Groundwater Quality Near Landfill Improved By Project Aqua
The construction of Project Aqua would improve groundwater quality in the vicinity of the Uxbridge Landfill due to the
separation of the base of the landfill from the water table, says Meridian Energy spokesman Alan Seay.
Mr Seay was commenting on Meridian Energy’s response to a request for further information from the Otago Regional
Council as part of Project Aqua’s consent process.
“This separation will remove the potential for direct contact between refuse and groundwater because the water level
would be lowered below the landfill and out of contact with its contents,” he said.
The edge of the Project Aqua canal would be cut about 120 metres from the landfill, which was closed in 1996 and
contains 12,500 cubic metres of buried waste.
Mr Seay said that change in the direction of groundwater flow would result in seepage from the landfill area into the
canal.
“But high dilution of this water is likely, and we plan to monitor it carefully,” said Mr Seay.
Project Aqua is a proposed hydro-electricity scheme with a 60-kilometre canal, six hydro power stations, two outfalls
and new high-voltage transmission lines. It would run along the south side of the lower Waitaki Valley, from an intake
at Kurow to an outfall 6 km from the coast. It would generate about 3000 GWh in an average year and 2000 GWh in a very
dry year.
Copies of the information supplied to the council are available from Meridian Energy by calling 0800 AQUA INFO, or
downloadable from the Project Aqua website. www.meridianenergy.co.nz/projectaqua/