A leading environmentalist is hailing ' a complete turnaround' over cleaning up Tiwai Point aluminium smelter by Rio Tinto.
The smelter's majority owner has given new undertakings worth at least $4 million to get rid of ouvea premix and dross waste.
This still leaves uncertainty around a $200 million plus removal of more toxic spent cell liner waste.
But Gary Taylor of the Environmental Defence Society, who received the new undertakings from Rio Tinto, sees it as a game changer at the sensitive peninsula opposite Bluff.
New Zealand Alumininum Smelters confirmed it will bear all the costs of getting rid of dross and premix from Mataura and other sites around Southland.
It also says it will not be calling on the Government to cover costs to remove dross already at the smelter, under existing Crown indemnities.
