Ban marine dumping of dredged material

Aotea Great Barrier Island is surrounded on all sides by the pristine waters of the Hauraki gulf and the Pacific ocean.

For a decade local residents and iwi have challenged a plan by a private company Coastal Resources Limited that wanted to unload 140 barge-loads annually of contaminated sludge dredged from the sea floor off the coast of their island for the next 35 years.

Sadly the traditional hāpuka grounds have already been destroyed by previous dumping of sediment. Allowing massive marine sludge dumping is unacceptable.

Protect Aotea went to court to appeal the decision to give the consent - and we won! In December 2019, our High Court appeal against the granting of consent by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Coastal Resources Limited (CRL) to dump 250,000 cubic metres of marine sludge off the coast of Aotea Great Barrier Island was successful - effectively quashing the decision of the EPA.

Kelly Klink, of Protect Aotea, says, “While we are relieved to have won the court case to prevent CRL’s appalling dumping of toxic waste sludge into our pristine marine environment, we are deeply concerned and unhappy about the extremely destructive ongoing practice of waste dumping within the RMA and Exclusive Economic Zone.”

“We are determined to ensure that new, environmentally sound policies are urgently put in place to ensure that less damaging alternatives to marine dumping are deployed – such as proper disposal of waste on land or engaging the process of mudcrete.”

“We are concerned that there is currently no meaningful consideration of alternative methods of disposal of the dredged material, rather the waste is dumped directly into our precious moana. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

We are uniting again to stop the marine dumping of dredged waste happening to other communities in Aotearoa. We call on the Government to change the law that will ban this harmful method of dumping waste and enforce alternative methods.

All policy and law-making should acknowledge a tikanga Māori approach to achieving well being for our moana.

Such a policy will enable local hapū and iwi to properly manage and care for the taonga species that depend on a healthy marine environment to survive; which is intrinsic to the Government’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligation to Māori to ensure traditional fishing grounds are protected for generations to come.

We call on the New Zealand government to respect the mana and will of the tangata whenua and help protect the health and wellbeing of our oceans through our laws.

With legal protection tangata whenua and the community will reconnect with the moana and implement a tikanga Māori approach to achieving well being for our still-pristine coastlines.

Add your name to ban marine dumping of dredged material in any part of beautiful Aotearoa.

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Great Barrier residents win reprieve over dredged waste increase, Dec 2019 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12290755

More than 200 people marched up Auckland's Queen Street, June 2019 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1356765834504795

March to Protect Aotea, Great Barrier Island, June 2019 http://www.ngatiwai.iwi.nz/our-stories/march-to-protect-aotea-great-barrier-island

Large scale marine dumping near Great Barrier concerning, July 2019 https://www.miragenews.com/large-scale-marine-dumping-near-great-barrier-concerning