A proposal boiler emissions from the Pukeuri meat-processing plant north of Oamaru should be reduced has been defended by Otago Regional Council staff, but again attacked for lack of evidence by the plant's owner, Alliance Group.
The issue of boiler discharges and odours from the plant has dominated a two-day hearing, which ended in Oamaru yesterday, into an application by Alliance Group to renew discharge to air consents for the Pukeuri plant.
Council officers recommended consent be granted for 35 years, but three boilers upgraded and lower sulphur coal used to reduce discharges from the plant by 2016.
The officers' report suggested discharges had potential to affect health, but Alliance described that as an "alarmist approach" and produced evidence that was not the case.
Alliance opposed the requirement to improve discharges as not being justified, but said it would continue to monitor the situation and technology to install it, if it was best practice.
Alliance's legal counsel Kerry Smith said no expert evidence had been produced to support the officers' contention, but Alliance's evidence was health risks were low.
Yesterday, the council's consents manager Chris Shaw and senior resources officer Mathew Bell defended the report's findings and recommendations.
However, Mr Shaw suggested if the emissions were not to be reduced, the length of the consent should be reduced to 10 years, which prompted an angry reaction from Mr Smith in his closing reply.
"Suddenly, 35 years was now 10 years", which Mr Smith said was "utterly inappropriate" and something he had never recalled happening before.
Mr Shaw said officers still had "considerable concern" about assumptions made in air quality modelling by Alliance experts.
The application appeared to do nothing to improve emissions and was not acceptable to the council.
Mr Smith said the panel had to consider the expert evidence from Alliance put to the hearing and should put aside everything in the officers' report not supported by evidence, he said.
Consultant specialist public health physician Francesca Kelly, in her evidence for Alliance yesterday, concluded potential health risks from boiler emissions were "likely to be low".
"My overall opinion is the current and future operations at the Pukeuri site are unlikely to produce any adverse health effects in the community," Dr Kelly said.
The panel of independent commissioner Kevin Rolfe (chairman), councillors Gretchen Robertson and Sam Neill reserved its decision.
