Dear Jane,

RE: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR INFORMATION REQUEST 24-0116

Thank you for your request for information dated 9th September 2024 which was received by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Council) on 10th September 2024.

Your request for information is being considered as a request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

We will make a decision on your request and communicate this decision to you as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 8th October 2024 which is 20 working days after the day on which we received your request as per section 13(1) LGOIMA. We will then make available any information we decide to release to you without undue delay.

We are entitled to charge for a request for information if we consider it is reasonable to do so. If we decide to charge you for the information requested then we are not obligated to release the information to you if you do not agree to pay the charge.

Our LGOIMA responses may be published on the Council website. If we do this, we will not publish the requester’s personal or contact details. Please contact us if you have any concerns.

If you contact the Council about this request, please quote the BOPRC reference number above

Ngā Mihi │ Kind regards,

Carol
Carol Flynn
Information Advisor

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana
P: 0800 884 880
E: [email address]
W: www.boprc.govt.nz
A: PO Box 364, Whakatāne 3158, New Zealand

MY HOURS OF BUSINESS ARE 6:00AM – 2.30PM

Thriving together – mō te taiao, mō ngā tāngata

-----Original Message-----
From: Jane Reed <[FOI #28343 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2024 5:34 AM
To: Web Info Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Pyrolysis plant emissions testing Rainbow Mountain

Dear Bay of Plenty Regional Council,
I am writing to request copies of all air & soil testing undertaken by Rainbow Mountain Renewable Energy and Bay of Plenty Regional Council for the duration of the trial for the pyrolysis plant.

Did BOP Regional Council undertake regular air monitoring of this site? If so what are the results? If not, why not?

Has BOP Regional Council conducted soil testing for increased pollutants from this site & surrounding areas? If so, what are the results? If not, why not?

What overall measures did BOP Council take to ensure the health and safety of nearby residents & properties with known air pollutants from Pyrolysis Plants such as the one at Rainbow Mountain?

What volume of Waste was processed through the plant? What volume of waste was disposed of from the plant? - i.e landfilled

Did BOP Regional Council undertake toxicology reports on the waste being disposed of at the end of the process, to better understand the make up of the leachates being disposed in landfills?

Were any special conditions placed on the waste being landfilled?

Have tourism operators, Iwi, nearby residents, farms etc been notified of this trial? And involved in the consenting process - if not, why not?

Yours faithfully,

Jane Reed

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Dear Ms Reed

We refer to your Request for information under the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) regarding air and soil
testing undertaken by Rainbow Mountain Renewable Energy Limited and Bay of
Plenty Regional Council for the duration of the trial for the pyrolysis
plan which was received by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Council) on
9 September 2024 and acknowledged by Council on 9 September 2024
(Request). 

Council has now made a decision on your Request.

Council has decided to provide the following information:

With regards to the LGOIMA request regarding the pyrolysis plant trial at
Rainbow Mountain (RM22-0076), I have provided a summary of the application
below. A consent was also granted for the operation of an industrial
shredder and destoner cleaning plant (RM22-0128). Claymark Group Limited
held a stormwater discharge consent for the site, which was transferred to
MetalCo in September 2021 when the site was purchased. While the LGOIMA
request only relates to the Anaerobic Thermal Reduction Pyrolysis Plant, I
have included the conditions of the shedder and destoner plant and
stormwater consent, for completeness.

I have referred to the specific questions raised in the LGOIMA request
below and attached the following supporting documents:

Consent RM22-0076: Anaerobic Thermal Reduction Pyrolysis Plant

1.       The consent conditions.

2.       Appendix A to the conditions – Stack limits, testing method and
frequency.

3.       Maps and plans attached to the consent conditions.

4.       The Council Planner’s Report.

5.       The application documents, including the applicant’s assessment
of environmental effects prepared by Mitchell Daysh Consultants.

6.        The air quality assessment provided in support of the
application, compiled by Brent Kennedy, an air quality scientist.

7.       The technical review of the application commissioned by BOPRC,
undertaken by Mr Nick Browne of Air Matters. Note: The technical review
also covered consent application RM 22-0128 for the Bonfiglioli Shredder
and Metals Separation System proposed for Rainbow Mountain.’

8.       A letter of support from Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa Runanga Trust.

9.       Site Management Plan

10.   Emergency Management Plan

11.   Sampling and monitoring plan.

12. Compliance field sheets

Consent RM22-0128: Industrial shredder and destoner cleaning plant.

 1. Consent conditions.

Consent 65172: Stormwater discharge

 1. Consent conditions.

Consent summary:

·         Rainbow Mountain Renewable Energy Limited (the consent holder)
was granted a resource consent (RM22-0076) for a trial of their Anaerobic
Thermal Reduction Pyrolysis Plant on December 22, 2022. A consent was also
granted for the operation of an industrial shredder and destoner cleaning
plant (RM22-0128).

·         The consent period was for just under two years to allow for the
import and set up of the equipment. This equipment involves the processing
of sorted plastics sourced from automotive shredder residue (ASR) and
cleaned single-source plastics through the Anaerobic-Thermal-Reduction
(ATR) plant.

·         The consent is due to expire on October 30, 2024.

·         Under the conditions of the consent, Rainbow Mountain Renewable
Energy Limited (RMRE Ltd) was allowed to undertake a trial of their
equipment for a period of no longer than six months (128 days).

·         Because the technology was new to New Zealand and there was
limited information available, the trial period was to enable RMRE Ltd to
undertake monitoring of the air discharge and any potential environmental
impacts.

·         The air monitoring data is intended to be supplied to Regional
Council (by condition of consent), who could use this to help inform any
decisions on future consent applications from RMRE Ltd.  

