Town in danger?

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 1

Town in danger?

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

The "small township of . Te Aroha on the Hauraki . - Plains south-east of Auck-' • land faces potential disaster as a result of the tailings, heap left behind' by a failed mining ven- . ture. ; " When the miners (Nor- ■ pac) failed in 1975,.'.the : company left behind 100.000 cubic metres of tailings about a kilometre from Te Aroha (population about 3000). This heap is sitting oh an artesian spring which adds to its instability, particularly as the area is, renowned for ;,its : periodic torrential rains.

As . well as the sheer size of the tailings heap, Te Aroha is threatened by 1 the contents of it leaking into rivers ■. feeding the town’s water supplies. ' s , The leachate from the ; heap' now' seeping down- . hill contains ‘more than 10 times* the -World Health Organisation recommended upper-limits of lead, zinc, silver,, arsenic', cadmium, and sulphuric acid. The threat is being coped with by the Hauraki Catchment Board. It has made weekly inspections of the heap for five years, and has spread gravel over it to keep it stable. Affected streams have, been diverted • from enter-

ing” the town water supply.

But these, are short-term measures. A long-term solution depends on agreement between the Catchment Board and the Mines Division of the Ministry of Energy on who will pay.

There is no legislative provision for the Mines Division to pay after the collapse of the mining company, but the Catchment Board cannot afford to clean up the tailings itself.

The result is. that the highly unstable and toxic tailings . heap; remains close to Te Aroha