Posted 26th June 2001

Superdump Superdumb

( After 79 sitting days spread over nine months, the hearing by the Environment Court of Enviro Waste's application to site New Zealand's largest dump at Hampton Downs has come to an end. Judge Whiting has said he will try to have a decision by the end of September. Just three appealers - two individuals and a society - managed to stay the distance against a firm that engaged a QC, a senior law firm partner, two other staff in fulltime attendance as well as their calling thirty expert witnesses including several flown in from overseas to testify.

The appealers, who could afford no legal team, dug deep into their own pockets to finance the appeal, scratching together witnesses who were paid (if at all) a tiny fraction of the fees commanded by Enviro waste's expert witnesses. The enthusiastic lay team came across many holes (some literal) in Enviro Waste's application - suspicions are that if the case was as well funded by the objectors as it was by Enviro Waste then giant strides would be taken towards making New Zealand's waste disposal much safer and reduced in volume. Where were you Mr Tindall?

Observing the tactics of the Enviro Waste legal team first hand was sobering. It was clear that they'd simply do what it took to win, regardless of the ethics of their behaviour. One example was on the first day, when nine parties wished to join the appeal as objectors despite them all clearly having a valid interest in the case, and the law providing for them to be able to do so. One of the reasons that the Enviro Waste team gave for opposing this application was that these allowed to join, they would not be able to be pursued for costs if they lost! - they didn't like losing the ability to scare objectors with threats of costs.

On this point the judge did the commonsense thing and allowed the parties to join. The Green Party was the only currently in parliament political grouping, via its Waikato Province (where the dump will be sited) which took a public stance against the dump, with MP Nandor visited the site, and some of the hearing, and lending his opposition to the dump. Not forgetting the hikoi from Te Kauwhata to Ngaruawahia last year at which was a broad grouping of left-liberals. Many Greens appeared in the public galleries during the days of the hearing.

The assurances of Enviro Waste that leachate will be safely disposed of, that the air quality will remain fine, that one truck a minute along Hampton Downs road won't affect property values, and that there won't be a noise or pollution nuisance in the area etc etc stretches credibility to breaking point... not that that ever mattered much to lawyers and their benefactors.