Environment

Landfill management crucial
Call for sewage to move
Asbestos problem surfaces again
Enviro money matters
CI at climate change talks
Study on financing climate change

Tai Nooapii addresses the Environmental Forum about the future of waste management contractors not separating recycling. 10072103

According to Waste Management manager, Tai Nooapii, the landfill in Arorangi will last around 12 more years. But whether or not it lasts that long, or whether its life is extended beyond that, depends on how well waste collection goes, as well as how well the landfill site is maintained.

Noopaii said that 20 per cent of the waste which goes into the landfill could have been recycled. But he acknowledged that people in the community are generally doing a good job of separating their waste.

The way waste is collected by contractors is often the cause of these problems. He said that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning were looking into extending the length of contracts for private waste collection companies from one to five years to encourage contractors to invest in staff training and in vans which allow them to separate rubbish effectively.

Another proposal being considered is separating the days on which recycling is collected, from the days that landfill waste is collected, making it impossible for waste collectors to mix the two up.

Noopaii said that it is essential to maintain the life of the landfill – which he said is currently one third full – as long as possible as finding another site for a second one would be incredibly difficult. Landowners in general do not want their lands used for landfill, and communities are likely to reject any proposals for landfill on the basis that no-one wants a waste management centre in their vaka. But he added that the better the site was managed, the more likely landowners would agree that their land could be used for this environmentally important activity in the future.

It is possible that the life of the landfill could be extended beyond the stated 12 years to around 15 years with careful management, recycling, and going back to the base of the landfill and compacting old waste.

Waste managers are also looking at the potential for turning rubbish into energy through incineration.

• Nerys Case

JacQUi Evans, who until recently worked for Public Health, has expressed her support for moving the regulation of sewage to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning.

Speaking at the National Environmental Forum yesterday, she said that the technical nature of the rules meant that it was appropriate that people have an understanding of engineering issues.

But she also raised concerns that officers needed to have an understanding of both health and environmental issues to enforce the rules properly.

Evans, who is now programme manager at Te Ipukarea Society, said that what had so far limited the enforcement of sewage regulations was the lack of manpower and resources in the ministry of health, saying that staff often had many other responsibilities and were often not free to attend full time training on how to enforce sewage regulations.

Evans reported back to attendees of the forum on efforts to try and clean up practices on land to prevent sewage leakage into the lagoon which have been successful over the past five years.

Crucially Public Health has got a commitment from NZAID and AUSAID to upgrade septic tank systems on Rarotonga and Aitutaki.

Other key successes have been creating a method of working out the environmental impact of housing tourists, and what safe levels of tourism are according to the amount of sewage generated. They have also strengthened the Public Health Act to outlaw the burning of plastics, and closed down three piggeries using the Public Health Piggery Waste Policy. They are pursuing a case against another pig farmer, who would not change his practices to keep pig waste out of streams, through the courts.

Evans called for more cooperation between organisations and departments to tackle the interconnected environmental problems faced by the Cook Islands.

• Nerys Case

Cyclone Pat left behind a waste headache on Aitutaki. 10021134

The devastation caused to Aitutaki by Cyclone Pat in February has highlighted again the problem of asbestos in the country – or more correctly what to do with the asbestos.

On the last day of the National Environment Forum yesterday, Vavia Bobby, an environment officer from Aitutaki, said the cyclone had not only destroyed their homes and vegetation but had left behind a mountain of waste.

He said this included about 90 to 100 tonnes of roofing iron, white ware, green waste and asbestos from damages and destroyed buildings. While there was an urgent need for a metal crusher to deal with the bulk metal, there was no solution to the asbestos disposal.

This sparked a discussion at the forum as to what the plan was to dispose of the unwanted asbestos. No one, including the government agencies attending, seemed to offer a solution.

The only mention of anything remote came from the National Environment Service’s Deyna Marsh, who said in her presentation that they offered training to handle asbestos.

The meeting heard that it was continuing debate and that neither Australia nor New Zealand where most of the asbestos came from in the first place would accept it.

The most common solution seemed to be to bury the asbestos as was the practice on Mauke, although this again raised problems as landowners didn’t want it buried on their land.

