Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL)

The Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL) is a compilation of activities and industries that are considered likely to cause land contamination resulting from hazardous substance use, storage or disposal. The HAIL is intended to identify most situations in New Zealand where hazardous substances could cause, and in many cases have caused, land contamination.

The HAIL groups similar industries together, which typically use or store hazardous substances that could cause contamination if these substances escaped from safe storage, were disposed of on the site, or were lost to the environment through their use.

The HAIL is referenced in the Resource Management (National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health) Regulations 2011 [New Zealand Legislation website], and therefore has regulatory significance. If the HAIL is revised in the future, the revision will be gazetted. Users should always refer to the current issue of the HAIL (published on this web page). Whenever the HAIL is referenced it should be accompanied by the date of publication.

The HAIL should be used for consistently reporting on site history and for identifying sites for inclusion on local government land-use registers. 
 
The fact that an activity or industry appears on the list does not mean that hazardous substances were used or stored on all sites occupied by that activity or industry, nor that a site of this sort will have hazardous substances present in the land. The list merely indicates that such activities and industries are more likely to use or store hazardous substances and therefore there is a greater probability of site contamination occurring than other uses or activities. Conversely, an activity or industry that does not appear on the list does not guarantee such a site will not be contaminated. Each case must be considered on its merits, considering the information at hand. 
 
In applying the list, it must be remembered that particular activities are a small part of a particular industry, with the activity generally localised within larger sites. For example, animal dip sites are listed, but farming is not. This is because dip sites are only a small part of a farm and farming, and in general, do not have a high potential to spread contamination over the complete farm. Therefore, the possibility of contamination will only be for a part of the land. 

Guidance has been created to assist with the interpretation of the 53 HAIL activities. The guidance provides more information about each of the activities listed in the HAIL.

See the HAIL Guidance and how to give feedback on it

A. Chemical manufacture, application and bulk storage

1. Agrichemicals including commercial premises used by spray contractors for filling, storing or washing out tanks for agrichemical application
2. Chemical manufacture, formulation or bulk storage
3. Commercial analytical laboratory sites
4. Corrosives including formulation or bulk storage
5. Dry-cleaning plants including dry-cleaning premises or the bulk storage of dry-cleaning solvents
6. Fertiliser manufacture or bulk storage
7. Gasworks including the manufacture of gas from coal or oil feedstocks
8. Livestock dip or spray race operations
9. Paint manufacture or formulation (excluding retail paint stores)
10. Persistent pesticide bulk storage or use including sport turfs, market gardens, orchards, glass houses or spray sheds
11. Pest control including the premises of commercial pest control operators or any authorities that carry out pest control where bulk storage or preparation of pesticide occurs, including preparation of poisoned baits or filling or washing of tanks for pesticide application
12. Pesticide manufacture (including animal poisons, insecticides, fungicides or herbicides) including the commercial manufacturing, blending, mixing or formulating of pesticides
13. Petroleum or petrochemical industries including a petroleum depot, terminal, blending plant or refinery, or facilities for recovery, reprocessing or recycling petroleum-based materials, or bulk storage of petroleum or petrochemicals above or below ground
14. Pharmaceutical manufacture including the commercial manufacture, blending, mixing or formulation of pharmaceuticals, including animal remedies or the manufacturing of illicit drugs with the potential for environmental discharges
15. Printing including commercial printing using metal type, inks, dyes, or solvents (excluding photocopy shops)
16. Skin or wool processing including a tannery or fellmongery, or any other commercial facility for hide curing, drying, scouring or finishing or storing wool or leather products
17. Storage tanks or drums for fuel, chemicals or liquid waste
18. Wood treatment or preservation including the commercial use of anti-sapstain chemicals during milling, or bulk storage of treated timber outside

B. Electrical and electronic works, power generation and transmission

1. Batteries including the commercial assembling, disassembling, manufacturing or recycling of batteries (but excluding retail battery stores)
2. Electrical transformers including the manufacturing, repairing or disposing of electrical transformers or other heavy electrical equipment
3. Electronics including the commercial manufacturing, reconditioning or recycling of computers, televisions and other electronic devices
4. Power stations, substations or switchyards

C. Explosives and ordinances production, storage and use

1. Explosive or ordinance production, maintenance, dismantling, disposal, bulk storage or re-packaging
2. Gun clubs or rifle ranges, including clay targets clubs that use lead munitions outdoors
3. Training areas set aside exclusively or primarily for the detonation of explosive ammunition

D. Metal extraction, refining and reprocessing, storage and use

1. Abrasive blasting including abrasive blast cleaning (excluding cleaning carried out in fully enclosed booths) or the disposal of abrasive blasting material
2. Foundry operations including the commercial production of metal products by injecting or pouring molten metal into moulds
3. Metal treatment or coating including polishing, anodising, galvanising, pickling, electroplating, or heat treatment or finishing using cyanide compounds
4. Metalliferous ore processing including the chemical or physical extraction of metals, including smelting, refining, fusing or refining metals
5. Engineering workshops with metal fabrication

E. Mineral extraction, refining and reprocessing, storage and use

1. Asbestos products manufacture or disposal including sites with buildings containing asbestos products known to be in a deteriorated condition
2. Asphalt or bitumen manufacture or bulk storage (excluding single-use sites used by a mobile asphalt plant)
3. Cement or lime manufacture using a kiln including the storage of wastes from the manufacturing process
4. Commercial concrete manufacture or commercial cement storage
5. Coal or coke yards
6. Hydrocarbon exploration or production including well sites or flare pits
7. Mining industries (excluding gravel extraction) including exposure of faces or release of groundwater containing hazardous contaminants, or the storage of hazardous wastes including waste dumps or dam tailings

F. Vehicle refuelling, service and repair

1. Airports including fuel storage, workshops, washdown areas, or fire practice areas
2. Brake lining manufacturers, repairers or recyclers
3. Engine reconditioning workshops
4. Motor vehicle workshops
5. Port activities including dry docks or marine vessel maintenance facilities
6. Railway yards including goods-handling yards, workshops, refuelling facilities or maintenance areas
7. Service stations including retail or commercial refuelling facilities
8. Transport depots or yards including areas used for refuelling or the bulk storage of hazardous substances

G. Cemeteries and waste recycling, treatment and disposal

1. Cemeteries
2. Drum or tank reconditioning or recycling
3. Landfill sites
4. Scrap yards including automotive dismantling, wrecking or scrap metal yards
5. Waste disposal to land (excluding where biosolids have been used as soil conditioners
6. Waste recycling or waste or wastewater treatment

H. Any land that has been subject to the migration of hazardous substances from adjacent land in sufficient quantity that it could be a risk to human health or the environment

I. Any other land that has been subject to the intentional or accidental release of a hazardous substance in sufficient quantity that it could be a risk to human health or the environment