·         The trial period ran from March 1, 2024 to September 3, 2024.

·         A compliance officer is assigned to this consent to ensure RMRE
Ltd are complying with the conditions of their current consent.

·         As of 4 October 2024 (the time of writing this LGOIMA response),
Regional Council is awaiting the report on the trial testing required as a
condition of consent. We can forward this to you once it is received.

·         As of 4 October 2024, RMRE Ltd has not applied for any further
consents.

·         RMRE Ltd own the land on which the plant is based. They also
have consents with Rotorua Lakes Council for land use (industrial activity
in a rural zone) and noise.

o A resource consent application will require public notification if the
environmental effects are determined to be more than minor or other
criteria are met under [1]Section 95A of the Resource Management Act.
A decision on public notification will be made after any further
application is received to continue use of the pyrolysis plant.  An
applicant can also request that their consent application is publicly
notified. 

LGOIMA request -specific questions:

 1. I am writing to request copies of all air & soil testing undertaken by
Rainbow Mountain Renewable Energy and Bay of Plenty Regional Council
for the duration of the trial for the pyrolysis plant.

The consent is for an air discharge. Only air discharges are required to
be monitored and no soil testing is required. Condition 7.1 of the consent
requires the consent holder to get an accredited company to undertake
stack testing of the emissions. Condition 7.3 and Appendix A sets emission
limits.

 2. Did BOP Regional Council undertake regular air monitoring of this
site? If so what are the results? If not, why not?

As above, the consent holder is required to do air monitoring. The
Regional Council does not undertake discharge monitoring for consent
holders. Conditions of consent require that the applicant get an
independent air quality professional to undertake monitoring of the air
discharge and provide a report to the Regional Council. At the time of
responding to this request, the report had not been received. This report
can be shared, once it is received, which should be in October 2024.

 3. Has BOP Regional Council conducted soil testing for increased
pollutants from this site & surrounding areas? If so, what are the
results? If not, why not?

The Regional Council has not conducted soil testing on this site.

 4. What overall measures did BOP Council take to ensure the health and
safety of nearby residents & properties with known air pollutants from
Pyrolysis Plants such as the one at Rainbow Mountain?

The proposal was technically reviewed by an air quality expert and
conditions of consent were imposed that required monitoring, set discharge
quality limits and limits on the duration of the trial, which are all
intended to protect air quality in general and in consideration of nearby
properties.

 5. What volume of Waste was processed through the plant? What volume of
waste was disposed of from the plant? - i.e landfilled Did BOP
Regional Council undertake toxicology reports on the waste being
disposed of at the end of the process, to better understand the make
up of the leachates being disposed in landfills? Were any special
conditions placed on the waste being landfilled?

The amount of waste processed during the trial was not required to be
reported to the Regional Council. Any waste generated and disposed of must
meet the consent conditions/ acceptance criteria of the landfill that it
is sent to. Landfills and any leachate they produce are managed through
the consent that the landfill holds.

The consent was for a discharge to air and did not address the handling of
any waste. Should waste be discharge offsite, it will need to meet the
quality criteria of the landfill it is being sent to. Currently the waste
from the trial is being stored on site and has not been disposed of yet.

 6. Have tourism operators, Iwi, nearby residents, farms etc been notified
of this trial? And involved in the consenting process - if not, why
not?

The applicant consulted the following iwi groups:

·         Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa

·         Ngāti Rangitihi

·         Tūhourangi Tribal Authority

·         Ngāti Raukawa

o Te Arawa Lakes Trust

Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa Runanga Trust provided a letter (dated 29 September
2021) in support of the application (refer appendix C to the application).

The Regional Council provided the application documents to Ngāti Rangitihi
(Chris Clarke) on 7 March 2022. The conditions and Council report was sent
to both Ngāti Rangitihi and Ngāti Tahu on 22 December 2022.

A condition of the consent (condition 3.2) required that 5 days prior to
the commencement of the trial, that the consent holder invite a
representative of Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa and Tuhourangi Tribal Authority
on site.

No parties were notified of the application as the effects of the activity
beyond the site boundary were determined to be less than minor.
Contaminant limits have been set on the consent to protect air quality for
the duration of the trial.

Please note that you have the right to lodge a complaint with the
Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Act. The Ombudsman’s Office can be
contacted by calling 0800 802 602, emailing
[2][email address] or online at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.

Our LGOIMA responses may be published on the Council website.  If we do
this, we will not publish the requester’s personal or contact details. 
Please contact us if you have any concerns.

If you contact the Council about this Request, please quote the BOPRC
reference number above.

Yours faithfully

 

 

Marlene Bosch
Principal Advisor, Consents
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana

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P: 0800 884 880
W: [4]www.boprc.govt.nz
A: PO Box 364, Whakatāne 3158, New Zealand

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Thriving together – mō te taiao, mō ngā tāngata

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Good afternoon,

 

Further to the initial response to your Request for information under the
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA)
regarding air and soil testing undertaken by Rainbow Mountain Renewable
Energy Limited and Bay of Plenty Regional Council for the duration of the
trial for the pyrolysis plan which was received by the Bay of Plenty
Regional Council (Council) on 9 September 2024 and acknowledged by Council
on 9 September 2024 (Request). 

Please find attached the outstanding reports, that we indicated we would
send once received.

Kind regards,

 

Rachael Musgrave
Regulatory Coordinator
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana

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P: 0800 884 880 DD: 0800 884 881
E: [1][email address]
W: [2]www.boprc.govt.nz
A: PO Box 364, Whakatâne 3158, New Zealand

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Thriving together – mô te taiao, mô ngâ tângata

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