Te Raekaihau Point. Photo: RNZ / Nick James

Report from RNZ by Nick James
The Wellington City Council will dig up 1000 cubic metres worth of asbestos, arsenic, lead and other materials at a scenic South Coast beach.

In late 2021, a member of the public told local authorities they could see asbestos on a bank at Te Raekaihau Point, which sits between Lyall Bay and Princess Bay, an area popular for walkers, runners and cyclists.

In July 2022 and August 2023 the council did investigations of the site which found evidence of asbestos, oil, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, zinc, arsenic and lead. It appeared the area was used for sand extraction in the 1930s, with it being back filled with waste likely in the 1950s or 60s.

A council spokesperson said the risk to human health and the environment is low, but the location of the site is vulnerable to storm surges – it is low-lying, only several metres away from the high tide mark and is starting to erode.

To fix the site, just over 1000 cubic metres of material would need to be excavated, wrapped and moved to the southern landfill.

It was urgent work for the council, as it would have to be done by April in order to relocate skinks and geckos, which can only be moved between October and April.

Funding to complete the work was provided via the $30 million Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund announced by the government in October, but the actual price tag was not known due to commercial sensitivities.

Throughout the Wellington region there are more than 100 closed landfill sites, many under popular parks and reserves.

Environment scientist Dr Jeff Seadon told RNZ finding a site like this was not surprising.

“What we’ve got is something in the order of hundreds if not thousands of these sites around New Zealand. A lot of these sites are known by councils, but there are also a lot that are still unfound or undetected.”

Seadon said during the 19th and 20th centuries, waste was often dumped because it was convenient and created some extra land. He said with larger storm surges and sea level rise, these dumps were being swept out and exposed.

“We’ve got an ongoing problem and cleaning them up is an expensive process.”

He said a recent example of this was the Fox River, where in 2019 an old landfill was exposed during flooding, and thousands of kilograms of rubbish were washed out to sea.

“Just the clean up from that was $3 million, and that’s just one of hundreds around New Zealand.”

Seadon told RNZ materials such as asbestos, lead and arsenic leaking into the water could be harmful for humans when shellfish (mollusks) pick them up.

“Just eating one mollusk isn’t going to do anything to people, but over time the accumulation can affect human health, and of course up through the food chain as well.”

The Wellington City Council expects the excavation and removal of the material to take two to three weeks once it starts. Planting work at the site will be done in the winter months after the excavation.