“We appreciate Minister Penny Simmonds calling in this project using her powers under the Resource Management Act to be heard by a Board of Inquiry, and her appointment of experienced people to hear the case,” said Sue Coutts from the Zero Waste Network.
“We believe that a Board of Inquiry is the right place for novel technology proposals like this waste incinerator to be examined. It means that the Te Awamutu community, Iwi, affected businesses and wider stakeholders can all have a say in this. It creates a thorough process for bringing expert evidence to the table to expose the negative social, economic and environmental impacts of this project. Up until now we have only had the company’s sales pitch to go on.”
“The Board of Inquiry process is particularly important for this case as it will allow climate change impacts to be considered. This would not have been possible had the project remained with local councils, and may not be possible for those projects that are fast-tracked, including the waste incinerator proposal in Waimate which is very similar to this proposal.”
The Environmental Protection Agency noted in its report to the Minister that New Zealand’s obligations to the global environment will be impacted by the estimated GHG emissions from the proposed incinerator. The Ministry for the Environment’s initial view is that the estimated GHG emissions for the proposal are between 145kt and 165 kt p/a of CO2, and that this is significant at a national and international level.
“The climate impacts are enormous and will add emissions to the waste sector at a time when we are doing everything we can to reduce waste emissions.”
“Along with that, this proposal would see 166,000 tonnes of tyres, plastics, household rubbish and the remains of the scrap metal industry burned in a residential area, adjacent to schools, community facilities and food producing businesses. It is a toxic nightmare with terrible health and economic outcomes for the Te Awamutu community.”
