Letter found among hundreds of nappies by Ngaruroro River could help identify dumper

Yesterday the Hawke's Bay Regional Council reported finding hundreds of used nappies dumped on the banks on the Ngaruroro River. Photo/Glen Drummond

Council workers had to clean up hundreds of nappies dumped on the banks of a Hawke's Bay river yesterday, but a letter found among the rubbish could lead to the identification of the person responsible.

A Hawke's Bay Regional Council works group discovered more than 300 used nappies in large, ripped plastic bags and strewn on the banks of the Ngaruroro River yesterday morning.

The council's team leader of pollution response and enforcement, Mike Alebardi, said the group was cleaning up the mess when a letter was discovered with an address on it.

While he said it wasn't uncommon to find an object of identification, it wasn't always the answer.

"People often deny it. You need some sort of proof whether it be a witness, photograph or vehicle registration.

"It is tricky to actually catch someone doing it," he said.

Describing yesterday's dumping find as "significant", Mr Alebardi said the regional council was following up on the information and the letter had led to a person of interest.

He cited the Litter Act 1979 as a means through which district councils could fine people for dumping rubbish, but said it required a "high standard" of evidence.

Since January 1 this year, the Napier City Council had reported about 20 dumping complaints; with more than 20 vehicles abandoned in the same period.

The Napier council's waste minimisation lead, Rhett van Veldhuizen, spoke out about illegal dumping last year, saying the council spent thousands of dollars annually cleaning up illegally dumped rubbish.

"Finding out who dumped the rubbish - rarely is anyone caught in the act - is a distasteful and messy task which involves picking through the litter in the hope of finding a docket or something with an address on it which may help identify who dumped it."

Mr van Veldhuizen said because it cost only $10 to drop rubbish weighing less than 40kg, cost couldn't be blamed for people illegally dumping their rubbish. He attributed the issue to an "attitude problem".

Central Hawke's Bay District Council utilities manager Brett Way yesterday said the council had four cases of illegal dumping this year; only recording cases where they were able to find identification within the dumped rubbish so they could pass on the clean-up costs.

He said it was often the case that dumped rubbish was recyclable, which could be picked up by councils for free, and said locals were already encouraged to do the "right thing" with waste by the affordable rates of rubbish collection bags and transfer station costs.

"It never ceases to astound me how far people will drive to dump their rubbish."

Mr Alebardi said anyone with information about yesterday's rubbish dumping, or any dumping, should call the regional council's 24-hour pollution hotline on 0800 108838.

"Someone may have seen something, someone may have known someone who recently cleaned out their shed and any of this would be helpful because it's a significant dumping."