DCC urged to clean up old landfill site

Dunedin resident Fred Burton (93), who used to scavenge parts from the old landfill now buried under Kettle Park, says it is an historic mess that needs to be cleaned up. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

Fred Burton contacted the Otago Daily Times to share his memories of the old tip, as concern continued over the "eco-disaster" of rubbish from an old landfill contaminating West Coast beaches.

It emerged last week the Otago Regional Council had identified more than 250 historic closed landfill sites across Otago - including more than 50 in Dunedin - but could not say for sure if others were yet to be discovered.

Of those found, 27 were within 200m of the coastline and 63 within 20m of a waterway, the ORC said.

That included the historic dump buried under Kettle Park, either side of Moana Rua Rd, which had operated from the early 1900s until it was capped and largely forgotten about in the 1940s.

That was until significant coastal erosion in 2007 exposed the toe of the landfill, leading to tests which found traces of arsenic, asbestos and other industrial chemicals in nearby sand dunes.

On Friday, Mr Burton said he still had vivid memories of the old dump, which he and his brothers used to sneak into after hours to hunt for old wheels for their trolleys.

Mr Burton said the dump was piled "20-foot high or more" with commercial, industrial and household waste, as well as ash that would regularly start fires.

"It was absolutely shocking. They never seemed to worry about putting it out."

But the worst material dumped there was a fibrous, gooey layer of old plasterboard containing asbestos, which appeared solid until stepped on.

"One time we thought it was solid and we walked on it. We had this goo right up to our knees and we had to hop over the sandhills to the sea."

The Dunedin City Council had responded to the discovery of contaminated sand dunes in the area in 2010 by introducing a new Ocean Beach management plan.

The plan aimed to guard against further erosion, but also outlined multimillion-dollar options - from a buried backstop wall to a clean-up and managed retreat - if required.

Mr Burton believed the old landfill represented "a big problem" and the council should not wait.

"I think we're going to be in big trouble. If it does burst open, St Kilda and St Clair beaches are going to be in a mess.

"Personally, I think they have to bite the bullet and try to clean the mess up before it bursts through."

DCC infrastructure committee chairwoman Cr Kate Wilson has said last week the presence of the dump - coupled with recent events on the West Coast - made her "very nervous", despite council staff having "a lot of eyes" on the site.

Council city services general manager Sandy Graham said there had been no change at the site since 2010, but it could be threatened by a "very strong" storm surge.

The DCC was monitoring the site and there was funding budgeted to manage erosion in the area, including at the landfill site.

However, it appeared not all old landfills were being watched as closely.

ORC senior environmental officer Simon Beardmore said landfills closed since 1991 needed consents for discharges, had to be routinely inspected by the consent holder - usually a council - and audited by ORC staff.

However, landfills that ceased operating before 1991 "do not typically require consent", and "most of these sites are not routinely inspected unless a significant risk has been identified".

Every landfill site the ORC was aware of was recorded on the council's HAIL register for hazardous sites.

And, since the early 2000s, an ORC project had identified 256 historic landfill sites across Otago, which had been recorded on the HAIL register and the need for further intervention assessed.

"We are confident that our concerted effort in the last two decades has identified all major historic landfill sites, but it is possible that undocumented informal sites exist within the region."