? Celebrating Petone?s sporting legacy
The $14 million clean-up
The $14 million clean-up of Waiwhetu Stream went into a tail-spin shortly before Christmas, but the two councils funding the project are positive it?s back on track. Greater Wellington Regional Council flood protection manager Graeme Campbell says the new site manager, Tim Portus, will need to handle accountability better than the previous manager John Isles, who has been retained at the project to work in a technical capacity. ?Tim will clarify reporting to make sure things are accounted for, and there will be more catch-up meetings on the site. ?It?s disappointing that people made personal attacks in the media, people always try to do the best they can,? says Mr Campbell. All the clean-fill material from the site is being trucked to Silverstream Landfill, along with the more toxic ?Waiwhetu Sludge?. The same volume of material is being removed but because of higher levels of contamination more continuous testing is being employed. ?The proportion of contaminated material is likely to increase, and we are franticly working now to find out the cost implications. ?We will present the information to the politicians and it?s up to them if they want to get more funding,? he says. The timeframe for completing the clean-up work is still September 2010, and the removal of 800 cubic meters of material from the Wainuiomata clean-tip is ?not much in a $14 million dollar project?. ?We have done testing at the [Wainuiomata] site and are happy it?s clear, we will now work with the community board to get them independent testing, until they are satisfied,? Mr Campbell says. Greater Wellington Regional Council agreed to removing 15 truckloads from the Wainuiomata clean-tip and paying for independent scientific testing.
