Environment Court backs Council’s decision

The Environment Court has dismissed an appeal against the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s decision to renew water and air resource consents for Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) and Norske Skog Tasman, in an interim decision released this week.

The resource consents for the Kawerau mill operations have been granted for a 25-year period. The appeal related to consents granted for the air discharges and the taking of water from and discharges to the Tarawera River. CHH and Norske Skog Tasman also applied for, and were granted, a resource consent for a landfill by Whakatāne District Council, but this was not appealed at the Environment Court.

The Environment Court has added two additional conditions to the consent and has sought feedback from the parties about the wording. The Interim Decision requires the consent holders to reduce the colour of the discharge in steps during the 25-year term unless they can show that a further reduction can not be achieved. Parties to the appeal have 14 days to report back to the Court on the wording of the conditions around this matter, before a final decision will be released.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Water Management Group Manager Eddie Grogan said Council was pleased the original decision had been upheld in the Environment Court’s interim decision.

A copy of the full decision is on our website:
http://icarus1.envbop.net/Consents/ConsentsDecisionNo.347-100930-EnvironmentCourt.pdf

Background
CHH and Norske Skog Tasman had applied for a 35-year joint resource consent. The hearing was held from 3 August and 14 August 2009 at Bay of Plenty Regional Council in Whakatāne. The hearing was adjourned until 25 August and then further adjourned until 3 September, and the decision released in October 2009.

The hearings commissioners were independent consultants David Hill (Chairman) and Alan Bickers, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Councillor Robin Ford and Whakatāne District Councillor Russell Orr.

In deciding to renew the existing consents for air discharges and for the taking of water and discharging it into the Tarawera River, and to grant the landfill consent, the hearings commissioners considered a wide range of impacts and benefits.

Overall, the panel agreed that the renewal of the existing consents was appropriate because of the value of the existing investment, the exceptional circumstances and scientific evidence that there were no significant effects on the aquatic ecology. Under the new consents, there are conditions that require the consent holder to reduce adverse effects over time.

The commissioners found that “exceptional circumstances [under section 107 of the RMA] exist such that consent can be granted despite the fact that the discharge produces a conspicuous change in colour and visual clarity downstream of the mixing zone”. The finding of exceptional circumstances was qualified by the statement that this should not endure across time without limit.

One of the central concerns of many submitters to the Consent Hearing was concerns that the health, welfare and amenity values of the Tarawera River were being compromised.

Granting the landfill application was considered appropriate because the environment was protected by the staged approach and the monitoring that had to be done before new stages were started.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s decision on the water and air consents were then appealed by T and L Marr and Te Rangatiratanga o Ngāti Rangitihi Incorporated at the Environment Court. The landfill consent was not appealed.

ENDS

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