Public anger boils over at ouvea talk

Gore District Council bosses were heckled and a police presence was needed at a public meeting in Mataura last night as residents discussed the toxic substance left dumped in their town.

It was standing room only, and some Mataura residents reacted with anger to some speakers at the heated meeting.

Some residents walked to the front of the room to ask questions, while some stood and yelled at speakers.

The meeting was organised by action group Sort Out the Dross, which has been fighting to have the ouvea premix removed from the town’s former paper mill building.

Mataura Community Board member Steve Dixon chaired the meeting and Labour list MP Liz Craig, NZ First list MP Mark Paterson, Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks and Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt attended.

Sort Out the Dross spokeswoman Cherie Chapman received applause when she passed a resolution that the Government should force aluminium producer Rio Tinto ‘‘to get the stuff out’’ of Mataura.

‘‘Everybody in this hall wants this stuff gone – that’s what we’re all focused on. We need to embarrass Rio Tinto and from what I hear they are beginning to take notice.’’

Some residents spoke of health issues, which they believed were linked to living near the premix.

The problem was that no-one wanted the premix, but if the community continued to kick up a fuss they would be heard, Hicks said.

Hicks, who was shouted at by members of the crowd, said ‘‘the best thing I want is for this stuff to not be in this town’’ and the council had been working for several years to have the premix removed.

Ministry for the Environment staffer Sean Lewis said there had been discussions about where the material could be moved to earlier yesterday, and Rio Tinto had contacted the ministry and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

There would be further meetings with interested parties next week and it was hoped the premix could be moved in four to six months’ time, but health and safety considerations had to be taken into account, he said.

Residents asked questions about why there had been no action from the council until it took ‘‘a near miss’’ in the flooding last week.

Residents of the township were evacuated last week amid concerns the 9500 tonnes of ouvea premix in a disused paper mill could have been inundated by floodwaters, which could have set off a highly dangerous cloud of ammonia gas.

Civil Defence controller Angus MacKay told the audience that the township was not evacuated last week because of the threat of the premix getting wet. This drew an angry reaction from the audience.

Civil Defence would deal with any further floods in exactly the same way it had last week if there was still premix in the mill, he said.

A week ago, Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry announced a deal had been struck to fast-track the removal of ouvea premix from the town.

But on Wednesday, the council said that deal had been canned, as Rio Tinto backed out.

That prompted Environment Minister David Parker to consider legal action against the company.

Ardern said on Thursday she ‘‘expected the company to come to the table’’.

Rio Tinto had no representatives at the public meeting.

‘‘We need to embarrass Rio Tinto and from what I hear they are beginning to take notice.’’ Cherie Chapman Sort Out the Dross group spokeswoman