Alliance granted resource consents to upgrade Mataura plant
Monday, 3 May 2021
Meat processing co-operative Alliance Group has been granted resource consents for its Mataura plant, which will lead to upgrades that will improve water quality of the Mataura River.
The consents, to discharge to water, dam and take water, and to use land for a weir have been granted for a period of 25 years.
A resource consent decision was released by four independent commissioners last week, after a hearing was held in December.
Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor said it was ‘’great news for farmers, our people and the Mataura community.’’
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“While we are still awaiting the end of the statutory appeal period, we are confident that we can now move forward with sustainability plans for the plant. We are committed to improving our environmental performance across all sites.
“Locally, we will be investing in a UV disinfection system for wastewater, and a biological treatment system that will reduce the total nitrogen discharged by approximately 50 per cent and improve the health of the Mataura River and the Toetoes Estuary”
The decision says the company is proposing to take and discharge less water than it currently uses by introducing operating efficiencies
During a hearing held in December it put forward staged improvements to the plant, including installing a $4.14 million UV plant to inactivate pathogens in wastewater discharged to the Mataura River, re-routing pipework to prevent the risk of waste leaking into water races or the river, and replacing screens so that fish are not trapped in pipes.
The UV plant will be commissioned within three years of the commencement of the consents.
The consents were opposed by the Department of Conservation, Fish & Game New Zealand – Southland region, Hokonui Rūnanga and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
The company has also applied for consents to discharge contaminants and odour to air from meat processing and hide salting at the Mataura plant, bu thte processing of those consents has been suspended.