John McCallum checks on the site of a truck crash at Te Poporo near Taupō where tonnes of krill oil and packaged meat fell into the water. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
John McCallum checks on the site of a truck crash at Te Poporo near Taupō where tonnes of krill oil and packaged meat fell into the water. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
A notorious section of State Highway 1 where a truck crashed into Lake Taupō three weeks ago was denied a major safety upgrade in the most recent road funding round.
On November 6, part of Lake Taupō was turned bright reddish-orange after a truck crashed, spilling tonnes of meat and krill oil into the water at Te Poporo.
It is the latest in a series of accidents at the torturous stretch of road squeezed between rock cliffs and the lake edge, in an area surrounding Bulli Point.
Jess Andrew, regional manager of system design for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said a concept was developed in 2020 to widen the road towards the lake at Te Poporo, the overhanging rock just north of Bulli Point, where the truck went off the road.
“This would provide more width for trucks passing at this point and improve the resilience of the road. Due to funding constraints, this was not funded in the current National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) period, but we are exploring options for funding this work in the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme.”
A more comprehensive solution to the whole area, including Bulli Point, would require a new section of highway inland from Lake Taupō.
Krill oil and milk powder escapes into Lake Taupō after a truck crashes off SH1 at Te Poporo on November 6. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
“A new state highway away from the lake, between Taupō and Tūrangi or Waiouru, has been investigated in the past; however, it is challenging and very expensive, requiring extensive property purchase and complex environmental matters to be considered. Any further work on a new offline state highway will require it to be weighed up against other national priorities.”
She said a new state highway would also be considered again for funding in the next NLTP.
A separate solution to just fix the issue at Bulli Point was more challenging than nearby Te Poporo because of a pa site on the rock above, which is significant to iwi, Andrews said.
“We appreciate the concerns raised by the community and the risks inherent in this stretch of state highway, which is notoriously narrow, especially for trucks.
“The topography provides a number of challenges when considering potential ways to make the road safer, given its proximity to both the lake on one side and steep cliff faces on the other.”
John and Elizabeth McCallum spend a lot of time at their holiday home in Jellicoe Point, just north of Te Poporo, and are all too familiar with the vehicles plummeting off the road into the lake.
They are worried about a casual attitude towards the environment of the lake and whether authorities are even prepared for a major toxic spill.
Krill oil and packaged meat escapes into Lake Taupō after a truck crashes off SH1 at Te Poporo on November 6. Photo / Waikato Regional Council
John has been holidaying at the family bach his whole life.
“I’ve been coming here 66 years. Over the years trucks have gone over just behind us here - sheep trucks and cattle trucks, rolling on the road coming down the hill behind us, brakes going, they roll over.
“There is a little memorial for someone in the bushes at Bulli Point ... someone put a plaque there. He went straight off the end of the (point) in a truck quite a number of years ago but it seems to be only the fatalities that people want to know about.
John witnessed a car going off the road into the lake when he was out in his boat just out from Bulli Point a few years back but fortunately, the lake was at a low level at the time.
“The car was upside down but he still got out. Amazing.”
When the latest accident happened at 4.10am, NZ Police and Fire and Emergency NZ were quickly on the scene and salvage crews worked through the day and the following night to get the road opened. It took almost three days to clear the road on the previous major accident in the area about 18 months ago.
John said two or three tonnes of expensive-looking, pre-packaged meat destined for Europe was fished out of the lake after the incident by divers.
“It was carpeting the bottom of the lake for a few days and it eventually started rotting and floating and washing up on the beach here. I was collecting it in piles. The harbourmaster was pretty good. He came out and collected it and took it away.”
Elizabeth said everyone they spoke to was helpful but she got “no sense of who was in charge at the top of the tree”.
She said initially it was Fire and Police in charge and then Waikato Regional Council and then it seemed to get passed on to the Harbourmaster, who had to borrow a larger boom from Genesis Energy to contain the oil spill.
Waikato Regional Council incident response team leader Wayne Reed said who was in charge depended on factors like the type of material, volume, location, whether people were injured or vehicles were involved, and the lead agency may change over time as an event unfolds.
“Certainly, Waikato Regional Council has a strong interest in any contamination event and mitigating any environmental effects that may arise. We have contingencies in place to respond to such events in Lake Taupō.
“These contingencies draw in support from a number of local stakeholders and involve access to various resources, including containment booms. We are in regular communication with responders and train for such events.”
Elizabeth said the environment is “front and centre of everything” these days.
“Imagine if a jewel in the crown like this got completely contaminated by a dreadful chemical spill.”
Waka Kotahi’s Jess Andrews said environmental concerns were always factored into investment decision making and one of the five transport outcomes identified in the current 2021-2024 Governmment Policy Statement is “environmental sustainability”.
