It is cleaning up the former council dump at Hampden — at risk of slipping into the sea — and two illegal fly-tipping sites just south of Oamaru.
But before the cleanup even started the council has had to spend $5.5m on a new dump cell at the Palmerston Landfill for at least 45,000 tonnes of historic rubbish.
This was to avoid carting it hundreds of kilometres out of the district.
Council solid waste manager Steve Clarke said the Project Reclaim work was essentially to avert "a potential environmental disaster".
"We’re on track to cleaning up some of the mistakes of the past, keep our coastlines safe and remind people that fly-tipping can have long-term and damaging consequences for the environment," he said yesterday.
The cost to fix the three sites — expected to be between $12m and $15m — included the Palmerston Landfill extension, with a special cell for the old rubbish.
Overall, the initiative was to "safeguard" against historic dump sites being exposed by the sea across the district, Mr Clarke said.
At the Hampden Beach site, over 35,000 tonnes of rubbish had already been dug up and carted to Palmerston.
About 45,000 tonnes of waste was expected for the project overall but it was only "a forecast" due to the unknown quantities at each site.
And the cost still hinged on the council paying about $2.5m of waste levies to the Ministry for the Environment.
"Council has made an application to have these levies waived, as the waste being deposited is not newly generated and must be removed to protect the environment."
At this point the council was shouldering the entire cost.
"There was not any funding available for landfill remediation work when this project commenced," Mr Clarke said.
At the same time, the timeframe was limited because the Palmerston dump was due to close within two years.
Mr Clarke said the Hampden fix had progressed well and should be completed later this month.
The focus would then shift to the Beach Rd sites, near Awamoa Rd.
"Unlike Hampden, these were not municipal landfill sites, but have been identified as significant historic fly-tipping sites which pose a similar threat to the coastal environment."
This week, the council approached residents and landowners south of Oamaru to advise them of the road closures for at least the next five months.
Residents would still have access but Beach Rd, south of the North Otago Golf Course, the end of Awamoa Central Rd, and from the Old Bones Lodge would be blocked off from August 19.
Road closure advisory signs would be erected from Monday.
