Work began today to clean up New Zealand's most contaminated site, the Tui Mine in Waikato.
The copper, lead and zinc mine, on the slopes of Mt Te Aroha in the Kaimai Range, was abandoned in 1973.
Left behind was a large pile of ore tailings and empty mine shafts leaching heavy metals into the local water catchments.
In May this year the Government announced further funding for the mine's clean-up as part of a memorandum of understanding with the Green Party and today the work to decontaminate the area began.
"Tui mine poses real safety and environmental risks for the Te Aroha Community. The $15.2 million contribution from the Government, in tight financial times, is the largest ever for a clean-up. It shows the Government's commitment to improving management of the environment,'' Environment Minister Nick Smith said.
Even modest earthquake or severe storm could put lives at risk and cause damage of up to $168 million from the tailings dam failing, he said.
Seismic reports showed that an earthquake or storm could cause more than 90,000 m3 of mine waste to liquefying and wash down Tui Stream past the edge of Te Aroha. The clean-up work will involve stabilising the dam to prevent this from happening.
Heavy metals from the mine are also contaminating Tunakohoia Stream, which flows through the centre of Te Aroha township, and the nearby Tui catchment.
Waikato Regional Council is contributing $800,000 and another $200,000 is coming from Matamata-Piako District Council.
Today Dr Smith also announced a new national environmental standard for the development of contaminated land.
"Only 14 of 73 district plans have rules to manage problems of contaminated land. This isn't good enough. The Government has approved this national environmental standard to provide greater certainty on which sites pose a health risk and need containment or clean-up,'' he said.
Under the new standard, if land was found to be contaminated, steps must be taken to cleanse the soil or contain the contamination to make it safe for human use before development.
The standard would apply to developments including proposed subdivisions, changes of land use, and major earthworks on land that has been used for certain hazardous activities or industries.
"This initiative is part of the Government's broader programme of providing stronger national direction on the Resource Management Act. It is far more efficient to have one nationwide standard for managing contaminated sites rather than requiring each district and city council to develop their own,'' Dr Smith said.
The new National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health will take effect from 1 January 2012.
