1100 landowners face contamination bombshell

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The problem Former orchard land in Auckland was sprayed with dangerous chemicals.

The land is now occupied by 1155 homeowners, whose properties may be contaminated.

The properties are believed to be in Avondale, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga.

More than a thousand Aucklanders are about to find out that the land their houses are built on could contain dangerous levels of DDT, arsenic, lead and copper from dumped horticultural sprays.

The information has been kept secret from 1155 property-owners since the completion of an Auckland City Council study two months ago.

Senior officers went into damage control yesterday after the Herald was tipped off about a study of contamination of horticultural soils and the decision to disclose the information only when properties were sold. The study resulted in a list of 1172 properties, of which 1155 were privately owned. Most of the properties are believed to be in the Rosebank Rd area of Avondale, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga, where market gardens flourished before urban sprawl gobbled up the land.

Auckland Regional Council's manager of land and water quality, Eddie Grogan, said young children, who were prone to put dirt into their mouths, were at greatest risk from contaminants on former market garden land. The risk was negligible for people who did not grow vegetables, eat dirt and who washed their hands after contact with soil.

The ARC undertook a research project in 2001 after overseas studies found former orchard land contained levels of DDT, arsenic, copper and lead exceeding health protection levels. The project found that contaminants in about half the 43 sites in the Auckland region exceeded "conservative guidelines for the protection of human health". DDT and the banned insecticide dieldrin were found on land developed before 1975. Copper was the most common contaminant on land developed after 1975.

Since the ARC work was published in 2002, councils have been mapping their own areas to pinpoint properties used in the past for horticulture. Local authorities in the Waikato and Tasman have also been assessing the size of the problem in their areas.

Some councils insist that former orchard land is tested before allowing subdivision for residential or lifestyle blocks.

Auckland City has tested 17 council parks and reserves and found five "isolated areas of pesticide residue" but has not notified affected property-owners since completing the study about two months ago.

City planning manager John Duthie said it was important to remember that all land within an urban environment was likely to have background levels of various substances from past activity.

A source told the Herald that the council acted on legal advice to disclose the possibility of past horticultural activity on a land information memorandum (LIM) report at the time of a property sale.

When the Herald started making inquiries on Wednesday, Mr Duthie could not say if the council would contact affected owners.

Yesterday, following a flurry of emails between himself and Auckland City Environments manager Barry Smedts, he said the council would write to the owners.

A spokesman for Waitakere City said the council there had identified about 3000 properties.

"The owners of these properties have not been singularly notified," he said. "Our view is that the LIM statement is sufficient to notify owners."