B-3 – Area 3 - Assessment of Environmental Effects 50 Sections 7.6.1.2 (Management of Water Resources) and 7.6.1.6 (Discharges onto or into land) of this statutory evaluation consider the effects of discharges in accordance with Objectives 3.1.2 and 5.2.2; 60 The discharges of grout and overburden to groundwater will not affect the assimilative capacity of surface water bodies or the utilisations of water allocation within those waterbodies; 61 The discharges of contaminants and overburden to groundwater within the WUG will not give rise to any adverse flooding, erosion or siltation effects;62 and As discussed in Section 5.3 of this AEE, spoil management techniques similar to those employed for the WUG will be used to manage the effects of the disposal of overburden to land. With these measures in place, the effects on groundwater quality will be minimised. 63 In light of the above, and the further management measures set out in Section 6 of the AEE, overall the activities in Area 3 will not have adverse effects that are inconsistent with the water management objectives in Section 3.1.2, will not have adverse effects that are inconsistent with the discharges to land objectives in Section 5.1.2 and will not reduce the contaminant assimilative capacity of water bodies located at the surface such that allocable flows are unable to be utilised for out of stream uses. The management of non-point discharges is guided by the policies in Section 3.9 of the Waikato Regional Plan. Of particular relevance is Policy 1 which seeks to reduce the adverse effects of non-point source discharge arising from land uses and activities by minimising the leaching and run-off of contaminants and sediment into water, avoiding bed and bank erosion and instability and recognising and avoiding the effects of non-point discharges on the relationship tangata whenua as Kaitiaki have with water. The policy also seeks to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects on rivers and their margins to maintain and enhance natural character. Of particular note: • As described in Section 5.3, geochemical modelling confirms that in general, the andesite material which is likely to be encountered during the development of the Wharekirauponga Access Tunnel is likely to be elevated in mercury, antimony and arsenic; OGNZL has utilised a combination of methods to effectively manage this type of overburden at its Waihi operations to date, and it is proposed that management of 60 Objective 3.5.2(a) and (b) and Policy 2(a), Section 3.5, Waikato Regional Plan. 61 Objective 3.5.2(c), Section 3.5, Waikato Regional Plan. 62 Objective 3.5.2(c), Section 3.5, Waikato Regional Plan. 63 Policy 5, Section 3.5.3, Waikato Regional Plan.
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