Timber mills leave legacy of poison

By MELISSA MOXON

A cleanup up of timber-mill sites contaminated with deadly PCP, or pentachlorophenol, is making progress.

But something has been forgotten in the process - 5000 workers exposed to the poison.

Union representatives complain that New Zealand is more interested in cleaning up the sites than providing adequate care for those who are victims of the dioxin in PCP.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has released a report about 79 timber workers in the central North Island who may have been affected.

Just five have received accident compensation, and union representative Hazel Armstrong says the amount was meagre because most of those affected are no longer working and compensation is earnings-based.

Typical symptoms of those exposed to the timber preservative include memory loss, pins and needles, fatigue and painful rashes.

The dioxin found in PCP and other chemicals accumulates in the food chain and has long been suspected of causing cancer and birth deformities.

Hazel Armstrong estimates that about 5000 workers nationwide who were exposed to PCP from the 1960s to the late 1980s are still alive. Up to half live in the central North Island, but others worked at sites throughout the country.

The union wants a list of all timber workers exposed during that period so it can send out a questionnaire and get help for those who need it.

But the companies involved, basically every sawmill in the country, say it is not up to them to compile a list.

Likewise, ACC is responsible for compensating victims rather than finding them, and Occupational Safety and Health's investigations must come within six months of an incident's occurrence.

The union's only other option, which it is now trying, is to convince Health Minister Annette King to launch a public inquiry. Her office has asked the union for information, but is not promising anything.

The perils of PCP have been known for years. Studies in the United States in the 1940s showed PCP was toxic and readily absorbed through the skin, and in 1953 there were deaths among timber-treatment workers in Japan and Australia.

The chemical had been used in New Zealand since the 1930s, but usage increased in the 1960s and was widespread until the timber companies voluntarily withdrew it in 1988.

Different processes are used now, including heating the timber and using dioxin-free chemicals.

For many, the first hint that PCP was toxic came when the Forestry Corporation of New Zealand spent $3 million in 1992 cleaning up the worst site, the Waipa Mill near Rotorua.

A Ministry for the Environment report published later that year estimated that there were 450 PCP-contaminated sites.

When people talk about the risk the sites pose, the dangers sound real enough.

There is concern that the toxins can get into groundwater.

PCP seeped into Lake Rotorua from the Waipa Mill 5km away, and even now "hotspots" in the lake mean trout lovers should limit themselves to three fish a week, according to the union's report from the Wellington School of Medicine.

In 1992, the Forestry Corporation, owner of the Waipa Mill, agreed to pay $3 million to treat affected groundwater, soil and waterways in the area.

In 1994, 400 people who bought soil from a timber mill site at Waipu, south of Whangarei, were warned that it might be contaminated. They were told not to eat vegetables grown in the soil because of the risk from PCP and other toxic chemicals.

Cleaning of contaminated sites is overseen by regional councils, and Environment Bay of Plenty is satisfied that the Waipa Mill is no longer a health risk to workers.

The council's director of regulation and monitoring, Paul Dell, says owners of mill sites are making progress, and any that are still in use have to comply with health regulations.

Areas of the Waipa Mill have been fenced off and sheds contaminated by PCP have been demolished and removed.

Estimates of the cost of cleaning up the contaminated sites around New Zealand range from $20 million to $175 million.

The site owners are responsible for cleaning up the polluted earth, but there is no set standard and the problem is complicated by the numerous changes in ownership since PCP was last used.

Greenpeace complains that the biggest problem is the lack of national legislation to clean up PCP.

Greenpeace campaigner Carl Reller says there is a risk to public health from the abandoned sites, but it is impossible to know the extent of the problem.

"If you don't look, you don't find. The soil is contaminated, the wind picks it up and blows it all over the place and people breathe it in."

Mr Reller says the biggest risk is PCP getting into groundwater.

Ministry for the Environment guidelines for the cleanup of PCP recommend an acceptable level of 10 parts of PCP per trillion on agricultural land and 150 parts per trillion in residential areas.

"Overseas the level is four [parts per trillion]," says Mr Reller. "There's more protection for a baby calf than for a child playing in his backyard."

Many councils are awaiting the setting-up of an orphan site cleanup fund promised by the last Government. The new Government has indicated that it will follow through with the initiative to make money available to clean up abandoned sites.

It can cost about $10,000 just to investigate the extent of contamination, and regional councils would rather not dig into their ratepayers' pockets.

There are two main methods for decontamination. The first, which was used at the Waipa Mill, is to remove toxic sawdust, timber and soil and dump them in a fenced-off landfill.

The other option is to reverse the process by which PCP is manufactured. The process involves heating the contaminated material with caustic soda, oil and sugar to 350 degrees.

The nationwide progress of fixing the mess is difficult to gauge because it is organised at a regional level.

It is far easier to ascertain how much is being done to repair the damage to workers' health - next to nothing.