Sludge Watch ==> New Zealand - Regional Council desperate to stop Living Earth sludge compost

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

In this New Zealand story we see echoes of North American fights.  Should 
sludge composting be done in fully enclosed facilities?  And the sad part is 
that these sewage sludge composts can be quite contaminated with industrial 
wastes.  The composting process concentrates the heavy metals.     
Distributing the finished material may have toxic impacts on the gardens 
that use it...and could also impact the health of the gardeners and their 
children.

Here is a little story about unanticipated impacts.    Some people say.." Oh 
we can put sludge on land that isn't used for food (they mean human food I 
guess).

There is 'farming' going on where you least expect it. Toronto has a wide 
six lane boulavard called University Avenue.  In the median strip is a 
pretty area - about 12 feet wide - flowers and trees.  A month ago Toronto's 
Parks Department workers were pulling up the flower beds and harvesting the 
yams.

That's right - harvesting yams.  The yams are prized for their attractive 
foliage and are planted around the City in public parks. Then parks workers 
harvest and distribute the agricultural produce!

If Toronto was using sewage sludge to fertilize its parks...those yams would 
be picking up all those heavy metals...and who would anticipate we were 
farming in the middle of the road.


.............................................


Cash down the drain
By GARRY SHEERAN - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 21 October 2007

Its a battle businessman-environmentalist Rob Fenwick never expected to 
fight. He's also bemused even incredulous that his opponent is the 
green-tinged Auckland Regional Council.


"We never thought a council would go to such lengths to clobber a business 
which is so clearly part of the regional infrastructure to reduce waste and 
improve our environmental footprint," he said.

But with a string of court victories under its belt, and its pockets lighter 
to the tune of $1 million-plus in legal fees, compost company Living Earth 
will tomorrow start setting up its operation on 12ha of Puketutu Island in 
the Manukau Harbour, Auckland.

Fenwick expects the new plant to start converting large municipal organic 
waste streams into compost some time in January.

Unless, that is, the regional council succeeds with its last throw of the 
legal dice and gets the Appeal Court to overturn rulings of both the High 
Court and Environment Court in Living Earth's favour.

That appeal is due to be heard in December.

But time is of the essence for Living Earth, 50% owned by Australia's 
Transpacific Industries, parent of former listed Waste Management. It must 
vacate its Onehunga, Pikes Point site early next year.

It began its search for a new home four years ago, and selected a 12ha 
quarried part of Puketutu Island, owned by the Kelliher Trust.

That decision was opposed by the regional and Manukau City councils, and 
also by Watercare. Their concerns related to zoning issues and the 
environmental impact of the Living Earth operation.

The ARC also said Living Earth had not tried hard enough to find an 
alternative site.

These concerns were dismissed by the Environment Court in a 2006 hearing, 
which found Living Earth's composting operation would, in fact, conform with 
the ARC's waste minimisation policies.

Fenwick said the decision also found no evidence to support an ARC innuendo 
that Living Earth lacked good faith in its search for alternatives.

Living Earth also suggested to the court that the real reason the ARC and 
Watercare opposed Living Earth's proposal was they planned to buy the island 
from its present owners and use it as a dump for sewage sludge. Watercare 
would later gift the island to ARC to become a regional park.

Such a proposal was subsequently announced, and ARC lodged an appeal to the 
High Court questioning points of law in the Environment Court's decision.

That was thrown out, but again it was not the end of the matter.

ARC lodged an appeal with the Appeal Court, and then injuncted Living Earth 
in an attempt to stop it starting work at Puketutu Island.

That injunction was dismissed earlier this month, allowing Living Earth to 
start work this week.

"This has been a long and costly process for us and, we must presume, for 
the ratepayers of Auckland," said Fenwick. "And right now we are running out 
of time."

He said Living Earth had volunteered to reduce the term of its consent at 
Puketutu Island from 20 years to 10 because of ARC concerns that the 
precedent set by the consent could undermine the regional plan.

"This means we will have to start looking for another site almost 
immediately," said Fenwick.

As at Pikes Point, the Puketutu Island composting will be done by laying out 
waste on the ground, and turning it constantly to speed the process.

More than likely, the next home for garden waste composting will be a modern 
indoor composter, and will be a project involving the Auckland councils as 
well as Living Earth.

It's likely to be a $30m-plus project, instead of the $3m it will cost to 
get the Puketutu project up and running.

Living Earth operates such a facility in Wellington, and Fenwick said 
negotiations with several councils to do the same in Auckland had not 
reached finality by the time Living Earth had to leave Pikes Point

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4245641a13.html