Headaches over who'll pay for clean-up of toxic waste created by Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter

March 6, 2018

Southland residents have been campaigning for the material to be shipped overseas.

The government has announced it will only pay part of the cost of cleaning up thousands of tonnes of toxic waste created at the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter in Bluff, with Southland building owners having to meet the rest.

Locals have been campaigning for the waste, no longer owned by the smelter and now stored in various sites around Southland, to be shipped overseas. They say it's hazardous to their health.

"In the humid and damp weather they can smell the toxic fumes, and they're getting headaches and bronchial problems," Mataura resident Laurel Turnbull told 1 NEWS.

The company responsible for dealing with the waste has gone into liquidation, leaving a big mess for the building owners, council, and government.

"All parties are upset, all parties feel like punching someone, but instead all they do is punch thin air.

"Because the real culprit here is a liquidator company that has disappeared," Councilman Stephen Parry says.

It will cost around $4 million to ship the waste offshore. The government won't pay it all, and the landlords involved have been asked to contribute.

It's hoped the situation can be resolved in the next two weeks.

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