PART 3: SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
10.2 Contamination and Waste Issues
INDUSTRIAL,AGRICULTURAL OR URBAN EFFLUENT DISCHARGES TO WATER AND AIR
The discharge of industrial, agricultural or urban effluent can result in significant adverse effects on the receiving environment, particularly water and air. These discharges include sewage, stormwater, treated dairy shed and piggery effluent, and emissions to air, including industrial waste discharges and boiler emissions. The discharges are generally point source discharges and may give rise to adverse effects including nutrient enrichment, bacterial, particulate and chemical contamination, with reduced water or air quality and effects on aquatic ecosystems and community health.
There is a need to advocate appropriate waste minimisation and treatment processes, and cleaner process or treatment technologies. There is also a need to regulate discharges to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse contaminant effects.
Addressed by Objectives 10.1, 10.2 and Policies 10.1, 10.2, ,10.3, 10.4.
Related issues are Issues 6.4, 6.5, 7.3, 9.8, 10.2, 10.3.
Issue 10.2
AGRICULTURAL,FORESTRY AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES TO LAND
The District supports significant agricultural, forestry and fishing activities. These activities can generate large quantities of organic wastes in either solid or liquid form, that are deposited or otherwise disposed of onto land.
Examples of these discharges are bark and other wood processing waste, fish processing waste, and land application of dairy shed or piggery effluent, either untreated or treated. Some of these waste materials are accepted in landfill sites, but usually deposition or land application takes place on forest plantation land, farm land, or vacant industrial land.
Landfills are industrial sites where a variety of solid waste contaminants may be deposited on or in the ground and contamination contained to certain standards. They may range from sanitary landfills, with high containment standards, to farm tips.
The likely adverse effects of discharges to land are the covering of land together with any productive soil, as well as soil, groundwater and surface water contamination through the generation of leachate. The contaminant from such wastes may include nutrient or bacterial contamination.
As with the discharge of contaminants into water or air, there is a need to advocate appropriate waste minimisation and treatment assessment including the reuse or recycling of bulk organic wastes, use of effluent treatment systems and cleaner process or treatment technology.
Addressed by Objectives 10.1, 10.2, 10.4 and Policy 10.4.
Related issues are Issues 6.4, 6.5, 7.3, 10.3, 10.5.
Issue 10.3
DIFFUSE SOURCE DISCHARGES FROM LAND USE ACTIVITIES TO LAND,WATER AND AIR
Diffuse source discharges to the environment come from a wide range of sources and activities. Some are of natural origin, such as sediment from land erosion; many are generated by accelerated or intensified natural processes, or by the use of chemicals or by combustion, giving rise to smoke or gaseous emissions. Diffuse source contaminants include sediment generation from land disturbances; agrichemical and fertiliser application to land, water or air; stocking of farm land where stock effluent reaches water, either directly or through run-off or seepage; emissions of gases or smoke from vehicles, fires; or through the use of ozone depleting substances.
The key feature of such discharges is that they are emitted in a large number of places and often in minor quantities. However, their cumulative contaminant effects may be significant and contributing sources may be hard to identify.
The adverse effects of diffuse source discharges are quite varied, and may be either localised or widespread.
Sediment, nutrient, chemical, microbial or particulate contamination of land, water or air may result, with adverse ecological, economic and health effects likely.
There is a need to advocate and promote appropriate land use practices including management of land disturbance, stocking, fertiliser, or other agrichemical applications, and the use of riparian vegetation as a buffer or filter in appropriate situations. There is also a need to regulate significant diffuse source contamination from land disturbances, agrichemical applications, stocking, riparian land use, and urban domestic smoke emissions.
In relation to emissions to air of fossil carbon or ozone depleting substances, there is a need to advocate to the Government for continued and strengthened national measures to encourage less fossil fuel usage and to develop renewable forms of transport fuels, and to advocate and promote the use of recycled or non-ozone depleting substances.
Addressed by Objectives 10.1, 10.2 and Policy 10.6.
Related issues are Issues 6.4, 6.5, 7.3, 10.1, 10.2.
Issue 10.4
LEGACY OF CONTAMINATED SITES IN URBAN AND RURAL SETTINGS
Contaminated sites are the legacy of past or existing land use activities that have resulted in contamination of land, water or air of an area. These sites can pose risks to human health as well as to animal and plant communities. There is often limited information on contaminated sites as risks associated with such sites have not always been known or previously recognised. Time has brought an increased understanding of contaminants and their effects, along with changes in relevant legislation to assist in avoiding, remedying or mitigating the adverse effects of contamination. Changes in public perception and expectations regarding contaminant use and disposal, and industrial site management practices have resulted in the identification of a large number of actually or potentially contaminated sites in the District. These sites include timber treatment plants, chemical manufacturing sites, mine sites, underground storage tanks, old landfills, reclamations, agrichemical storage sites and industrial sites. The extent of possible contamination, and the risks posed by many of these sites, have yet to be properly established.
