Work begins to repair historic Reefton landfill

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

Repair work on the river rock wall protecting the historic Reefton landfill began this week.

The Buller District Council said the northern bank of the closed Reefton Landfill was scoured away by the Inangahua River during February 2022's severe weather event, causing waste to be swept away.

Major clean-up and river training works have been ongoing since to prepare for work to shore up the wall to withstand a 1 in a 50-year flood.

Council infrastructure delivery manager Eric de Boer said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) would contribute nearly $1 million towards the project.

"This NEMA funding will help Buller repair its essential infrastructure following the floods. However, the funding does not extend to strengthening the full length of the wall as some sections were not directly affected by the floods."

The council had resolved to contribute $250,000 to strengthen these remaining sections, meaning the whole project was expected to cost about $1.3m, he said.

The work was being carried out by Reefton-based Rosco Contractors Ltd. It began on Monday and was scheduled to be complete by mid-August.

WSP Consulting Engineers (WSP) designed the remedial work on the landfill and prepared the resource consent application.

The repair would involve 12,000 tonnes of rock being placed into the protection works. The rock would be sourced locally, the council said.

“This is great progress for the community and for the environment as it will see the risk of future damage to the old landfill significantly reduced. A lot of planning and careful consideration has gone into this project, and it is great to see it get underway,” de Boer said.