Asbestos found at Hokitika's Sunset Point after council encouraged dumping

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

Westland mayor Bruce Smith used his contacts with contractors to donate rock to save Sunset Point from erosion. (Video first published in August 2019)

Material used to help save Hokitika's Sunset Point from erosion is not cleanfill, a report has found.

Contractors have been dumping material on Hokitika Spit for the last two years as part of a project to restore the popular tourist spot and save it from being washed away by the sea.

West Coast Regional Council launched an investigation in August after polystyrene and plastic were found at the site.

Asbestos and heavy metals have been found among material dumped at Hokitika's Sunset Point.

Westland District Council also commissioned an independent report into the area, which has found asbestos, plastic and metals in test pits.

**READ MORE:

Hoktika beachfront and Sunset Point, which has been eroded by the sea for years.

* The saving of Sunset Point success or shambles

* Investigation after polystyrene and plastic dumped in Hokitika

* Erosion continues to expose West Coast landfill

* Heart-wrenching sight for Operation Tidy Fox volunteers

* Coastal erosion catches up with buried Kaiaua landfill

* Asbestos dump found on the West Coast**

The council acknowledged one load of demolition material 'regretfully' contained a small amount of non-clean material, including concrete and spiral pipes. The contractor responsible has since excavated the site, removed the offending materials and remediated the surface.

One sample showed a 'negligible presence' of asbestos and heavy metals.

Mayor Bruce Smith previously said the project began in 2018, when he contacted every contractor in the area to dump their cleanfill at Sunset Point instead of sending it to the landfill. The works included a section with 5635 cubic metres of cleanfill.

The pressure came on when environmentalist Des Watson, who is travelling around New Zealand picking up rubbish from beaches, spotted polystyrene and plastic among the material in August this year.

When Watson complained, the Westland District Council suspended contractors from dumping there.

The council responded by acknowledging that one load of demolition material 'regretfully' contained a small amount of non-clean material including concrete and spiral pipes. The contractor responsible had since excavated the site, removed the offending materials and remediated the surface.

Council asset operations manager Erle Bencich said it should also be noted that unauthorised contractors and members of the public had also been illegally dumping there.

The council has lodged a resource consent application covering works completed to date and two further, adjacent stages of landscape filling and shaping.

A council-commissioned soil test report by Golder Associates says the materials were mainly demolition waste and could not be defined as cleanfill.

Golder dug five test pits on August 22 to a depth of 2.1m and found metal, wood asphalt, brick, concrete, scattered fragments of potential asbestos containing material, plastic, wire, glass, and polystyrene. Soil samples contained metals above acceptable limits and low levels of asbestos.

Smith said he was not concerned about the findings and did not believe it needed to be cleaned up. The contractor accidently dropped one load of contaminated materials and had done a good job in cleaning it up already, he said.

The council would be continuing its plans to build toilets and a viewing platform on the site, Smith said.

West Coast Regional Council said its compliance investigation was ongoing.