The smell is putrid. It’s Toxic, Bitter ‘: Waikato’s Trash Fire That Won’t Stop

A deep-seated garbage fire is still burning two months after it started, covering two northern Waikato villages with a foul odor.

Glen Afton and Pukemiro residents are sheltering indoors with headaches and stomachaches, and say their life is being held by a landfill owner who breaks the rules.

And even though five separate government agencies are aware of the fire, none have stopped it or closed the landfill.

The fire at the Puke Coal landfill in Pukemiro, near Huntly, has been burning since Aug. 16.

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It is now deeply rooted and burning underground, authorities say. The site is also near a former coal mine, although it is unknown if the fire has reached any coal.

For months, the fire sent plumes of smoke through the valley at different times, as well as a foul stench.

While the smoke has subsided recently, the smell still comes in waves, sometimes for days.

“The smell is putrid. It’s toxic, it’s bitter, I can taste it in my mouth, ”said resident Joy Adams.

“It’s hard for me to breathe. It seems that I have actually developed asthma, surprisingly to the point where I have to go inside, I have to lock the house, and I can’t go out into the garden.

Residents recently received a letter from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the Waikato District Council, and the Waikato Regional Council advising them to close windows, doors and ventilation systems if the smoke got worse.

The letter also said that they should disconnect the water supplies from the roof if smoke or ash was visible on the roof, and advised them not to drink water if it had an unusual taste or smell.

When Stuff contacted Puke Coal owner John Campbell and replied, “You better ask the locals, there’s no fire here.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Campbell said, before hanging up.

Although no one knows how the fire started, residents suspect that non-consensual waste, such as plastic, could be burning.

Last month, Campbell was arrested for illegally taking bales of plastic that the Aucklanders thought would be recycled from the Green Gorilla recycler.

Stuff received videos and photos showing plastic dumped near a stream that eventually empties into the Waikato River.

Currently, Campbell is only allowed to collect clean landfill, demolition debris, and construction waste.

The Waikato District Council fined Campbell and told him to remove the plastic, but when Stuff visited the site recently, some plastic bullets were left.

It is not the first time Campbell has been prosecuted for violating the conditions. In 2005, he was fined $ 100,000 for illegal dumping.

Pukemiro resident Bill Rosoman said the landfill’s operations were not being monitored enough by the councils.

“We shouldn’t ask for a ransom for a guy who impedes our right to garden.

“He’s a serial polluter … he just won’t accept that he did something wrong.”

Agencies could do more to stop the fire, he said.

“At the very least, the landfill should shut down and stop receiving waste until the fire is out.”

Five agencies (Waikato Regional Council, Waikato District Council, New Zealand Fire and Emergencies, Ministry of Environment and Workplace Safety) were working on the situation, but none have been able to stop it.

A spokesperson for FENZ said the fire was deep-seated and that FENZ was not concerned that it would spread off-site.

And Waikato Regional Council compliance manager Patrick Lynch said the council did not have the tools to close the landfill.

“At the end of the day, it is up to this operator to put out the fire.”

Months earlier, the council had issued a mitigation notice to Campbell to put out the fire, to no effect.

Lynch said he was “frustrated” that it took so many resources to deal with an operator.

Currently, physically inspecting the site was risky. The fire had created cavities in the spillway, which meant it could collapse.

A council investigation into possible violations of the Resource Management Act could take weeks or months, Lynch said.

“Even if there was an enforcement action, that doesn’t help residents, that doesn’t put out the fire.”

The fire was having a terrible effect on the local community, he said.

Waikato District Council Communications Manager Jacob Quinn said the council had made a drop of drinking water for residents, though he had no reason to believe the water was affected by the fire.

In a statement, a Worksafe spokesperson said he had investigated the site and was comfortable that Puke Coal was managing the risk to workers.