Rubbish being compacted not at Tirohia but at Omarunui Landfill. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today.
Between Te Aroha and Paeroa lies the tiny settlement of Tirohia and it is here that all of our region's rubbish ends up.
The Coromandel alone produces over 75 tonnes of waste each week, which is the same weight as 50 large cars. In Hauraki, more than half the contents of weekly rubbish bags is food and kitchen waste that could be diverted from landfill by composting and another 10 per cent could be recycled.
"Of the average 46 tonnes per week we collectively throw away in yellow kerbside bags,
29 tonnes could have been diverted from landfill – that's the equivalent of 29 elephants
going into the ground every week that don't need to be there," Hauraki mayor Toby Adams said.
On top of that, a third of all recycling bin content in the district is contaminated, which
means it's either dirty or not recyclable. Common non-recyclable items recovered include
nappies, dead animals and medical waste.
A TCDC-led audit of the kerbside rubbish bags disposed in March targeted streets in Whangamatā, Whitianga and Thames, and found that 79 per cent of material in our kerbside bags can be diverted from landfill, through composting and recycling.
Landfills are more sustainable, but we can't keep filling them up.
The giant Tirohia landfill site operated by Waste Management takes up a large chunk of a mountain that is sacred to the tangata whenua of the area.
Taking waste from the entire Waikato, it is reaching capacity and its operators are asking for consent to expand.
A hearing was held, with no outcome yet released, to determine if Waste Management can expand its footprint for what it dubs a world-class landfill cell that captures most of the greenhouse gas that's created from waste.
The company would direct what type of waste can be accepted and when, cover the waste, use an odour suppressant, regularly monitor for pollutants and control pests, the hearing was told.
Discharge limits are set for specified pollutants that have potential risks to human health from the discharge of combustion products at the company's Energy Centre.
Waste Management acknowledged risks including small amounts of landfill gas (LFG) escaping from the open working face from any defects in the capping but said any cracks identified would be sealed.
A fundamental aspect of the project was a lining system to prevent leachate - contaminated liquid from water percolating through waste - escaping into soil and groundwater below.
Leachate would be collected and recirculated among incoming waste, the remainer trucked offsite to wastewater treatment plants.
However it was standard practice to assume there will be some defects in the lining, with potential leakage of 450 to 10,000 litres a year after final capping.
Any contaminants would take at least 15 years to reach neighbours.
Diverting the Owhakatina Stream and Northern Tributary Stream could not be avoided and the company hoped to relocate native fish, and would plant streambanks.
"The project will lead to positive outcomes, including through contributions to the local community, ecological benefits, and over the longer-term the aftercare and rehabilitation of the wider landholdings."
TIROHIA
On the site of the former HG Leach quarry, founded by Hauraki Plains dredge operator Harry Leach, Tirohia as a little place with great importance.
Lawrie Smith, trustee of Paeroa and Districts Museum, says the settlement has always been important to Paeroa.
Initial European settlement was focused along navigable water sources that provided transport routes, as well as raised areas of dry land within the surrounding swamp.
In the late 19th century, European timber mills were established along the Waihou, and flax trade on the lower river flats.
The initial track between the two towns and a railway line in 1895 roughly follows the current alignment of State Highway 26.
"It was a rail siding and fuel came in on the rail line, everybody that went up to Te Aroha went past it or through it," says Lawrie. "The railway was 80 families, and it was a big loss to Paeroa when that went."
But well before the Europeans, it was a place for Ngati Hako iwi, who lived, worked the land and navigated the river using rocks in the hillsides as waypoints.
Archaeology includes evidence of urupa (burial grounds) and horticultural sites.
John Linstead lives within 1km of the Tirohia landfill site.
He told the hearing his pito - umbilical chord - and whenua (placenta) are buried on Rae-O-Te-Papa, the mountain at Tirohia.
He is kaumatua, trustee and vice-chairman of the Kotahitanga Marae at Tirohia.
Ngāti Hako are mana whenua for the Tirohia site and are opposed to waste placement within the land.
John was chairman of the Te Kupenga o Ngati Hako which, from 1999-2002, opposed the consent by former owners HC Leach to continue quarrying and establish a landfill at Rae-O-Te-Papa.
In evidence, John said in 2003, Te Kupenga, Leach and the Hauraki District Council worked on a Memorandum of Understanding that meant landfill operations would cease when it reached capacity or be fully completed by 2028 and rehabilitated by 2038.
"The intention of the land caveat and MOU at the time was for us to have a final end date for the landfill operations of Rae O Te Papa.
"Waste Management would have known about this condition before they purchased the site."
He acknowledged the death of others who had fought in the past and introduced the three senior kaumatua at the hearing "with the responsibility of maintaining our kawa and tikanga".
"The consent hearings in 1999-2002 had a detrimental effect on the relationships of whanau, hapu, iwi and marae.
"Whanau were pitted against whanau. The previous landfill hearings divided our people and has had a detrimental inter-generational effect on our whanau at Tirohia."
He said from his perspective, the iwi had negotiated the land caveat to prevent any further landfilling operations in the future, with no increase to the landfill's footprint.
"We ask HDC to honour the legal agreement reached by all parties and invoke the land covenant.
"We made the agreement in good faith and we thought that each party would act honourably.
We made the agreement in good faith and we thought that each party would act honourably.
"We had no reason to mistrust the Leach whanau and the Hauraki District Council. I have grown up with the Leach whanau and went to school with members of the family. They have been part of the community of Tirohia for generations."
The council pledged to stand alongside local iwi Ngāti Hako should it choose to challenge a covenant registered against the Tirohia landfill property in 2003.
Mayor Adams said the council supported Ngāti Hako because it recognises the importance of their tupuna maunga - Rae o Te Papa and has great sympathy for the position the iwi has found itself in.
"Unfortunately, due to a disconnect between the intent of an MoU between Ngāti Hako and HG Leach & Co Ltd in 2003 and the wording of a condition that was subsequently put on the Tirohia landfill resource consent, the covenant that was registered against the landfill site does not reflect what was agreed between the two parties," he said.
"They thought they had secured a time and scope limit on the landfilling at Rae o Te Papa but the covenant that was registered against the titles by the council in good faith, did not prevent further quarrying and landfilling on the property within that timeframe, which is what was clearly agreed to in the MoU."
Waste Management acknowledged that Ngāti Hako, as mana whenua, are best placed to describe their cultural relationships and values and the effects the project may have.
Initially with no cultural values assessment from Ngāti Hako, Waste Management engaged a consultant to identify the potential areas of concern for mana whenua, and the project's potential effects on the relationships and values.
"The proposals to address cultural effects are comprehensive and will be effective. They are intended to give due weight to Ngāti Hako's cultural values and associations with the whenua and its surrounds.
"These proposals have been developed by Waste Management in direct response to what it understands are Ngāti Hako's key concerns."
What can consumers do?
Thames-Coromandel District Council is sharing "tips and tricks" to better compost and recycle so the district can work together to reduce waste.
It is running a competition to give away a worm farm kit to compost kitchen scraps.
Follow the Council's communications channels to be in to win.
Adams said waste created huge cost, and councils faced limited options for recycling. He wanted bold solutions from manufacturers whose packaging consumers ended up having to throw away.
"Councils should be an enabler to do right and do better, not necessarily be the one that fixes all the problems we have. Sometimes we need to take a look at ourselves and decide what I can do better.
"Maybe it's our own mentality of being quick and ready and easy all the time and chucking it in the bin and forgetting about it. Before you know it, a landfill is appearing on the sides of your highways."
Students were asked if they'd changed a nappy in the days leading up to the outbreak.