It is likely the saga that began with the discovery of asbestos in crushed concrete at the Broadlands Road landfill in July last year will enter its final chapter next month.
The Taupō District Council has now closed cartage tenders to truck the concrete out of the district with their evaluation expected to take a couple of weeks before transporting begins in June.
Once concluded the experience will not have been cheap for the council, and the actions of whoever left the contaminated concrete to be crushed has left a bitter taste for some councillors.
Safely disposing of the crushed concrete is expected to cost the council $1.35 million; $500,000 approved last year to deal with the issue plus an extra $850,000 in unbudgeted expenditure to be funded from prior year cash surpluses – approved at a council meeting on February 25.
The latter figure was added once the extent of the problem became evident and costs to truck the concrete away were fully explored.
A paper presented to the February meeting by business excellence manager Lousie Chick outlined the discovery last year that approximately 10,000 tonnes of crushed concrete at the landfill were contaminated with asbestos.
Initial tests last year indicated that 25 per cent of samples had contamination beyond safe limits, the paper said, and an initial budget of $500,000 was approved in the 2024-34 Long Term Plan to address the issue.
However, at the February meeting Chick said further testing had subsequently revealed that the concrete was closer to 75 per cent contaminated, amounting to just over 10,000 tonnes.
Of three disposal options discussed by councillors, two involved trucking the concrete out – either to Rotorua (lower transport costs but very high in fees) or Pokeno (higher transport costs but much lower disposal fees) or disposal onsite at Broadlands Road.
Staff said this option did not meet with iwi approval and would also likely involve high costs due to a waste disposal levy and the requirement to purchase carbon credits. Removal would also protect landfill capacity should the resource consent for the landfill operation be renewed in 2027.
In discussing and finally approving unanimously the lowest cost proposal to have the material trucked to North Waikato, councillor Yvonne Westerman noted with no cameras at the site there was no way to prove the asbestos was due to one massive dump from a certain contractor.
However later in the discussion, deputy mayor Kevin Taylor weighed up whether the contaminated concrete was either innocently, naively, or deliberately, maliciously dumped.
“Given the quantity and significance of the contamination, I’d be very surprised if it was naively and innocently dumped and I guess if we’re going to do any comms on this it would be ‘well done community this is what happens when you ignore the rules, this is how much it costs’… I think we should be quite blunt with the community about the fact that somebody out there… has done this and it’s costing everybody as a direct result.”
Danny Loughlin countered that it was no good blaming the community when most were innocent.
However, said Loughlin, he could understand the frustration.
“The numbers are big, hence the length of the debate. The numbers are horrific.”
Another consequence of the contamination was that the council will now no longer have concrete crushed at the landfill – which had been carried out by a contractor – with operations put on hold shortly after the asbestos contamination was discovered.
Council asset manager solid waste and stormwater Brent Aitken said crushed concrete had been a fantastic product over the last 20 years (used for driveways, building platforms, and as a roading base) and probably kept over 100,000 tonnes of material out of landfill amounting to possibly $30 million worth of additional waste it had been able take.
Council sold approximately 2,800 tonne of recycled crushed concrete a year which in 2023/24 generated income of $80,000.
“But… if we were to carry on in receipt of that material, we were always going to run the risk of being in exactly the same place where we are now with contaminated material.’
Aitken didn’t think there had been a past history of contamination, and the case was recent.
“But... because we can’t identify the material coming in, we can’t point the finger.”
While there were tests which might enable crushing to continue – the costs of which could be passed on – no system was foolproof, he said.
“I don’t want to be in this place in six months’ time and asking for another $1million.”
In response to Kylie Leonard’s concerns about a potential increase in illegal dumping, council staff felt while valid, it was unlikely as the bulk of concrete waste came from commercial operators who would have to take it to other approved facilities.
There was also the potential that a private commercial operator would come into fill the gap in Taupō, said Chick.
