Scientist chokes on Kaitaia mill report

By TONY GEE

People living near a Kaitaia mill should be given personal air pollution kits to monitor chemical discharges whenever the mill produces thick, black smoke and bad smells, says a Ministry of Health review.

The review - which challenges a company-funded study clearing the Juken Nissho triboard mill only two months ago - also recommends long-term monitoring of discharges from the mill using time-lapse video.

The company's health-impact assessment, undertaken for Juken Nissho by Auckland public health specialist Dr Francesca Kelly, found in March that there was only a low-level health risk to people in Kaitaia who lived close to the mill.

But an environmental scientist's review last month of the assessment's findings casts doubt on its results, says the Northland Medical Officer of Health, Dr Jonathan Jarman.

Although the review, by Dr Alistair Bingham, praises the Kelly assessment, which examined the effects on human health of emissions during wood-processing operations at the mill, it also says doubts remain.

"The main problem with the assessment is that it is mainly based on assumptions," Dr Jarman said yesterday.

It used data based on typical emission levels to air from the mill which had been estimated by a computer modelling program.

"Unfortunately, very little of the health-impact assessment was based on what is actually happening to the air around the triboard mill," said Dr Jarman.

"One of my concerns is what happens when there is a problem at the mill."

These problems usually involve wood-processing production "upsets" on occasions, when thick smoke, haze or odour suddenly come from the plant and continue until the "upset" is fixed.

Dr Jarman said the review by Dr Bingham, a health consultant contracted to the ministry, was critical that the assessment contained no evidence about the frequency or duration of these mill "upsets".

No attempt had been made to gauge their significance.

"At the end of the day, you can't be entirely certain that there aren't going to be any health effects," Dr Jarman said.

Juken Nissho commissioned the assessment more than two years ago.

It was part of a deal under which Northland Health dropped its appeal against resource consents for the company's expanded mill operations in Kaitaia if the company conducted a health-impact assessment of the local community.

Dr Jarman sought the recent review of the assessment from the ministry because Northland has no top-level air-pollution specialists.

Dr Bingham also made several recommendations for Northland Health, the Northland Regional Council - which is the main regulatory agency involved - and for the company.

Dr Jarman described the review's recommendations as sensible. Northland Health was now checking to see how easily they could be carried out.

The recommendations include provision of personal, commercially available passive monitoring devices for residents to check formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide levels during periods of perceived adverse emission exposure.

Dr Bingham also recommends the regional council consider time-lapse video monitoring of plant discharges, assess black smoke discharges and continue to evaluate general ambient air quality in Kaitaia using long-term monitoring programmes.

The review recommends the company should assess likely adverse health effects on people from pollutant materials discharged at maximum rates of processing emissions, rather than at the typical rates studied in the assessment.

Dispersion modelling runs should be repeated for discharges of fine, particulate material and formaldehyde at maximum rates of emission suggested in the review.

Kaitaia's community and mill liaison group is expected to meet soon to discuss Dr Bingham's review and recommendations.

The story so far

* Many Kaitaia residents believe that air pollution from the nearby Juken Nissho triboard mill has given them serious health problems.

* A health impact report in March - paid for by Juken Nissho in exchange for permission to go ahead with its expansion plans - found only a low-level health risk.

* But a Ministry of Health review says the report did not consider production "upsets" at the mill which produced thick smoke, haze or odour.

What happens now

* The review says residents should be given their own pollution meters to check levels of formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide during these episodes.

* It also suggests the council should use time-lapse video to monitor discharges from the mill.