CHANNEL DEEPENING PROJECT: CONSENT APPLICATIONS September 2016 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Lyttelton Port of Christchurch is the primary international gateway for the South Island with Christchurch being the major distribution centre for inbound goods. Export cargo originates from across the South Island. Export customers include a wide variety of dairy, meat, forestry, horticultural, mineral extraction and manufacturing businesses. 1.2 Lyttelton Port is the most significant port in the South Island in terms of total tonnages of cargo and containers handled, as well as in the value of imports received and in the value of certain exports. 1.3 The importance of the Lyttelton Port has been recognised in the various statutory documents prepared under the Resource Management Act, 1991 (‘RMA’) for many years. For example, Lyttelton Port is defined as a regionally significant infrastructure under the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement, and is also variously defined as a strategic, critical, and essential infrastructure in that document. At the national level, it is recognised that a sustainable transport system requires an efficient network of safe ports, servicing national and international shipping. 1.4 Lyttelton was gazetted as a port of entry in 1849 and by the 1870s dredging operations commenced. Dredging to incrementally deepen the access channel and berth areas, and to maintain the design depths, has been carried out more or less continuously since then. 1.5 In the last forty years there has been a global trend towards increased containerization, larger container vessels and fewer port calls. This trend is driven by the economies of scale associated with the higher fuel efficiency of larger ships, and the fact that larger ships can spread costs over the higher volume of containers they can carry (thereby reducing the average cost of transporting each container). Furthermore, New Zealand is also reaching a level of tonnage where transporting cargo in larger ships is expected to be more efficient. 1.6 The sequence of earthquakes to hit Canterbury significantly damaged the Port. Consequently, the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery (Honourable Gerry Brownlee) directed Environment Canterbury to develop a Lyttelton Port Recovery Plan Chapter 1 1 September 2016 (‘Recovery Plan’) to enable the complex repair, rebuild and reconfiguration of the Port and its operations to be completed in an expeditious and efficient manner. 1.7 In November last year the Minister gazetted the Recovery Plan after a lengthy process involving community input. The elements of port recovery include, amongst other matters, a new container facility and associated berths to be constructed on a reclamation in Te Awaparahi Bay, the rebuild of the existing berths at Cashin Quay (currently underway), as well as the deepening of the shipping channel so that larger vessels can access the Port. The various projects are interrelated and relevantly the design of the wharfs and associated facilities are predicated on larger vessels being able to access the Port. 1.8 In response to the global trend of larger ships, and as part of port recovery, Lyttelton Port Company Limited (‘LPC’) now lodges its application to deepen the shipping channel so that international vessels of up to a 14.5 metre draught can access the Port during all tides. This means that the Port could accommodate up to approx. 8,000-10,000 TEU1 vessels. 1.9 The proposal is called the ‘Lyttelton Port Channel Deepening Project’ (‘Channel Deepening Project’ or CDP) and involves the following elements: a. The deepening, extension,2 and widening of the existing shipping channel; b. The deepening and extension of the ship-turning basin in the vicinity of the Port; c. The deepening and enlarging of the existing berth pockets serving Cashin Quay; d. The creation of berth pockets to serve the future container facility at Te Awaparahi Bay; e. The on-going removal of sediment that accumulates overtime in the channel, ship-turning basin and berth pockets (commonly known as ‘maintenance dredging’); and f. The removal of seabed material from Te Awaparahi Bay required for the construction of the reclamation. 1.10 All sediment to be removed, other than sediment to be removed during maintenance dredging, is proposed to be dumped at a 1,250 hectare off-shore disposal ground using 1 Twenty-foot equivalent container units. 2 The deepening of the channel means the channel increases in length. Chapter 1 2 September 2016 a large dredge vessel. Some 18 million cubic metres of material would need to be removed although it is proposed to be carried out in at least two stages. 1.11 Sediment removed during the maintenance dredging campaigns, using a smaller dredge vessel, is proposed to be disposed of at a new offshore maintenance disposal ground. The existing maintenance spoil ground at Godley Head is to continue to provide a backup to the proposed offshore maintenance spoil disposal ground and Gollans Bay is to continue to receive maintenance dredge spoil from the inner Harbour. 