Toxic sawdust at Tāhunanui beach covered ahead of spring tides

Toxic sawdust on Tāhunanui’s Back Beach exposed and eroded by last weekend’s heavy rainfall and large waves has been covered with geotextile cloth and sand ahead of large spring tides expected next week.

Earlier this month the Nelson City Council released a report into the contamination of sawdust dumped at the site from a local timber business in the 1960s. Testing confirmed the presence of arsenic, chromium, copper, and boron, and dioxins.

Cleaning up the contamination is expected to cost over $3 million.

Fencing around the area has been adjusted, and an asphalt bund was installed to divert water runoff from the carpark away from the beachfront edge.

The council has appointed a specialist consultant to manage the sawdust remediation and removal, beginning with a risk assessment report.

The council will also be submitting an application to the Ministry for the Environment’s Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund.