Pareora Resource Consent Decision

13 December 2006

Pareora Resource Consent Decision

PPCS Limited said today it has received the decision on its Pareora resource consents application.

The consents relate to the treatment and discharge of meat processing effluent from the PPCS Pareora plant, south of Timaru, which processes sheep and beef for global export. PPCS’ Chief Operating Officer Keith Cooper welcomed the decision.

“The Hearings Commissioner has confirmed the 10-year consent period requested in our resource consent applications and provided the necessary consents for PPCS progressively to reduce discharge to sea with the ultimate objective of only discharging to land,” he said.

“The decision is particularly welcome given PPCS’ long-term commitment to Pareora, one of our largest plants and one which employs over 700 staff at peak and makes a significant economic contribution to Timaru and the Canterbury region.

“PPCS is committed to high environmental standards and compliance with environmental regulation at all its plants.

“We have already embarked on a programme to reduce water use and improve effluent treatment at Pareora with the target of halving the current amount of effluent volume over time.

“We are pleased that we can now move forward, subject to any appeals, with further environmental upgrades.

“We have already commenced work on the project and plan to complete the primary treatment system upgrades and install the first stage of the irrigation system by the start of the next processing season in November 2007,” said Mr Cooper.

Key environmental initiatives that will be progressed under the consents include:

-Progressive transition from sea to land discharge, with the target of developing systems capable of 100 percent discharge to land

-Establishment of a new wetlands area to remove nutrients from land discharge

-Early diversion of blood-rich effluent discharge to land to reduce colour effects in the sea discharge

-Development of a comprehensive management plan and testing programme for sea discharge.

“From an initial review PPCS is generally pleased with the decision. However, there is considerable detail in the decision, received yesterday, and we will reserve further comment until after a thorough examination,” said Mr Cooper.

ENDS

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