Govt allocates millions to clean up contaminated landfills

Four historical landfill and dump sites vulnerable to extreme weather events and coastal erosion will be cleaned up after the Government announced a $6.6m grant.

The dumps are located in Southland, Canterbury, Nelson, and Tairawhiti, with the vast majority of funding going to the former Tokomaru Bay landfill which was heavily damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.

But as the Government commits money to these clean-up projects, environmentalists warn that plans to push fast-track legislation through could lead to even bigger clean ups.

Environment Minister Penny Simmonds told the Bluegreen forum in Paihia today that the work had to be done prior to anything “disastrous” happening.

“This funding will address the risk of the sites being breached by a natural event, exposing waste material and contaminating the surrounding land and waterways.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that he believes being greener and wealthier as a country aren’t matters where we have to choose one or the other.

“Prosperity and environmental responsibility are mates.”

Critics are not confident in this Government’s environmental approach.

Of particular concern is plans to push through a fast-track consents bill designed to help major infrastructure projects get underway quicker.

Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor said that the coalition Government’s policies represented a “war on the environment”.

“It will be giving developers the opportunity to lobby ministers for their pet projects, and that raises a whole lot of questions about transparency and conflicts of interest.”

Forest & Bird group manager conservation advocacy Richard Capie said that the Government was “going backwards” on environmental policies.

“It’s a real concern, we know the fast-track consenting process is now looking at hundreds of projects, ministers will approve without giving locals any say in what’s going on.”

He fears the new legislation could lead to even bigger clean-ups.

“We’ve made some serious mistakes and we don’t need to look too far to see horrific consequences.”