill was commissioned under the former Rangitı¯kei County Council, which ceased to exist in 1989.
The river altered its path following significant rainfall in 2018, scouring the riverbank and exposing the landfill.
Rangitı¯kei mayor Andywatson said the council would discuss some solutions, costing between $1m and $2m, at its upcoming meeting next month.
One of the recommended options is to use a digger to excavate the landfill and sort the contents on site.
This would be considerably cheaper than transporting the entire contents to another landfill, such as Bonny Glen.
Amobile crusher could be used to break down any large construction matter, such as concrete.
Another approach would be to erect a barrier on the river bank to prevent further erosion, should the river change its course again.
The council’s insurance does not cover such an event.
Watson said an investigation into the landfill found its contents were mostly benign, consisting of construction material and only a ‘‘small amount’’ of household rubbish. ‘‘It’s not filled with plastic,’’ Watson said.
Horizons Regional Council agreed it would handle the resource consents and initial cost to divert the river, but the district council must now do the same for the landfill.
Watson said work wouldn’t begin until summer, when the river flow is limited.
‘‘I can’t envisage it taking months and months.
‘‘A digger chews through a fair amount of land pretty quickly.
‘‘There might be amix of solutions.’’ A council report states the landfill was used by the Jim Bull Potato Company factory in Rata, and subsequently taken over in 1984 bywatties Foods.
The report also stated an investigation was in progress to identify other old landfill sites in the district, which were not formally managed as closed landfills.
It would then be determined what action was needed tominimise the risk to the surrounding environment.