Kaipara - Why Waste Waimate

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown bins talk of city’s rubbish fuelling Kaipara plant

Under the Kaipara W-t-E proposal, Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson said Auckland’s rubbish would make up about 95 percent of the plant’s fuel and be essential to its existence. The balance would come from Northland.Jepson emphasized that sourcing the waste fuel is a crucial part of the due diligence process for building the W-t-E plant. Jepson – The mayor with no waste? An Auckland Council spokesperson said that the council knew KDC’s desire for a waste-to-energy plant in Northland. However, it did not lead the project or have any role in its development. Brown was approached for comment on his position about sending his city’s rubbish to the plant, and his spokesperson said Brown had visited Jepson on other matters. The plant and its technology were discussed as a matter of interest, but no plans or decisions had come of the meeting.The spokesperson said it was not an Auckland Council project, and Brown had not committed any of Auckland’s rubbish to the Kaipara WtE plant. Read More

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Kaipara mayor and W-t-E advocate describes doctors concerns as “overcooked”

Kaipara, Uncategorized / www

In response to a proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in Kaipara, Waimate doctor Crispin Langston said, “The health impacts from Waimate are significant, but these would potentially be dwarfed by those from the much bigger Kaipara plant.” He said waste-to-energy plant health concerns included toxins such as dioxins, heavy metals, and gases. Dr Langston is the spokesperson for a group of Waimate doctors who condemned a proposed W-t-E plant in Waimate, labelling it a “Waste to Poisons plant.” South Island Resource Recovery Limited is proposing the Waimate plant; the same company used to explore a plant in Kaipara that will incinerate twice as much waste as the Waimate plant. “Waste-to-energy plant technology has moved on, but it still produces large amounts of associated toxic discharges of things like dioxins,” Langston said. “These issues affect even modern waste incinerators, and every year, new deaths and diseases are directly linked to these plants.” “Many of the toxic discharges are not listed, not recognised and do not yet have to be monitored. That does not mean no risk, simply that protective legislation lags behind discoveries of harm,” Langston said. Jepson talks up the so-called benefits while downplaying the health impacts. Kaipara mayor and long-time W-t-E promoter responded, “The doctors were overcooking the technology’s health risks.” Perhaps the mayor has specialised medical training in the health risks of toxic emissions? Jepson also said “WtE plants globally now had to meet strict EU emissions limits, and these were measured. When it came to dioxins, modern WtE plants destroyed rather than discharged them as toxic emissions.” Both of Jepson’s statements are incorrect. W-t-E plants globally do not have to adhere to EU standards. A good example of this is China, which has varying standards throughout the country. Some of these Chinese emission standards are not even close to EU standards. The Waimate and Kaipara proposals involve South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL). SIRRL’s largest shareholder is China Tianying (CNTY). CNTY has 18 W-t-E plants in China, most of which operate to varying Chinese standards that are well behind EU standards. CNTY will operate and provide the technology for the Waimate plant. Given that Kaipara discussions include SIRRL, it is likely that it’s Chinese shareholder company would also be involved in the building and operating of any Kaipara plant. “Dangerous contaminants such as dioxin were no longer of concern.” Jepson was accredited in a media article stating that dangerous contaminants such as “dioxins were no longer of concern.“ Another dangerous claim to make given that even modern incinerators emit dioxins; SIRRL has stated that dioxin emissions from the proposed Waimate plant will adhere to EU standards, clearly different from not being discharged. The problem with dioxins is that they bioaccumulate, meaning they persist and accumulate to dangerous levels over time. So, while a plant may adhere to what is determined as acceptable levels, any amount of dioxin emission will accumulate to hazardous levels over an extended time. The Waimate resource consent is to discharge contaminants for 35 years. Mr Jepson also stated that emissions were measured, but this again is not completely true. Incinerators produce hundreds of toxins, but only a handful of these emissions are monitored or “measured.” W-t-E plants in China are required by law to provide continuous emission monitoring (CEM) of specific emissions. However, these only include carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, nitrous oxides and particulates, while EU regulations require the monitoring of further emissions. The most dangerous emissions, including dioxins, furans, and heavy metals, will be subject to only occasional spot testing carried out over 3-12 month periods. Mr Jepson seems to be downplaying concerns while talking up the so-called benefits. He has earlier stated that the Kaipara plant would produce construction aggregate such as gravel. Currently, regulations in NZ don’t allow the reuse of incineration ash. Though recovered aggregates are reused in some European countries, regulations ensure the further washing, maturation and processing of the ash to remove toxins before reuse can take place. The resource consent application by SIRRL for Waimate does not include any contingencies for aggregate recovery and states that 100% of the annual 100,000 tonnes of ash produced will be landfilled. Learn more about W-t-E ash and aggregate recovery below. W-t-E ASH

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Recidivist W-t-E company groom yet another council.

