The mayor of Buller District Garry Howard says an abandoned state mine dump at Hector is at risk of being clawed open by the sea as stormy weather and high tides continue to hammer the West Coast.
He says the council has a solution that will cost $660,000 and it needs government funding immediately. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says that won't happen.
Mr Howard tells Susie Ferguson the mine was a state-owned entity that made profits for New Zealand, so the government should be helping.