The meeting agreed that it was a crucial issue and at present there were no solutions to a problem which has been ongoing for years.

In November 2007 the Cook Islands government disposed of about 300 tonnes of asbestos on the old cargo vessel Miss Mataroa when the ship was scuttled. The asbestos laden ship now lies about 10 nautical miles northwest of Rarotonga at a depth of over 3km on the sea floor and the Government came under heavy criticism for this action.

Yesterday’s meeting heard from a number of outer island environment officers who gave an update on their work.

Kau Henry from Atiu said with no recycling service available, waste including plastic bottles, car batteries and white ware were simply dumped at a disposal site. He said while some of this came down to community ignorance, there were simply no solutions being offered.

He suggested imposing levies on goods brought to the island, on bottles for example, to fund recycling options.

Perhaps one of the most significant reports came from Mauke where they are working on a plastic ban.

Waste and waste disposal were the common themes from all the outer islands.

The forum ended yesterday with the next one planned for mid-2012.

• Martin Tiffany

Probably one of the most important discussions as this week’s National Environment Forum was left until last at the three-day gathering.

The last panel session on the last day of the conference on Thursday discussed the funding of environmental activities basically all the things that had been discussed prior to this at the forum at the AOG hall at Takuvaine.

To his credit, financial secretary Kevin Carr told it like it was. He said given that there was no major increase in revenue for the government, there would be no increase in the funds allocated to environmental issues in the upcoming Budget.

He said as they were working towards a balanced Budget this year they also had to look at other areas of priority that needed funding.

Carr said perhaps an option was to look as more user-pays options for generating revenue. He gave water as an example and said while some landowners may argue that they should have to pay for water that comes from their land, it was actually the cost of getting the water to your house.

Responding to a question from the floor regarding to what happened to the $5 cut from the departure tax that used to go to funding environmental activities, Carr said this used to amount to around $500,000 a year. He said now the environment was allocated three times that amount about $1.6 million a year.

He said people had to be realistic about what to expect.

“We can’t do everything.....we can’t get everything we want,” Carr said.

A number of speakers on the panel spoke of avenues to possibly pursue to get funding through various organisations for projects, with some giving examples of success they have had.

• Martin Tiffany

Teresa Miimetua Matamaki is one of 14 Pacific islanders who leave for the United States today to explore emerging climate change policies.

Matamaki is the second national communications project coordinator at the Cook Islands National Environment Service. The 14 are all involved in climate change adaptation and mitigation in their respective countries and are set to undertake a comprehensive three-week programme in the US to explore emerging policies to address climate change using advances in renewable energy sources, markets, research and innovation. Representing government departments, regional organisations, civil society and conservation groups from 13 Pacific Island countries, the participants will be part of the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Programme.

Arranged by the Institute of International Education, the programme offers the participants insight into activities that are leading to diversification and reliance on alternative energy in the US at the local, state and federal levels.

Dr Norman Barth, the Regional Environmental Officer for the Pacific based at the US Embassy in Suva, Fiji, says the Department of State is delighted to provide an opportunity to the islanders to visit the United States on a climate change study tour.

“The tour will give them an up-close and detailed view of how the United States is confronting this complex topic and its challenges at all levels  federal, state, and local,” Dr Barth said.

“The tour is also an opportunity for these Pacific islanders to bring their stories to the United States, and we look forward to valuable people-to-people interactions as well, which will be of great benefit to America.” Participants will travel to distinct areas and key environmental sites of the United States to broaden their understanding of the differing levels of influence and responsibility at the national, state and local levels, and how the environmental decisions formulated at the national level affect local, as well as international, interests.

• US Embassy, Suva

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has commenced a study with a view to establishing a regional Climate Change Fund or other mechanism. It will aim to help Pacific island countries improve access to and management of the various financial resources being committed globally to combat climate change.

The study responds to recommendations of the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable held in the Marshall Islands in 2009. Delegates to the Roundtable meeting had expressed concern that, while millions of dollars in climate change funding are currently available at the global level, the Pacific region faces challenges in the ability to access this funding.

• SPREP