Dredge spoil dump plan angers tribes

Hauraki Gulf tribes and environmental groups are unhappy about a plan to dump dredged spoil on the continental shelf near Great Barrier Island.

However, Coastal Resources, a company whose directors also have shares in the 570-berth Pine Harbour Marina in Beachlands, believes the effects of dumping up to 50,000cu m 26km east from Great Barrier would be minimal.

The decision on whether the plan goes ahead lies with Maritime New Zealand because the site is 12 nautical miles from land, and sits in the Exclusive Economic Zone.

The company wants to unload 140 barge-loads annually of material dredged from the marina floor for 35 years.

It said dredged spoil in the Auckland region had low heavy-metal concentrations, and while water quality might become "turbid temporarily", the "impact of a small amount of slightly contaminated sediment in the water column will be minor".

Other marinas in the Auckland and Bay of Plenty region could also benefit from the service.

But iwi believe the approach to managing the waste is akin to the old attitude of boaties who once thought nothing of chucking bags of rubbish overboard.

Bruce Davies, from Great Barrier's Ngati Rehua, said there were other options available.

"You could make it very simple and put it on the market and sell it but no one wants to think like that. It's too hard - so we're left with out of sight, out of mind.

"Out on Aotea [Great Barrier] the sea is our refrigerator, our supermarket for Pakeha and Maori. What they'll be doing is spreading tutae [faeces] around the supermarket."

In its response to the application, Ngatiwai said a 35-year consent period was worrying as was the potential for marinas up and down the east coast to use the site.

It wanted a three-yearly review to address problems or assess new technologies and waste capped at 50,000cu m.

Company spokesman Simon Male did not return Herald calls.

Anthony Bellve, chairman of the Whitford Estuary Conservation Society, is following the issue closely as the company plans to renew a consent to continue dumping spoil off Auckland beaches.

He disputed the company's claim that heavy-metal concentrations were low, and said the levels actually exceeded regulatory levels. That was important, he added, because copper levels could be toxic to some marine life forms.