Week 2 of the Inquiry
It’s been a gruelling two weeks at the Board of Inquiry hearing, and there is still a week to go. The first week was entirely taken up with the company’s case. They presented a line up of experts and pseudo-experts to advance their argument that the effects of a giant toxic incinerator are “less than minor”. That’s Resource Management Act (RMA) speak for what can get consent. And in contrast to all the right-wing whingers, the current RMA is largely set up to yes to almost everything. Only 5% of all RMA applications are publicly notified - and many of those are given consent. So needless to say, the deck is stacked against environmental protection, against climate protection, against human health protection and against sanity in a country facing severe biodiversity loss, deep and sustained pollution of air, land and water, and of course, unfolding climate breakdown.
On Tuesday this past week, Fonterra presented its case. It is strange indeed when environmentalists are on the same side as one of the country’s major polluters, but it speaks to just how cooked this incinerator idea is.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Zero Waste Network and Environmental Defence Society presented our joint case with 8 independent expert witnesses: Dr Andrew Rollinson (ash/wastewater/engineer), Hannah Blumhardt (circular economy & waste strategy), Steve Goldthorpe (GHG/engineer), Lou Wickham (air quality), Dr Simon Hales (human health), Dr Helen Rutter (water quality), Greg Akehurst (economics) and James Hook (planning).
The consensus among these experts was overwhelming and emphatic: this proposal should not be consented. Some of the most telling outcomes included:
This incinerator would be dirtier than coal for generating electricity
This incinerator would produce 10x the greenhouse gases as if the same amount of waste was landfilled
This plant is likely to result in premature death of atleast 18 people over the lifetime of the plant
The plant wil burn hazardous waste including persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
This plant will take ordinary household rubbish and convert it into toxic ash and wastewater
It was revealing that the best the company’s lawyers could do to attack our case was to try to undermine the credibility of our witnesses and pick at minor administrative issues.
This coming week, the Board will hear from public submitters including Don’t Burn Waipā community members. You can tune in on the zoom here from 9am everyday - register here
We expect to give final legal submissions on Friday 4 July.