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Investigators are looking into claims highly toxic waste has been buried in unmapped sites at Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. Source: 1 NEWS
By Phil Pennington of rnz.co.nz
This includes spent cell liner (SCL) waste that contains cyanide and toxic fluoride, and is banned from being buried untreated in both the US and Australia.
The warning last October from the compliance section of the regional council Environment Southland is in documents released to RNZ under the OIA. Former staff of the smelter report burying of spent cell linings or contaminated material in various parts of the Tiwai site, said the report into key matters for cleaning up the huge site next to conservation land once the smelter shuts in 2024.
Claims highly toxic waste buried at Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter
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Tiwai Point.
Photo: Graham Dainty 2012
Negotiations between the government and New Zealand Aluminium Smelters which is owned by Rio Tinto have entered rocky territory, with frustration boiling over at the lack of information being provided by the owners of the Tiwai Point plant in Southland.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has written to Rio Tinto to say the government has suspended talks with the company until it commits to a high standard of remediation ahead of the Bluff plant shutting down in 2024.
Rio Tinto has previously told RNZ it would conduct a study of how to close Tiwai Point in a responsible manner, with input from independent scientists.