$25m Te Tiriti redress deal agreed for contaminated Blenheim land

A $25 million redress deal for Te Tiriti breaches has been agreed for land near Blenheim contaminated with 'forever chemicals'.

Soil polluted with the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at Woodbourne Air Force base prevented three Kurahaupō iwi getting land it wanted as part of the redress.

The iwi found out about the contamination during due diligence negotiations by Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kuia and the Rangitāne o Wairau Settlement Trust with the Defence Force in 2019.

"The discovery of PFAS contamination raised significant alarm for the Kurahaupō," the Rangitāne o Wairau Settlement Trust said on its website in May.

Negotiators had to go back to the drawing board.

In May, Rangitane said the $25m did not "adequately acknowledge the full extent of the losses we have endured as iwi", but "is the most pragmatic and appropriate course of action given the circumstances".

On Wednesday, the government praised the iwi.

"I know this mahi has presented everyone involved with challenges, and I particularly want to acknowledge and thank the iwi for their resolution to move forward," Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka said in a statement.

"The $25.2m ... compensates the iwi for being unable to purchase the remainder of the site due to the extent of the contamination, which includes the operational land and housing block."

The three iwi each got $8.4m. The money was set aside in Budget 2023, and confirmed in this year's Budget, a decade after an enabling bill was passed.

The iwi had bought a few hectares off Defence in 2017, after which "unforeseen contamination issues came to light" - it was "highly unlikely" it would have bought the land if it had known earlier, Rangitane said.

"PFAS has the potential to enter the food chain and contaminate drinking water sources, posing potentially serious health risks to humans and wildlife," it said.

A cash settlement with the Crown became the "only remaining viable option".

The PFAS are in a plume of groundwater that extends under hundreds of hectares around the base. Studies show plumes tend to spread at varying speeds and probably will last for centuries - the other major one is under Ohakea Air Force base near Bulls.

Recent monitoring of bores at Woodbourne has shown mostly low levels, but a couple of recent spikes, too.

One source of PFAS was firefighting foam. Two types of PFAS in foam were banned in 2006, but some airport fire crews and an oil company kept using them for years afterwards. Foams with other types of PFAS in them were being by Defence and FENZ in 2018.

Documents have shown that NZDF knew about PFAS contamination in 2016, though the public was not told till late 2017.

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