Expert planners commissioned by Environment Southland are recommending the controversial Southland landfill resource consent application be refused. 

And the waste stored at Bluff's Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and elsewhere across the South Island, which could potentially be relocated to this landfill, is one of the major reasons given for the snub. 

AB Lime Ltd has applied for a new 35-year resource consent for its Kings Bend landfill near Winton. 

It wants to remove the existing 100,000 tonnes per annum cap, enabling it to fill it more quickly, and also formalise its ability to receive "emergency waste". 

That's caused blow back from the community, concerned about the environmental effects, odour, management, and many other issues. 

And the consultant commissioned by Environment Southland appears to agree with some of their points. 

Michael Durand, of Pattle Delamore Partners Limited (PDP), in a report published today, says AB Lime has not provided enough information about the potential impact on the environment. 

That's because the application focuses on the difference between the impacts of AB Lime's current consented activities at Kings Bend, and the planned extra activities, rather than both as a whole, he says. 

Neither does it properly assess the types of waste that will be received, and therefore their potential environmental effects.

Durand says the removal of the cap points to significant quantities of new types of waste being landfilled at Kings Bend.

"Most years, roughly half of the annual limit of 100,000 tonnes has been received. There does not seem to be sufficient supply of municipal waste regionally to justify the current limit to be removed.

"A change to the operation of the site with no limit could suggest, rather, that significant quantities of new types of waste may be planned to be received." 

That could include Aluminium Dross Waste (ADW) from the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter operated by NZAS at Tiwai Point, and unknown waste from historic landfills and other sites that needs to be moved.

Tiwai Point has made headlines recently after it was revealed more than 100,000 tonnes of cyanide-laced hazardous waste is stockpiled less than 100 metres from a fast-eroding Southland beach.

Durand notes that AB Lime has explicitly stated that hazardous substances are not to be received at the Kings Bend landfill. 

"Nevertheless the application seeks resource consent for ADW to be discharge to the landfill in uncapped volumes.

"Some types of waste may be present at the Tiwai site which do not meet the definition of hazardous waste in the application's suggested conditions but could be considered to be ADW. 

"These wastes could be received at the AB Lime site in unlimited volumes if consent is granted.

"Such substances that might be received have not been assessed in the application, despite it explicitly referring to 'other sites in Southland that may require remedial waste relocation'."

AB Lime Ltd already has consent to receive aluminium dross at Kings Bend. That was granted because aluminium dross posed an environmental risk at (in particular) the former Mataura Paper Mill site at Mataura, Gore District. There are about 10,000 tonnes there.

But, granting consent could allow "much larger volumes of ADW to be received" than was assessed in that consent and is currently authorised.

There is at least one large unlined landfill of >600,000 m3 of waste including aluminium dross and other waste at Tiwai.

"The effects of discharging any volume of this material into the landfill have not been assessed by the applicant, but this what the application requests." 

One of those effects could be the discharge of "toxic fumes", but there is no assessment of the environmental effect of gas discharges from aluminium dross and the Landfill Operations Management Plan does not set out how to manage it. 

That's just one of the failings of the AB Lime's proposed system of management plans. And AB Lime's proposed management plans are the third reason the application should be refused, says the planner in his summary.

"The application’s proposed system of management plans will not adequately manage environmental effects nor ensure that consent conditions are met."

A formal resource consent hearing will be held at Invercargill Workingmen's Club from 17-21 May, taking into account the application, submissions, associated evidence and Environment Southland’s report.

Following a formal hearing, an independent resource management commissioner will make a decision on this application, not council staff or councillors.