Tyre heap creating fire hazard
Fire chiefs are investigating a huge stockpile of tyres in the Hauraki Plains, after fears were raised the stack could pose a major environmental threat.
The tyre yard at Kerepehi, southeast of Ngatea, is managed by Waste Management which claims to be able to shred and process up to 30 tonnes of tyres a day at the site.
Fire and Emergency staff visited the stockpile – tipped as one of the largest in the country – earlier this month and will pass on their findings to the Waikato Regional Council.
Documents seen by Stuff reveal regional council staff are carrying out their own inquiries and will use the Fire and Emergency report to decide if they can serve an abatement notice on the operators.
Waste Management staff did not respond to requests for comment.
A tyre industry source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the scale of Waste Management’s stockpile had shocked other tyre recyclers.
He questioned whether the company had the capacity to recycle such large volumes of tyres.
According to the Companies Office website, Waste Management is owned by Beijing Capital Group – a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
Another source said about 2000 tyres were delivered to the site each day. Some days it can be as many as 4000 tyres.
Waikato Regional councillor Stu Husband said the size of the Kerepehi stockpile was alarming.
Husband, a former firefighter, said Waste Management had to move quickly to assure the public the site was safe and the tyres weren’t at risk of catching fire.
‘‘As an ex-firefighter I’d say the fire hazard associated with these tyres is enormous.
‘‘If they did catch fire, the environmental impact would be just terrible,’’ he said.
Waikato fire area commander Roy Breeze said tyres were an ongoing problem.
He wasn’t able to comment on the Kerepehi tyre yard but said the biggest frustration was that tyres kept appearing.
‘‘You issue an abatement notice and the problem is just moved around. They keep turning up.’’
Breeze said tyre yards were checked to see if they have enough fire fighting equipment.
It was possible for decomposing tyres to self-combust but the main issue was a fire would be near impossible to stop, Breeze said.
Husband said regional councils were grappling with the migration and stockpiling of used tyres.
Waste Management has told the regional council it planned to shut down the Kerepehi operation by June next year. It was setting up another plant in Auckland, which should be operational by the end of this year.
There are no specific regional or national rules managing largescale used tyre sites.
New Zealand generates 4 million used tyres a year according to Environment Ministry numbers.