General Mateparae's admissions came after we investigated the former employee's allegations of unsafe work practices and serious security lapses. The ex-staffer says the Defence Force shows more concern over the security of the National Army Museum in Waiouru, after medals were stolen, than it does over keeping people out of this munitions depot.
After hearing the allegations and responses, the Defence Minister and North Shore MP, Dr Wayne Mapp, will seek further information on why "much safer and more secure" bunkers are not yet installed.
He will also seek a report from the ministry explaining why corroborating documentation was not supplied to
The Aucklander
.
The requested documentation would confirm the storage facilities have been test certified by independent, licensed experts and meet a prescribed "warrant of fitness" and international safety standard.
That is necessary when storing and handling Sea Sparrow missiles, which contain a high explosive with a jet motor and explosive warhead. Made in the US, they are often strapped to the sides of jet fighters.
"Sea Sparrows," says General Mateparae, "have been stored at Kauri Point for approximately 14 years. There has been an identified requirement for about the same time to replace the existing explosives storehouses with modern igloos."
He admits the igloo bunkers would be "much more safe and secure" but states, "Although desirable, other defence force infrastructure projects have had priority."
General Mateparae would not confirm if the Sea Sparrow missiles are kept in one magazine (storehouse) or in the prescribed "two-point dispersion" method to reduce the effect of an accidental explosion. He maintains the current storage arrangements are "adequate".
Less adequate, apparently, are the property's environmental impacts. In July 2010, Auckland Regional Council requested an "urgent review of all on site activities likely to have an impact on stormwater quality".
While the council has not ordered a clean-up, it has been asking for four years for more Defence Force cooperation. The Defence Force is only now working with the council.
General Mateparae confirms the force is looking into processes surrounding a steel, gas-fired furnace used to destroy small-arms ammunition and pyrotechnics that are unserviceable or beyond their use-by date.
The former employee says staff "threw ammunition into the flames. Bang, bang, it was discharged into the air. It's all going into the harbour and is all toxic - full of explosive plastics from the explosives, seeping into the soil and a stormwater drain."
General Mateparae refuses to detail the number of storage and processing facilities on site because it "would be likely to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand".
Yet this information is contained in earlier reports and General Mateparae supplied us with a satellite map revealing where the buildings are placed. The same information is available on Google.
Several unidentified buildings lie within 200m of homes. Chelsea Primary School and houses border the fenceline as do popular hiking spots in neighbouring Kauri Point Domain.
On our trek to the facility's perimeter, there was no telling how close one could go before alerting security or triggering alarms. Security systems aren't always working, anyway, General Mateparae confirmed this week.
Security alarms via fibre-optic cable were down for an unspecified time during road works.
We were told this was the case for several months but General Mateparae would not confirm this.
He admits only a number of the explosives stores are even equipped with alarms.
The former employee says theft of detonators is the greatest concern to the nation's security. "Anyone can make an improvised explosive device with a fertiliser bomb if they have detonators.
"You can get over the fence and get to it. There is only one single patrol. The storehouses are made of brick and can be chipped away in the mortar."
In July,
The Aucklander
met Sean Parangi and his 16-month-old daughter, Penelope. The Birkenhead man feared ammunition-laden trucks trundling past homes and schools.
Our anonymous whistleblower came forward after that article, claiming the depot operations were "tardy", "scary" and he was "frightened" for surrounding residents.
Our source says - contrary to the Ministry's reponse in July - Sea Sparrow missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and torpedoes are regularly transported by road.
In July, the Navy's logistics commander maritime, Captain John Tucker, told us munitions-laden tracks were susceptible only to a "significant hit or percussion action". If ammunition is disposed of, it is done off site, he told us.
The informant says these explosives are not only susceptible to a truck crash but - because of lack of security - hijacking.
"I fear for the people living around Kauri Point. It is not if a major accident will happen but when. Many staff members still there are trying to find jobs elsewhere as most fear for their lives.
"We didn't know if it was fit for purpose," says the former employee of the armaments depot. "It was not licensed. That's extremely important. It shows they're being checked and they're safe."
While remarks such as it being "safer in Afghanistan and Iraq than at Kauri Point" sound outlandish, they highlight the fears of some who have left the force's employ.
"We worked with explosive compounds in safety boots and a pair of blue overalls. We were not allowed to roll up our sleeves because if anything blew we were going to get hurt, but our hands and faces were exposed and if anything did go up they were not going to find anything of us anyway. We were ordered to make explosives on-site in an area that had no current licence or warrant of fitness. The equipment had been handmade by people in the section and had never been tested to see if it was safe. Staff refused to partake due to safety concerns."
And, he says, a truck loaded with explosives and detonators was left overnight in an unsecured warehouse with no guard, no firefighting equipment and no signs. If there'd been a fire, he says, "The Fire Service would treat it as an empty building." The results for a team of firefighters - or neighbours - can only be contemplated.
But General Mateparae says only blank ammunition is manufactured using explosive components and vehicles loaded with explosives are held overnight in a secure area.
He refutes claims the site does not comply with Defence Force orders 53 (DFO 53), an agreement between the Crown and the Defence Force.
Little of this information should be news to the Defence Force. A report in early 2008 showed much of New Zealand's $155 million of military ordnance is stored in old, leaky warehouses with poor security.
The report was particularly critical of Kauri Point, where about 30 five-inch naval shells worth a total $120,000 had to be written off because they were damaged by water coming through a leaking roof. In July, more than two years later, the ministry said it had replaced three roofs and was in the process of replacing the decrepit fence.
Our man says very little else has changed. "There is an attitude of not needing to fix the problems. They give 1000 reasons why they don't have to do things."
Wake up and smell the cordite
The Defence Force looked to tighten security measures in 1999 when up to 14 hand grenades went missing from Burnham Military Camp, outside Christchurch.
Around the same time, a cache of weapons including machine and submachine guns was stolen from Trentham Military Camp, north of Wellington, and an internal audit found other weapons unaccounted for around the country.
Two civilian staff were sacked in 1999 after they were accused of stealing ammunition from Kauri Point.
The force has been the focus of other concerns this month. Stephen Wilce resigned as head of the Defence Technology Agency after media reported he made extravagant claims about professional, military and sporting achievements.
The Army is also investigating how a box of blank ammunition fell off the back of one of its trucks near Napier.
General business
The allegations and General Mateparae's responses (in italics)
1. All the explosive storehouses and labs have no current licence.
All facilities used for storage or processing of explosives are Test Certified in accordance with DFO 53. I decline to meet your request for the certification documentation.
2. Please confirm Sparrow missiles are meant to be stored in a "two-point dispersion" and not kept in one place.
I decline to meet this part of your request under s.6(a) of the OIA (Official Information Act).
3. The warrant of fitness on the labs ran out in 2004 and has never been renewed.
The process facilities are safe and fit for purpose.
4. Staff members have refused to partake in any activity on site due to safety concerns.
Staff members have, on occasion, expressed safety concerns through the PSA (union) about activities on site.
5. Maverick air-to-surface missiles been stored in the paint shop with no alarms or warning signs.
The paint shop is used to paint ammunition and explosive items only.
6. In 2008, magazines leaked so badly that 30 shells from the Anzac frigates' main guns had to written off. How many buildings have been waterproofed since? How many are still to be fixed?
All explosive storehouses will at some time in the future be replaced with "igloo" style facilities to enhance safety and security. Even so, the existing facilities continue to meet watertightness requirements.
