Few emails on toxic foam
Officials who knew there might be toxic foam contamination at O¯ hakea didn’t formally warn regional council staff, and any information passed on slipped through the cracks.
Horizons Regional Council is standing by claims it was not initially told by the Defence Force about possible contamination from firefighting foam at O¯ hakea.
Horizons chairman Bruce Gordon slammed the Defence Force this year for keeping the council in the dark about possible contamination of groundwater and water supplies until December 2017 – many months after the Defence Force knew of a potential problem. The Defence Force says it told the regional council about toxic foam contamination but can’t prove it.
Information released under the Official Information Act shows two emails from 2015 that mention contamination or fire training at O¯ hakea but neither mentions the toxic chemical involved. However, a Defence Force spokesman said officials informed the council at a meeting in October 2015 that the toxic chemical had been found on base and produced an electronic meeting invitation for this.
The chemical was used in firefighting foam, which contaminated water supplies near the O¯ hakea and Woodbourne Defence Force bases in Manawatu¯ and Marlborough, respectively, sparking health fears.
The Defence Force spokesman said that at this point the chemical was known by a different name. The spokesman also produced an email from October 29, 2015, titled ‘‘groundwater information’’, which shows a Horizons staff member giving the Defence Force information about where groundwater bores were around the base.
However, Horizons chief executive Michael Mccartney said that despite what the Defence Force produced, a toxic chemical being found on base with wider implications would have warranted a letter. He said the council gave groundwater information to anyone who requested it and did not ask what it was for.
If the Defence Force had told Horizons about discovering the chemical, Mccartney said, at that point staff would not have known what issues the chemicals could cause. ‘‘If the notice was given to our staff member there was contamination on base, wouldn’t it be made clear there was potential contamination to bores?’’
He didn’t think the Defence Force could say the regional council was fully informed about potential risks after that meeting.
But now he wanted to focus on helping those affected by the toxic foam. The only communication Horizons could find from the Defence Force mentioning toxic chemicals on base from 2015 were two emails referring to a list of sites with hazardous activities and industries at O¯ hakea and one stating a contaminated site investigation was under way.
This email did not mention the toxic foam or the possibility the contaminated site involved this toxic foam.
Before December 2017, Horizons received no formal notification of the contamination.
The council said formal notification would constitute a formal letter, which would clearly detail the nature, scale and seriousness of the contamination problem.