Talley’s hits back over consent term
Talley’s Group is challenging some of the proposed conditions to its continued discharge into the air and sea from its Motueka complex.
The company is also steadfast in its call for a 35-year term for the suite of permits it is after.
Talley’s is seeking replacements for existing permits to discharge into the air and water and to store hazardous goods as well as a permit to occupy the coastal marine area with a discharge diffuser structure.
Tasman District Council staff have recommended Talley’s be granted consent but the recommendation comes with a raft of suggested conditions including a 15-year duration. In their report, TDC coastal/reserves consent planner Ros Squire and natural resources consents co-ordinator Leif Pigott say that subject to appropriate conditions, the discharges can be managed in a manner that does not cause significant adverse effects on the environment.
They note that ‘‘due to the establishment of the factory in this location and its expansion over time, the options for alternative solutions for the discharge of wastewater are limited’’.
Independent commissioners will decide on the application. An expected week-long hearing started yesterday, with witnesses for Talley’s presenting their evidence.
Talley’s lawyer Graeme Malone said the company did not accept a 15-year term should be imposed.
‘‘A 35-year term is necessary and appropriate to properly reflect the value of the investment represented in the complex and its likely lifespan as well as providing the necessary security to ensure its long-term viability,’’ Malone said.
In his written evidence, Talley’s Port Motueka operations manager Donald Boote says the ‘‘outdated evaporator’’ in the fishmeal plant is reaching the end of its life.
‘‘Talley’s is keen to address the issue through the acquisition of a new evaporator, but, with the high cost involved and extra costs that will be associated with ancillary equipment, construction etc, the company needs the certainty of a new consent before doing so,’’ Boote says.
The newer units cost more than $500,000 and are intended to be operational within 12 months of obtaining consent.
Boote says a proposed condition requiring Talley’s to monitor each load of offal for the fishmeal plant is ‘‘unnecessary and unduly onerous’’.
Rotting product is never used and cannot be used.
‘‘Instead, all offal is of edible quality when it leaves the fish and shellfish processing areas and, if not to be processed straight away, is chilled,’’ he says.
Another suggested condition requiring the treated wastewater temperature to be no greater than 30 degrees after the evaporator upgrade and construction of the diffusers is ‘‘unnecessary and totally unreasonable since it would stop operation of the fishmeal plant’’.
Cawthron Institute environmental scientist Ross Sneddon told the hearing he thought there may have been a ‘‘typo’’ in a proposed condition requiring that the fiveday carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand not exceed 100g per cubic metre once the evaporator had been upgraded and diffusers constructed.
Sneddon and Don Pullen, the expert in air quality for Talley’s, concluded the effects of the company’s continued operations would be ‘‘no more than minor’’ or ‘‘minor or less’’ respectively.
In his written evidence, Pullen says a significant plant upgrade is planned for next year. Tenders have been placed for the supply and installation of a new cooker and evaporator.
The hearing continues. A crack team of emergency first responders put their knowledge and skills to the test during a training session at Seifried Estate Winery.
The volunteers from Appleby Rural Fire crew, Richmond Fire Brigade and the New Zealand Response Team reacted to a mock disaster which took place at the winery on Saturday.
RT2 equipment officer and Appleby Rural Fire training officer Ken Connoth said the train- ing went ‘‘really well’’.
He created the scenario of an earthquake at 8am in the morning.
‘‘I was at work on site, and when I managed to get out of the building I smelled some gas so I got the Richmond Fire Brigade in.’’
The fire brigade opened up the building and put fans on.
After they had declared the building safe to enter, the RT2 team went in.
‘‘We raced around the building to find out where the patients were and what state they were in.
‘‘You put a tag on them, they’re either a red, yellow or green, red being the more serious.’’
Connoth said hands-on training events like these were good to do.
‘‘You can train as much as you’d like in a nice safe environment in a yard, do a first aid, but when you put the whole lot into practice, you’ll get things lined up.
‘‘You always learn from your mistakes, we do a big debrief after, how we can do things better next time.’’