Smelter line-up

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 17

Smelter line-up

It now seems as certain as anything can be that New Zealand will have a second aluminium smelter. However, none of the four suggested sites — Aramoana Point or Wickliffe Bay in Dunedin, Tiwai Point in Invercargill, or Washdyke in Timaru — has achieved undisputed favouritism.

Now a fifth possibility has been thrown into the ring — Oamaru. It was suggested in 1974 when the second smelter was first proposed by the now defunct Otago Metals, Ltd, in conjunction with Alusuisse, which is a party to the new syndicate with the Fletcher Group and Colonial Sugar. Tiwai Point has the advantage that it congregates sources of pollution into one area rather than dispersing them, has harbour facilities, is in a barren area, but is close to a major source of population for-its workforce. A drawback is that it involves taking all the energy supplies in the wrong direction from their source instead of associating them with the energy structure, and two intern&tional consortia produc-

ing an Identical product! do not want to be bang alongside each other. Aramoana Point is also close to a source of labour, is close to potential harbour facilities, and is in the right place to plug into future energy developments. However, it is also close to a popular holiday spot which is also a significant nature reserve, and pollution from the smelter threatens cities, townships, and productive farmland almost all around it. Wickliffe Bay has the advantages of Aramoana Point with less severe disadvantages, but transport to and from Wickliffe Bay will be difficult and expensive no matter which mode is preferred. It also has the added complication of requiring Maori tribal land to be made available. Washdyke seems to have more advantages than the others. It is on the right line for energy supplies, it is a barren area, it is close to a developed port, and a potential workforce, and it poses few environmental prob-

lems, Carrying the alumina the few kilometres from the Port of Timaru to the site will not be easy. The Railways are not geared to provide short-haul services economically, and carriage by road involves trucking it through downtown Timaru all day and all night. Oamaru, too, has its pros and cons. The harbour would need to be dredged and kept dredged, but the hills just to the south of Oamaru offer a number of potential sites with ready road access, and pollution could be dispersed over a sparsely, inhabited area. ’ The level of pollutant emission from the smelter .will be crucial to its sighting. There have been , reports that the consortium is confident it can treat 98 per cent of its pollution before discharging it. The resulting two per cent of toxic wastes liberated into the atmosphere or water may not be much over an hour or day or week, but over a year it could provide tremendous problems for those living or working within range, .

By

OLIVER RIDDELL