Deal struck to fast track ouvea premix removal from Mataura

Friday, 7 February 2020

The Mataura River in flood on Tuesday, flowing past the former paper mill building at Mataura where ouvea premix is being stored.

A deal has been struck to fast track the removal of the ouvea premix from the Mataura paper mill building.

Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry said on Friday that a 'high level deal' had been agreed to in principal to remove the premix to a site outside the Gore district, beginning in March.

The removal would take about three months, he said.

About 9,500 tonnes of ouvea premix, which releases ammonia gas if wet, is in the old paper mill building directly beside the flooded Mataura River.

Sandbags remain outside the former paper mill building at Mataura, where class six hazardous substance ouvea premix is stored.

An ouvea premix warning sign at at the former paper mill building at Mataura.

* Southland District mayor says 'no' gas leaks from paper mill in Mataura

* First truckload of ouvea premix leaves Mataura

The Gore District Council chief executive Steve parry, left, and mayor Tracy Hicks at a press conference in Gore on Thursday.

* $4m deal to remove ouvea premix from Southland signed**

News of the deal was was welcomed Stop the Dross action group spokesperson Laurel Turnbull, who has been fighting since 2014 to get the premix removed from the mill.

'That's wonderful news, and its great news for the people of Mataura. They won't have to live with this cloud over their heads every time it rains, wondering how much worse its going to get.'

Parry said logistics of the deal were still being worked through, including who would pay for the fast-tracked removal.

'We were always going to have to pay for the transport from Mataura to the process site.

'There's a pretty strong expectation that the Crown will come to the party.'

A new storage facility big enough to hold the premix had been found and needed to be made water-tight before it could be used.

Parry was not prepared to disclose where the new site was, except to say it was outside the Gore district.

'In six or seven weeks we should be in a position to put our foot on the pedal.'

The three-month removal time was a rough estimate and would be reliant on health and safety obligations, trucking and manpower availability, he said.

It was initially estimated to take two and a half years to remove all the premix from the Mataura site, and about 500 tonnes had already been removed, Parry said.

Earlier in the day Environment Minister David Parker said an official from the Ministry was in Southland on Friday to assist in discussions.

'I am getting regular updates from him as we work with the Gore District Council, and partners, to speed up the solution that was already in place,' Parker said.

'Notwithstanding that with the flooding over the past few days the mill has not been flooded it has clearly highlighted the importance of removing the material from its current location as quickly as possible.'

On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was seeking advice on what could be done with the premix at Mataura.

'Fire and Emergency have cleared the paper mill and luckily water did not go through it. However clearly there needs to be a long term solution found for the residents of Mataura,' she said.

On Wednesday, Mataura residents were evacuated from their homes amid fears the Mataura River would breach its banks, and that floodwaters would enter the mill building, creating ammonia gas.

They were allowed to go home on Thursday night, but residents are angry at local government for not moving the tonnes of premix stored the building.

The Gore District Council released a statement on Thursday afternoon saying 'assessments this morning of the ouvea premix stored in the former Mataura paper mill found it has not been affected by floodwaters.'

An inspection by council staff and Fire and Emergency NZ was carried out. As well as finding no floodwaters had entered the building, it was determined the mill was structurally sound.

The premix has been stored in the building since at least 2014.

Taha Asia Pacific had a contract with the Tiwai aluminium smelter to take the smelter's dross, extract the aluminium for re-use in the smelter, and process the remainder into ouvea premix, which could be processed into fertiliser.

In 2015 the council granted Taha Asia Pacific a retrospective consent to continue storing premix in the paper mill, but imposed a $2.3million bond to be paid.

At that time, Parry said: 'The council didn't want to be left holding the baby, so to speak, if something went wrong,' Parry said.

But Taha went into receivership in 2016, without paying the bond, and liquidators EY formerly disclaimed the premix in December 2017, leaving its disposal to interested parties.

Parry brokered a deal between affected parties in July 2019 which lead to the premix being gradually removed by processing company Inalco, who began shifting it in October at the rate of one truckload a week.

That deal was controversial, with the Sort Out The Dross action group calling for the premix to be moved faster.