Asbestos has been discovered at a waste recycling plant near Leamington, in what council staff say is a breach of the facility’s resource consent conditions.
Waste at the plant with asbestos warnings around it. Photo: Supplied
Earlier this year, ResourceCo – operating from a former sand quarry behind Aotearoa Industrial Park – denied neighbours’ claims that toxic materials were being dumped at the site.
Waipā District Council issued a non-notified resource consent to the company last year to divert 51,000 tonnes of construction waste from landfill to the plant. Staff said the $6.4 million concrete recycling facility would have “less than minor” adverse effects on the environment.
Concrete and steel is being recycled.
The former quarry is at 3831 Cambridge Rd, between the river and Waipā’s Cambridge wastewater plant and borders a housing cluster on Kaipaki Rd.
Waipā District Council’s decision to grant resource consent for the rural site in July drew criticism when it was revealed earlier this year.
Ironically another quarry site – on Newcombe Rd south of Cambridge – got the go ahead from independent hearing commissioners last week following a hearing where more than 350 submitters voiced their opposition.
RS Sand plans to extract up to 400,000 tonnes of sand a year for around 25 years. The quarry will operate weekdays between 7am and 5pm, and on Saturday mornings.
At peak, up to 200 truck movements per day are expected, with typical daily movements closer to 78.
Wayne Allan
In a letter to residents last week, Waipā District Council District Growth and Regulatory Services group manager Wayne Allan said asbestos had been dumped at the Leamington site by one of ResourceCo’s contractors.
“Following the discovery of the potential asbestos, the operator put into place isolation measures including ‘asbestos’ tape around the material,” said Allan. He confirmed there was photographic evidence.
The asbestos has since been moved to a licensed facility.
“Council enforcement staff are treating the investigation of this incident as a breach of consent conditions to ensure asbestos is not brought to the site again,” said Allan.
Concerns about asbestos at the plant were first raised by Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid in June, after a truck and trailer carrying asbestos-contaminated material crashed on the Waikato Expressway at Tamahere.
There was no suggestion the truck and trailer was headed to Cambridge but Bouzaid said she was aware of marked trucks carrying asbestos were going in and out of the Leamington facility.
Concrete and steel is being recycled.
No applications for future managed fill activities had been submitted to either Waikato Regional Council or Waipā, said Allan.
It would need regional council consent.
“Managed fill” refers to material made up mostly of clean fill with minor contaminants, including construction and demolition waste like concrete, asphalt, tiles, and glass.
The only Waikato landfill site licensed to receive asbestos is at Hampton Downs.
Allan said he would keep residents informed of the council’s on-going monitoring at the Leamington plant.
Neighbours told The News the stockpile at the plant grows larger by the day, fuelling ongoing concern.
The plant secured a $2.57 million boost from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund to divert up to 72 per cent of construction and demolition waste from landfill.
Piopio-based director Henry Fullerton-Smith, who also runs a demolition and asbestos removal company, said the project was about managing waste better.
Waste at the plant with asbestos warnings around it. Photo: Supplied