Contaminated sites can adversely effect the environment in a number of ways. Leachate from a range of contaminated sites can contaminate soil, groundwater and surface water. Hazardous wastes such as timber treatment chemicals can pose human health risks, as well as risks to animal and plant health.
There is a need to undertake targeted investigations, risk assessment of sites, site remediation, regulation of site land uses or the use of water adjacent to such sites, with efforts to require landowners or other liable parties to carry out site management work. There is also a need to provide information on the existence and risks associated with contaminated sites and on waste management practices so that further creation of contaminated sites is avoided in future.
Addressed by Objectives 10.1, 10.2, 10.4, 11.4 and Policies 10.7, 10.9, 11.7.
Related issues are Issues 6.5, 7.3, 10.2, 10.5, 11.6.
Issue 10.5
THE EFFECTS OF GENERATING AND DISPOSING OF CONTAMINANT WASTES
The Tasman District generates significant quantities of waste each year and wastes are disposed of or otherwise dealt with by:
(i) storage of solid or liquid wastes in containers or buildings;
(ii) land disposal of solid wastes by landfill or other methods; and
Section 10: Contamination and Waste 1 July 2001
(iii) discharges to water, land or to the air of liquid or gaseous wastes.
Wastes are usually environmental contaminants. For example, waste agrichemicals and their containers, waste industrial chemicals, waste oil, bulk organic wastes such as wood or fish processing wastes, may all pose contamination risks to soils, surface water or groundwater, ecosystems and communities that depend on uncontaminated environments. Many waste contaminants are also hazardous wastes, because of their toxic, explosive, flammable, corrosive, persistent or other significant contaminating or hazardous qualities. Ballast water is a contaminant of special interest both locally and nationally because of its potential impact on the coastal environment. Council’s options for avoiding, remedying or mitigating adverse effects of ballast water are limited although there are opportunities to support and promote national measures for control.
Solid wastes are generated by industrial, commercial, residential and service activities in towns and in rural areas. The most significant effect of solid waste disposal is the contamination risk, including the likelihood of discharges of waste leachate into soils, groundwater or surface water, together with combustion risks or smells from methane or other organic gaseous emissions. Most solid wastes are collected and disposed of in sites called landfills, that contain or control the movement of contaminants from the site. The presence of contamination risks and other adverse environmental effects associated with solid waste disposal sites may mean that properly managed landfills are some distance from urban or industrial centres.
The Council is a significant provider of solid waste (refuse) collection and disposal services and facilities.
Regular collections of refuse are carried out in the larger towns of the District. Several transfer stations operate in the District, at Richmond, Mariri, Waiwhero and Tapawera. The main District landfill site is in Eves Valley, in the Moutere Hills west of the Waimea Plains. Other smaller landfills are operated at St Arnaud, Murchison and Takaka. Landfills are expensive to establish and manage, and generally have a limited life. They can have adverse effects on water quality through leachate generation and may adversely affect natural, amenity or cultural values or features of an area. New landfill sites are often difficult to establish because of the degree of public concern about potential adverse effects. Many disused sites of former tips or dumps are present in the District and these present a range of contamination risks.
Bulk organic wastes such as bark waste, fish waste, sewage or effluent sludge are generated by organic processing industries or effluent treatment facilities and may be disposed of at landfills or other sites in the District.
Addressed by Objectives 10.4, 11.4 and Policies 10.4, 10.8, 10.9.
Related issues are 10.4, 10.6, 11.6.
Issue 10.6
MINIMISING THE AMOUNT OF WASTE GENERATED
The accepted strategy for waste management follows the hierarchy of: avoidance of waste generation, reduction in volumes of waste streams, reuse of wastes, recycling of wastes generated, recovery of resources from wastes, safe treatment and disposal of residual wastes, and, finally, storage of intractable wastes.
Council has had limited involvement in developing waste minimisation strategies. There is scope for investigating improved separation of solid wastes in the Council’s solid waste collection and disposal service with subsequent improvements in reducing waste volumes. Difficulties inherent in this process include the need for extensive public education, additional costs to provide the service, and the uncertain and unpredictable nature of reuse/recycling companies. Other developments outside the scope of the Council’s control may complicate waste minimisation strategies such as the lack of adequate market controls to ensure that waste generators are made more accountable for the costs of waste management.
There are national and local initiatives seeking to investigate and adopt cleaner production systems and there is a need to encourage and ensure greater awareness of the strategies available.
Addressed by Objective 10.3 and Policy 10.8.
Related issues are Issues 10.4, 10.5, 11.6.