Anger at inaction on sawdust risk
A former Nelson councillor says the council needs to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to environmental management, as exposed sawdust is left to enter the beach and water.
Bill Dahlberg has raised concerns about the management of the Tāhunanui Beach due to historic sawdust deposits being washed into the estuary, but the council says the sawdust is not considered a pollutant.
Dahlberg said in his time on the Nelson City Council a decision had been made, via documents like the Long-Term Plan and the Waimea Inlet Action Plan, to prevent further environmental degradation and improve the estuary, but allowing exposed sawdust to spread from the back beach into the environment unchecked was not upholding those intentions.
He said the Waimea Inlet Action Plan, which was developed with both the city council, Tasman District Council and with local iwi, was ‘‘very forward-looking and proactive’’, but the lack of action on the sawdust belied its intentions.
‘‘We emphasised, apart from cleaning up what’s already there, not adding any more environmental waste. For the council to have sawdust and forestry slash deposited by them in the ’60s still able to float round in clusters . . . they wouldn’t allow a forestry group to get away with it.’’
He said given the council’s apparent commitment to climate change and environmentalism, more needed to be done. ‘‘I’m under no illusion that to correct this is a large amount of work, but reversing environmental damage and climate change is a challenge, and it’s great to talk about it but I think most of us want to see action.’’
However, council group manager of community services Andrew White said the council’s ‘‘current understanding’’ was that sawdust was not considered a pollutant to the beach or inlet and it would break down naturally over time, though the council would be ‘‘regularly testing for contaminants’’.
‘‘At this stage we have no reason to believe that any buried material is contaminated, but we believe ongoing monitoring is prudent,’’ he said.
White said the situation was ‘‘a very
‘‘It is also not practical to cover the sawdust as this is an eroding area and anything that we cover the sawdust with will also be washed away.’’
Andrew White Nelson City Council
different scenario to forestry sedimentation’’.
‘‘[Sedimentation] can damage the natural environment due to the variety and size of natural matter, including branches and logs that can alter the flow of waterways, reduce water depths, degrade water quality and disrupt the natural food chain in a waterway,’’ he said.
The council was taking a ‘‘managed retreat option’’ for the Tāhunanui back beach, where the Blind Channel had been slowly reverting to its former course since it was diverted in the late 19th century. ‘‘We have made a decision to not remove the sawdust being exposed near the sealed Back Beach Car Park, as to do so would hasten the erosion of this section of beach,’’ White said.
‘‘It is also not practical to cover the sawdust as this is an eroding area and anything that we cover the sawdust with will also be washed away.’’
He said the council was ‘‘managing the infrastructure retirement and vegetation clearance’’ to minimise hazards falling onto the beach, and the beach was regularly cleaned to remove asphalt which broke off the car parks.