Work to repair the historic Reefton landfill starting next week

Repair work on the river rock wall protecting the historic Reefton landfill will get underway on Monday the 29 May 2023.

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

Major clean-up and river training works have been ongoing since then, to prepare for this piece of work that looks to shore up the wall to withstand a 1 in a 50-year flood.

Council’s manager infrastructure delivery Eric de Boer says: “The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will contribute close to $1M towards this 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.

Council has resolved to contribute an extra $250,000 to strengthen these remaining sections when the contractor is onsite, meaning the whole project is expected to cost around $1.3 million.”

The work has been awarded to Rosco Contractors Ltd from Reefton. The works will start on Monday the 29 May 2023 and is 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 will see 12,000 tonnes of rock placed into the protection works. The rock will be sourced locally from the Reefton area.

“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,” says Mr de Boer.

-ENDS-

further information please contact:
Manager Infrastructure Delivery
Eric de Boer
eric.deboer@bdc.govt.nz