Goudie Sandra: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Goudie Sandra: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:673;Page:19233] 
4. 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: What response has there been to the Government’s announcements on contaminated sites and in particular the planned clean-up of the most dangerous site at the Tui Mine on Mt Te Aroha? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 The announcement of the funding and plan has been welcomed by the district and regional councils by the community and by local iwi. I acknowledge the strong advocacy of that member for the risk of this unstable tailings dam to be addressed and also the work of the Green Party as a result of which our memorandum of understanding includes work to stabilise and make safe this particularly dangerous contaminated site. 
Sandra Goudie 
: What lessons have been learnt from the last major contaminated site clean-up at Mapua which resulted in a very negative report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and significant concern by local residents to ensure that the clean-up of the Tui Mine is properly managed? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: It is widely accepted that there were significant failings by the previous Government in the Mapua clean-up. I am pleased to assure the member that we are taking a quite different approach. The ministry is funding the project but not managing it on a day-to-day basis. The ministry does not have the appropriate skills—nor is it realistic—to project-manage a complex job like this from Wellington. The technologies being employed have been successfully tried and tested and we have also put effective monitoring in place. These projects are notoriously difficult but I am satisfied we are applying world best practice. 
Catherine Delahunty 
: Tena koutou e te Whare. Will the Minister consider further funding for bioremediation of toxic sites given the successful model of clean-up being piloted at contaminated timber treatment sites in Whakatane? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Firstly I want to acknowledge the very constructive work of that member on the issue of contaminated sites and the progress we have been able to make in respect of the Tui Mine. In respect of her specific question yes the ministry has a contestable fund for assisting sites like those in Whakatane which she has raised. Funding would be considered on merit relative to other applications. In terms of any specific technology I would need to rely on expert advice as to whether it was the best way in which to ensure that the sites she refers to remain safe. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Kia ora tatou. Was the pentachlorophenol poisoning and E. coli in Rotorua’s Puarenga Stream included in the Government’s announcement on contaminated sites; if not what action will the Minister take to ensure this issue is addressed? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: The member has raised as he did in my recent visit to Rotorua the specific issues of that stream. That is more majorly an issue of water quality and there are some technical questions as to where the source of contamination is coming from: whether it is the previous timber treatment site up the catchment whether it is the previous sewerage works or whether there are other activities in that catchment that are causing it. When we get the technical advice from Environment Bay of Plenty as to the source of that contamination we will decide whether it is a contaminated site or whether we have a water clean-up issue on our hands.