Silt, debris and waste

The Taskforce has collected over 1,450,000 cubic metres of silt around Te Matau-a-Māui.

A six-zone system is being used up to collect the unprecedented silt dumped on orchards, farms, roads, and residential properties. There are dedicated contractors in each zone working to collect the silt. Silt samples from silt deposit sites are being taken several times a week, and to date all the result have come back clean.

The taskforce is looking at a range of options for storing and using silt in the future, and working closely with other councils, industry, and landowners to develop solutions for the region.

There are five silt deposit sites in Esk, Pākōwhai, Omarunui, Mōteo Pā and Dartmoor.

We estimate that we've cleaned up close to 155,000 tonnes of woody debris.

In the Wairoa district, we’ve appointed a project manager to deal with the huge amount of debris around the district, and particularly along the coast, focussing on Mohaka, Māhia, Wairoa, and around bridges. We’re also working along the Napier coast and in CHB in Pōrangahau, along the Waipawa River, and in Kairakau.

Recovery methods that we are looking at will likely include stacking above the high-water line, carting to waste, and mulching.

The Taskforce has two mixed waste processing sites in Pākōwhai and Esk Valley to deal with the piles of silt mixed in with waste.

The sites are sorting through the piles of silt mixed with waste that get dropped off, with plastic, concrete, wood, tanalised timber, rubber metal, horticultural fabric, and more. The rubbish and silt gets separated by machinery and the clean silt (once tested) is then taken to a silt deposit site which the rubbish is sorted into piles and ideally reused.