Posted on July 11, 2019
Ports of Auckland has won consent to dump 3.75 million cubic metres of harbour dredgings off the Coromandel Peninsula.
The site has already been used for dumping and lies 50km east of the wildlife sanctuary on Cuvier Island, which is uninhabited by people.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) said while Ports of Auckland’s dumpings would be significant within the site, the effects outside the area would at worst be “minor”.
Michael Bradley/Stuff
Cuvier Island has been used as a breeding ground for 14 tuatara in a sanctuary managed by the Department of Conservation.
The harbour dredgings can be dumped over the next 35 years.
Further north, east of Great Barrier Island, a bid by a private company to obtain consent to boost dumping volumes is about to face a High Court challenge.
In February, the Environment Protection Authority gave Coastal Resources Ltd (CRL) permission to increase the amount of sediment it dumps from 50,000 cubic metres to 250,000 cubic metres annually for 35 years.
The Society for the Protection of Aotea Community & Ecology, and Great Barrier Islander Kelly Moana Klink, of iwi Ng?ti Rehua-Ng?tiwai ki Aotea, are appealing the CRL bid.
Klink told Stuff while they would also like to stop the dumping off Cuvier Island, they were focussed on trying to overturn the Coastal Resources consent issued by the EPA.
“We don’t want that one either, but we’ve got this massive court case coming up,” she said.
Grounds in Klink’s appeal included “flaws” in the decision making process and failing to consult meaningfully with the iwi.
Source: stuff.co.nz