Kaipara / www

A proposal to build a Kaipara-based $730 million waste-to-energy incinerator to burn Northlands waste has the backing of Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson. The proposal will involve South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL). This will be SIRRL and their shareholder company Renew Energy Limited’s (REL) fourth attempt at building a W-t-E plant in NZ. Previous proposals have included Westport, Hokitika and Waimate. The Waimate proposal was referred to the Environment Court in August 2023 and is currently stalled until SIRRL lodges the required water take consent and satisfies a request for more information about the proposal from the EPA. The proposed Kaipara facility’s capacity would be double that of the Waimate plant, incinerating about 730,000 tonnes of Auckland and Northland rubbish each year. “We’re at an exciting point where all the parts are coming together,” Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson said of the proposed Kaipara plant. Jepson said he wanted the Government to fast-track the plant’s consent rather than go through Northland Regional Council and his council. However, Zero Waste advocate Sue Coutts said it was important to consider the incinerator’s climate, environmental, and health impacts as part of any consenting process, whether via the councils or the Government’s fast-tracking for major infrastructure projects. Coutts said international waste-to-energy companies were looking for countries with weak regulations to sell their wares because European demand had dropped off. “They head to small communities with very limited resources to investigate the impacts of incinerators,” Coutts said. She said the proposed facility went against Northland’s renewable energy push. Mayor Jepson has been eager to spruik the so-called benefits of Waste-to-Energy. Jepson has been a waste-to-energy advocate for 25 years, since his three-year involvement with investment company Olivine NZ as a shareholder and spokesman in the failed then $223m bid to convert the former Meremere power station to a waste-to-energy plant, which was canned in 2000. Jepson stated that the Kaipara plant would have major benefits with a range of products resulting from its waste processing. It would create 72MW of electricity annually, enough to feed the national grid for 165,000 homes. It would also produce 210 tonnes of construction aggregate, such as gravel. Its steam could be used by Fonterra’s Maungaturoto dairy factory, while fly ash produced by incineration could be turned into glass and concrete. “We’ve heard it all before” – Robert Ireland, Why Waste Waimate. Why Waste Waimate, a group with over 200 members, formed in opposition to the Waimate proposal after public information sessions held by the company were found to be “lacking any real information.” Why Waste Waimate spokesperson Robert Ireland said. “We were given all the shiny embellishments, the greenwashing and Eurowashing, jobs for locals, aggregate recovery, generating enough electricity to power tens of thousands of homes, a better alternative to landfills, etcetera, etcetera. However, it’s the information they don’t tell you that’s the most important.” These well-rehearsed salesmen sold us a narrative that was quite different from what was presented in their resource consent application. It turns out that there are regulations in NZ that prohibit the recovery of aggregates from incinerator ash.” Ireland said. These discrepancies should raise a red flag for all of us, serving as a stark reminder to remain vigilant and question the information we are given. SIRRL’s resource consent application states that the Waimate plant, will produce 100,000 tonnes of ash each year, which will be landfilled. Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson stated the Kaipara plant would produce 210,000 tonnes of “construction aggregate” annually. All this talk about providing better solutions to landfills that don’t involve burying waste in the ground for future generations to deal with. However, landfilling will play a major part in Project Kea’s operations. They kept that and the need to use huge amounts of diesel to run the plant out of the promotional material. SIRRL claims that Project Kea will produce 20-30MW of electricity, enough to power 60,000 homes. “They state this as if they intend to provide electricity to local homes. However, they also state they will provide electricity and steam to local industry, but, when questioned on whether the company has any agreements with Oceania(the only neighbouring industry), the answer was no.” Ireland said. Now we have the Kaipara Mayor, Craig Jepson, the latest in a long list of small town mayors putting support behind SIRRL and Renew Energy. However Jepson seems to be leap-frogging logic. Without any proposal, the Mayor is wanting to have his concept expedite the approval process and bypass regulatory requirements via the government’s proposed Fast-Track legislation. “Jepson may have taken some liberty around what support means.” Moko Tepania, Northland Mayor. Kaipara mayor claimed support for the Kaipara proposal, including Northland, Whangārei and Auckland mayors. However, Northland Mayor Moko Tepania and Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo were circumspect when approached by Local Democracy Reporting to confirm their support. Tepania, in an email sent to plant opponent Caren Davis, said it appeared Jepson may have taken “some liberty around what ‘support’ means”. Jepson admitted later that he had perhaps oversold the council’s support

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