MP wants ouvea writing on the wall
The message is clear and so is the tagging that now adorns an old paper mill in Mataura demanding the removal of hazardous ouvea premix from the town.
Yesterday, NZ First list MP Mark Patterson launched a petition that asks the House of Representatives to urge the Government to take any means necessary to remove the substance from Mataura and relocate it to Tiwai Point.
‘‘We must not let pressure locally recede as the water has receded because this has been a long, torturous process, it has taken six years, and as soon as it leaves the headlines the danger is it will still be there in six more.’’
The petition will be circulated in Mataura, Gore, Wyndham and Edendale during the next three weeks.
Paterson will present the petition to the Government. It will be presented to the environment
select committee as quickly as possible, he said.
The petition launch was attended by about 100 people including Labour list MP Liz Craig, Clutha–Southland MP Hamish Walker and Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks, as well as Sort Out the Dross group members Cherie Chapman and Laurel Turnbull.
Hicks said that to his mind it was important that the premix went to Tiwai Point.
"That’s where it came from originally, and I believe there’s a responsibility. [Aluminium smelter majority owner] Rio Tinto would argue that they don’t have a legal responsibility.
‘‘I’m sure that there will be counter-arguments to that come forward, but whether they have a legal responsibility or not they have a moral responsibility as a large corporate – in fact, probably the largest corporate in our province – and we need to be sending them a message loud and clear.’’
Chapman said it was important that the premix was not dumped in other Southland towns where it could cause more problems.
Rio Tinto and the smelter company, New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, refused to comment about the petition.
Yesterday, Environment Minister David Parker’s office confirmed that he had received preliminary legal advice regarding the premix and was considering it.
Rio Tinto is in talks with the Government about the fate of the premix, which was left in Mataura when Taha Asia Pacific went into receivership in 2016.
About 9500 tonnes of premix, which produces ammonia gas if it gets wet, is stored in the building.
Earlier this month Rio Tinto backed out of a deal to fast-track the removal of the premix from Mataura, which prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to say a long-term solution was needed for the sake of the town’s residents.