Ardern understands concerns and anxiety from Mataura residents about ouvea premix

Wednesday, 2 September 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she she understands Mataura locals’ concerns and anxiety about the ouvea premix being stored in the town. (File photo)

The Prime Minister says she’s aware Mataura residents are anxious after a fire at an old mill that houses a toxic substance, and that is why the Government has joined in on legal proceedings over who is responsible for it.

A statement, from Jacinda Ardern’s office, says, while the ouvea premix is being removed and the Government is contributing to the cost of that, it wants to see it removed faster.

And that was why the Government has jointed the Environmental Defence Society’s legal proceedings that start in Invercargill next week.

The society is seeking clarification of whether the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter is responsible for the ouvea premix being stored in the old mill building at Mataura.

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Environment Minister David Parker has joined legal proceedings to determine who is responsible for the ouvea premix being stored in a warehouse in Mataura.

Environment Minister David Parker said the Government was continuing to try to find a new site for the premix.

The smelter’s site at Tiwai Point was one of those options, he said.

The removal of the premix is not necessarily dependent on the outcome of the EDS court proceedings.

The Government has joined as a party to the proceedings to ensure its expedited removal, to protect the Crown’s interest and to assist the court as required, Parker said.

At the end of July, Environment Ministry waste director Shaun Lewis appeared before the Environment Select Committee, where he said negotiations with NZAS had been put on hold and alternative locations for the premix to be stored were being investigated.

There have been three incidents in 2020 involving the old mill that has put people on high alert about the premix being stored inside. If the premix gets wet it releases ammonia gas.

In February the Mataura River flooded high next to the old mill, in July an outside sprinkler burst which led to water getting inside the area where the premix is stored, and on Monday a fire broke out in the sub-basement of the old mill.

While none of the three incidents impacted on the premix, it has made Mataura residents more anxious each time there is a call out at the old mill.

Parker said he was concerned to hear that there was a fire in a part of the old Mataura paper mill.

The premix is being removed at set amounts and it is expected it will take years before it is gone.

“…we understand the impatience of local residents, and we are keen to see that removal speeded up.’’

Gore District Council and Inalco Ltd have a contract in place to remove, process and export the premix from Mataura and other sites around Southland.

As of June about one tenth of the premix stored in the former mill had been removed and under the contract 15 per cent will be removed by October. This will step up in future years to about 40 per cent a year and all of it is expected to be removed by the end of 2022.

About 10,000 tonnes of ouvea premix, an aluminium dross by-product, was being stored in the mill after the company that owned it, Taha Asia Pacific, went into receivership in 2016.