‘ No one would have been permitted’
WHITE ISLAND How 21 lives would have been saved
Samantha Olley reports DoC’s rules would have denied tourist access at level 2 of volcanic activity
Lives would have been saved if Department of Conservation protocols were in place at Whakaari last year, government documents suggest.
Twenty- one people died from blast injuries and burns after searing gases, rock and ash erupted from the volcano, on December 9.
All 21 were visiting with, or working for, White Island Tours — a business bought by Whakata ¯ ne iwi Nga ¯ ti Awa in 2017, from founders Peter and Jenny Tait.
Whakaari/ White Island’s alert level was raised from 1 to 2 three weeks before the eruption but sightseeing groups continued to visit.
Emails released to NZME under the Official Information Act show volcanoes at level 2 are deemed too dangerous to allow tourist access, under DoC rules used at Tongariro National Park.
However, DoC does not control access to Whakaari — it is privately owned by the Buttle family.
In May this year, a senior DoC public safety staff member emailed the Department of Internal Affairs to say: “If you overlay our approach to Whakaari in December 2019, no one would have been permitted on the island as the volcano was at VAL [ volcanic alert level] 2.”
They said DoC managed hazard exposures “as unrest rises and falls” and this was difficult at Whakaari as visitors were close to the source of the eruption “significantly increasing the residual risk even with risk management in place”. DoC subsequently provided NZME with a copy of the volcanic hazards “decision tree” rangers and senior staff use.
Protocols prohibit recreational use of Tongariro Crossing at volcanic alert level 2.
Even at level 1, the track i s closed while data and advice are sought from experts.
The track is only reopened if the likelihood of an eruption is low and DoC can tolerate the risk.
Australian Meredith Dallow, whose twin brother Gavin Dallow died in the eruption, said it was tough knowing tourists wouldn’t have been on Whakaari last December if Department of Conservation protocols were in place.
“It doesn’t make things any easier hearing that. It makes you a bit frustrated and angry.”
Her brother, an Adelaide lawyer who was on the volcano tour with his wife Lisa Dallow and 15- yearold step- daughter Zoe Hosking, would never have gone if he’d known the risk, Dallow said.
“We did wonder why they were allowed on it. To me, they should never have been there . . . and I don’t think it should ever be reopened.”
Of the trio, only Lisa Dallow survived the eruption, suffering burns to 60 per cent of her body.
Whakaari, New Zealand’s most active volcano, has been owned by the Buttle family since 1936.
In the past 30 years, a handful of tourism businesses have paid the Buttles for exclusive landing rights at the crater.
These businesses have decided, independently, when it is or isn’t safe to guide tourists around the submarine volcano.
Tourists have not been back to White Island since the eruption on December 9.
WorkSafe has been investigating whether the operators breached health and safety rules and the police are investigating the deaths on behalf of the Coroner.
Past reporting by NZME publications shows that under the Taits’ management, White Island Tours took tourists to Whakaari at raised alert levels as far back as 1999.
Earlier this year, NZME reported academics had referenced seven life- threatening “near misses” at Whakaari in the years leading up to the eruption and published mounting evidence of “severe” risks.
When NZME approached the Buttles to discuss risks at past alert levels at the island, and if DoC’s volcano risk management system could be used at the island in future, they declined to comment.
The Taits were approached about White Island Tours’ visits at various alert levels under their ownership but did not respond.
However, a White Island Tours’ procedures document, supplied by police under the Official Information Act, stated that when volcanic activity increased, this information was put on the front page of the business’ website, passengers were given updated safety terms to read, they were reminded of increased risk over a microphone before disembarking and were given the option to stay aboard.
When NZME approached White Island Tours and its current owners Nga ¯ ti Awa, they also declined to comment, due to ongoing investigations.
In a paper published in July this year, Auckland University proposed a new eruption alert system researchers said could have given 16 hours’ warning of December’s eruption.
The system used new technology to process algorithms and data patterns, signalling almost instantly when a particular pattern matched the build- up to a previous eruption.
With data from the past 10 years at Whakaari, the new system predicted four out of five eruptions missing only one in
2016, when the data pattern was different.
GNS Science’s volcanology team leader Nico Fournier said the new technology could be a “potentially useful addition” to current systems, but cautioned it still had limitations.
Whakaari has been at alert level 1 since June 16, 2020.
Between 1995 and 2014, alert level 2 represented a minor eruption on active cone volcanoes in New Zealand such as Whakaari, but new definitions were brought in in July
2014. Now level 3 represents a minor eruption, and level 2 is moderate to heightened unrest.
It doesn’t make things any easier hearing that. It makes you a bit frustrated and angry.
Meredith Dallow, whose twin brother died in the eruption