Officials to assess land contamination
With more decomposing nappies surfacing on top of pools of sludge, Lucy Hogan awaits a visit from authorities to assess her land’s contamination.
Hogan’s dream of building a childhood wonderland with an animalpetting area, a fairy woodland walk and a hedge maze remains in ruins after she bought her dream property in January.
The land near Yaldhurst had been a Winstone Aggregates quarry, and the paddock had been remediated with cleanfill and was signed off by Environment Canterbury (ECan) in May last year.
However, Hogan’s future now looks uncertain as the earth has started to slowly cough up all kinds of decaying debris over recent months, including more nappies this week.
After The Press revealed the extent of the contamination, ECan and the Christchurch City Council confirmed they would visit the site next week.
ECan Christchurch West Melton zone delivery lead Ruth Sarson said staff would investigate the ‘‘nature’’ of the possible contamination, but they could not make any determination until sample results from the site were returned. She said they would work with Hogan and the city council throughout the process.
A council spokesperson said compliance and planning officers would visit Hogan’s property because they had received a complaint about the site’s rehabilitation. The spokesperson said the council would engage directly with the property owner about its findings.
Hogan said she had been ‘‘screwed over’’ and wanted ECan to fix the problem as her property was now worthless. She believed the quarry rehabilitation should never have been signed off as the cleanfill that was used did not meet required specifications, nor did the land use meet city council policy.
The council said the application went through a notified resource consent process and independent commissioners granted application with several conditions.
Local resident Davina Powell has asked ECan to put a moratorium on all consents and applications for quarrying until Hogan’s property had been fully investigated and remediated. She wanted the site to be monitored for five years to ensure the rehabilitation was viable and sustainable, and wanted all operating quarry sites in the area to be audited.
‘‘Can you imagine what will happen if we have hundreds with this level of cleanfill, potentially quarrying into the aquifer. It’s a ticking time bomb.’’
Powell had approached Waipuna/ Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton community board chairman Mike Mora to take her requests to the council.