Source consent for the contentious storage of hazardous ouvea premix fertiliser in Mataura has been granted - but just for two years, and includes provision of a $2.3million bond.
In a statement by applicant Taha Asia Pacific Ltd yesterday, its head of operations, Robert Vesper, said independent commissioners Colin Weatherall and David Pullar had found the effects of storage would be ''minor or less'', and the Gore District Council subsequently granted the conditional consent for two years.
Mr Vesper said the conditions included a $2.3million bond, on which Taha was ''taking advice''.
In February, Taha abandoned plans to manufacture fertiliser in the former Carter Holt Harvey paper mill at Mataura and apologised to residents for not seeking resource consent to store premix there.
It sought retrospective resource consent, for storage.
Mataura and Edendale residents had strongly opposed the activities of Bahrain-based company Taha, while about 60 Kennington residents expressed similar concerns about storing Ouvea premix there.
Of the total 64 submissions received, 62 were opposed.
Mr Vesper said yesterday Taha was ''serious'' about developing its operation responsibly and had changed company structure, processes and personnel to do so.
''Regrettably, we made mistakes earlier and are working to make amends,'' he said.
He said the two-year restriction ensured the exposure of Ouvea Premix to the risk of flooding was ''limited''.
Last year, Environment Southland ordered Taha to remove material which could have been aluminium dross or premix from a site near Edendale, which was being used without consent.
In April, the Environment Court issued an enforcement order requiring the company to pay $30,745 to Environment Southland towards costs of investigating and cleaning up premix stored in a gravel extraction pit at Coal Pit Rd, Edendale.
Mr Vesper yesterday said Taha's hot dross recycling process was a ''benchmark'' for environmentally sound processing in the aluminium sector, and the company had been processing it for a decade.
The recycling process extracted ''every last trace'' of aluminium and the metal was returned to Tiwai.
''Ouvea premix is the material that remains following the dross processing and can be used for fertiliser,'' Mr Vesper said.
Last month, Taha lodged an application with the Invercargill City Council to subdivide 1ha of land in Colyer Rd, within the council-owned Awarua Industrial Park, and develop the site.
It intends to buy the land and has entered into a sale and purchase agreement, consent documents said. In 2011, Taha built a multimillion-dollar plant at the Tiwai smelter to process dross.
Ouvea premix is . . .
• Powder or granules left over from processing aluminium dross from the New Zealand Aluminium Smelters' Tiwai Point smelter, near Invercargill
• Can be further manufactured (removing all aluminium) into mineral fertiliser and has industrial uses, including as a cement, asphalt or paint additive
• Is a hazardous substance. Classified Class 6 poisonous substance under the Invercargill city district plan, it poses a threat to human health if incorrectly stored or used
• Gives off a strong smell of ammonia if mixed with water
• Environment Southland concerned premix could damage waterways or underground aquifers if incorrectly stored.
