Tempers flare at Mataura meeting about ouvea premix

Friday, 14 February 2020

Gore District Council bosses were heckled and a police presence was needed at a public meeting in Mataura on Friday 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 former paper mill building.

**READ MORE:

* Rio Tinto behaviour 'outrageous' over ouvea premix, Environment Minister David Parker says

* Deal to remove hazardous substance from Mataura canned

* Deal struck to fast track ouvea premix removal from Mataura

* Prime Minister says long-term solution needed for Mataura residents and stored ouvea premix**

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 Tim Shadbolt attended.

Sort Out the Dross spokesperson Cherie Chapman received applause when she passed a resolution that the Government force Rio Tinto 'to get the stuff out of Mataura.

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

Some residents spoke about their 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 on Friday, and Rio Tinto had contacted the Ministry for the Environment 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, but there were 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 flood waters, 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, which drew an angry reaction from the audience.

Civil Defence would deal with any further floods in exactly the same way it had reacted 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 announced that deal had been canned, as aluminium producer Rio Tinto backed out.

That prompted Environment Minister David Parker to consider legal action against the company, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday she 'expected the company to come to the table.'

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt told the crowd that it would be a 'tough long journey' to get rid of the premix.

​Rio Tinto did not have any representatives at the public meeting.