1.12 The drawings attached at Appendix 1 illustrate the details of the project i.e.: The existing channel that is to be deepened and widened; The approximately 6.6 km channel extension; The ship-turning basin that is to be deepened and extended; The existing and future berth areas that are to be deepened and extended; The proposed offshore spoil disposal ground for channel deepening; The offshore maintenance spoil disposal ground and the Godley Head ground; and The location of the proposed reclamation footprint in Te Awaparahi Bay for which sediment is likely to be removed during the reclaiming of land. 1.13 Further details of the project are described in Chapter 2. Project History 1.14 LPC initiated the proposal to deepen vessel access in 2007 and began consultation late in that year. Assessment work and consultation with stakeholders continued during 2008 and 2009 and an application was lodged with Environment Canterbury in December 2009. The application was initially put on hold while LPC focussed its resources on a concurrent project to expand the coal stockyard through land reclamation3 and was left on hold, and eventually withdrawn, after the major earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. 1.15 The most significant change to the present project, compared with the proposal set out in 2009 application, involves an increase in the volume of in situ sediment that needs to be removed; from 10.7 million cubic metres to approximately 18 million cubic metres. 3 This project has since been abandoned. Chapter 1 3 September 2016 1.16 This is for three reasons: a. First, the ship-turning basin and the berth pocket areas need to be extended to enable larger vessels to access the future container terminal at Te Awaparahi Bay, which has been provided for under the Recovery Plan; b. Second, the navigation width of the shipping channel needs to be increased by 20m (from 180m to 200m). Further modelling of these larger vessels determined that an additional safety factor is required; and c. Third, to remove seabed material required for the construction of the reclamation at Te Awaparahi Bay. 1.17 The other significant change is the proposal to dispose of maintenance dredge spoil at a new offshore maintenance spoil disposal ground. The orientation of the proposed offshore disposal ground for channel deepening has also been refined in response to stakeholder input. 1.18 Since 2009, there also have been advances in the modelling of the currents, waves and associated transportation of sediment. This application contains up-to-date modelling; and, together with the earlier modelling and empirical measurements, provides further confidence in the results. There has also been on-going work on how best to monitor turbidity plumes, which is explained in the assessment of environmental effects (AEE). Purpose of this Document 1.19 Resource consents are sought for the CDP (which includes both channel deepening and subsequent maintenance dredging of the channel created after deepening) and dredging required for the construction of the reclamation at Te Awaparahi Bay. The consents sought are: Channel Deepening a. To dredge (disturb) seabed material for purposes of deepening, extending and widening a shipping (navigation) channel that includes a ship-turning basin and berth pockets; and to dredge (disturb) seabed material for the purposes of construction of a reclamation in Te Awaparahi Bay; b. To discharge contaminants (dredge spoil and water) into water; c. To discharge contaminants (seabed material and water) into water associated with dredging described in (a) above; and Chapter 1 4 September 2016 d. To deposit seabed material on and disturb the seabed associated with (a) to (c) above. Maintenance Channel Deepening a. To dredge (disturb) seabed material for purposes of maintaining the depth of a shipping (navigation) channel that includes a ship-turning basin and berth pockets; b. To discharge contaminants (maintenance dredge spoil and water) into water; c. To discharge contaminants (seabed material and water) into water associated with maintenance dredging described in (a) above; and d. To deposit seabed material on and disturb the seabed associated with (a) to (c) above. 1.20 The location of the shipping channel (including ship-turning basin and berth pockets), the reclamation that requires dredging for construction purposes, and the spoil disposal grounds are shown on the drawings contained in Appendix 1. 1.21 The purpose of this document is to set out those matters required for a resource consent application. Schedule 4 sets out the information required in all applications. An AEE is required and the following information relevant to this proposal is contained in the following chapters: a. A description of the activity (Chapter 2); b. The rationale for the project including the implications of not proceeding with the project (Chapter 3); c. A description of any possible alternative methods and sites of discharge, including discharge into any other receiving environment (Chapter 4); d.