By TONY GEE
KAITAIA - A Far North mill has been ordered to stop discharging potentially harmful chemicals into the air because of health fears for its neighbours.
The triboard mill company Juken Nissho is also refusing to hand over a report on the suspected toxic gases being emitted from its Kaitaia plant.
The Japanese-owned company failed last Friday to meet a Northland Regional Council deadline to pass on final gas test results.
In an unusual move, the council has now issued an abatement notice against the mill, based on information in an earlier draft report.
The notice gives Juken Nissho six weeks to stop discharging the potentially health-damaging isocyanate gases.
But the company says it does not believe the regional council is justified in issuing the notice, based on information the council has so far.
In a statement late yesterday, the company said it has now asked its lawyers to advise it on whether an appeal should be lodged against the abatement notice, although it says this may not be necessary "as Juken Nissho believes it is already complying with the notice."
The company will not say, however, why it is refusing to provide the council with a final report on the gas emission tests.
At least nine Kaitaia people living near the mill and said to be suffering ill health from possible isocyanate chemical exposure have been referred to specialists by a local doctor in the past two months.
The GP has reported their cases to health authorities in Whangarei.
Isocyanate chemicals can cause eye, nose and lung irritation, persistent headaches, skin inflammation, dermatitis, laryngitis, chest pains and asthma.
Regional council monitoring manager Tony Phipps said yesterday that testing at the mill in August indicated unauthorised isocyanate gases were being discharged in amounts which could cause adverse health effects for people living near the plant.
Testing was undertaken by independent consultants after the mill began using a new chemical in resin (a polymerised version of methylene diphenyl di-isocyanate or MDI) used in the manufacture of triboard. The mill does not have council consent to use the chemical.
Earlier air sampling downwind of the plant showed the presence of MDI and two related chemicals.
In what he described as "a surprise move," Mr Phipps said Juken Nissho had "repeatedly refused" to give the regional council a copy of the final report.
The council wrote to the company asking it to make the final report available last Friday.
By late yesterday, the company had not complied.
"This is very unusual. Because Juken Nissho commissioned the tests, the results are technically owned by the company, but we have never encountered a situation like this before," Mr Phipps said.
It was "standard practice" for the council to tell a company what monitoring should be carried out. Results were then given to the council when they became available.
Producing a draft report after testing was normal so a company could check for errors.
In this case, however, the council had been given only a draft, forcing it for the time being to take abatement action based on information in that report while the company withheld the final version.
Mr Phipps said the council intends to take "the necessary steps" to obtain a copy of the final report as soon as possible.
This involved consideration of legal options available under the Resource Management Act.
The Juken Nissho statement said the company was "conscious of the wide powers available to the regional council under the Resource Management Act ."
It took "very seriously" the council's allegation that it had breached the act.
The company would take all steps necessary to confirm it was complying with the act "and to satisfy public concerns regarding the operation of its triboard mill."
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