Premix safety fears to be aired

Environment Southland and Public Health South will join furious Mataura residents and other organisations in voicing their concerns over an application for the continued storage of hazardous substances in the town.

The organisations, along with 30 other people and groups, will speak to their submissions on Taha Fertilizer Industries’ retrospective application to store up to 10,000 tonnes of Ouvea Premix and 8 tonnes of ammonia sulphate in the old Mataura paper mill when hearings begin at the Mataura Community Centre on Tuesday.

The structural integrity of the old paper mill and its proximity to the Mataura River were the major concerns in the 64 submissions made to the Gore District Council.

Two submissions were neutral, with the remainder against the application.

While the site is in an industrial zone, it is on the east bank of the river and there are houses and a kohanga reo nearby.

The Environment Southland submission, prepared by policy and planning manager Anita Dawe, says the proposed storage site has not received a lot of maintenance work over the past 15 years.

‘‘On the face of it, there is more potential for leaks than for most buildings.’’

If the Ouvea Premix – which is a class six toxic substance and class eight corrosive substance – became wet, it would give off ammonia gas and heat, the submission says.

Ammonia gas is highly corrosive and extremely irritating, and is ‘‘a serious health and safety risk’’, it says.

The site is also on the flood plains of the Mataura River and Waikana Stream, and while flood mitigation measures appeared to have stopped floodwater entering the building in all floods in the area post-1978, the regional council still has concerns.

Public Health South says it does not support or oppose the application but that it provides inadequate information.

The bags of Ouvea Premix are not waterproof or airtight and there are several health concerns around the product which are not properly addressed in the application, their submission says.

Southland Fish & Game and the Mataura and Wyndham Angling Clubs oppose the application, saying the ecotoxic material would place the lower Mataura River and potentially the entire southern coastline at risk if it entered a waterway.

Alliance Group also says it is concerned by the potential for contamination of waterways.

Several residents voiced the same concerns and said the fact Taha has stored the material in the old paper mill for several months without consent should be taken into account.

‘‘This company cannot be trusted to do as they say,’’ resident Sharon Argyle said.

Submitters proposed several conditions should consent be granted, including a bond, a community liaison board and regular monitoring of operations on the site.

Taha had previously planned to build a fertiliser processing facility in Mataura but abandoned those plans amid heavy opposition from the community.

Taha representative Simon King apologised to the community in February for the way Taha went about storing the premix without consent. ‘‘This situation should never have been allowed to develop in the way it has and Taha apologises for this.’’

The company was pleased to be correcting its mistake by going through the correct process, he said.

The hearings begin at 9am on Tuesday at the Mataura Community Centre and could take up to three days.