Up to 1600 Housing NZ homes on contaminated land

By ELIZABETH BINNING

A third of the 5000 Auckland homes sitting on potentially contaminated land are rental properties owned by Housing New Zealand.

Auckland City this week identified the locations of 4872 homes which may be affected by higher than acceptable levels of pesticide residues, including DDT, copper, lead and arsenic.

Today, as property owners start receiving information in the mail about the potential soil contamination, Housing NZ is seeking its own advice on how to handle the situation.

That advice is expected to include whether the Government agency should test its properties for traces of the old pesticides - a process which could cost more than $1 million.

Housing NZ central Auckland regional manager Graham Bodman said 1147 Housing NZ sites, with 1600 homes on them, were believed to be affected.

Tenants had not yet been informed but Mr Bodman said letters would be sent when more information was available.

Many of the Housing NZ homes are believed to be in Panmure and Glen Innes, two of the three areas where most of the affected homes are clustered.

The third area is Avondale, where many residents are concerned the potential soil contamination - which is being recorded on LIM reports - will affect prices.

The Auckland City Council has made it clear it will not pay for tests which are needed to determine how much contamination - if any - is in the soil.

In information being sent to property owners, the council has quoted $225 a test sample. An average property would require three samples.

But soil contamination specialists told the Herald that the cost of performing a full test on an average-sized property would range from $2000 to $3000.

At those prices, if Housing NZ did test all of its affected properties, it would cost more than $3 million.

Using the council's figures, the total price would be just over $1 million.

In Auckland, tenants said Housing NZ should pay for the tests.

Most private home owners wanted the council to pay.

A Panmure resident, who declined to be identified, said he was annoyed the council planned to slap a land contamination warning on the LIM reports of nearly 5000 homes without proving the allegations first.

Real Estate Institute vice-president Murray Cleland said the soil contamination issue would undoubtedly have some effect on property prices.

Already, the Herald has learned that one potential sale in Avondale fell over after news of the possible contamination broke last week.

How did it all start?

1990s: Problems identified with soil contamination on old horticultural sites in America and Europe.

2001: An Auckland Regional Council study finds unacceptable levels of pesticide residues in 45 per cent of the historic sites it tests around the region.

2002: Findings sent to Ministry of Health, Ministry for Environment and to councils, many of which start their own studies.

2003: Hamilton, Nelson and Tasman identify areas of possible contamination and inform residents.

2004: The Waitakere City Council identifies 3000 areas of concern but does not inform residents directly. Auckland City identifies nearly 5000 properties and decides to directly inform owners after the Herald publishes a report about the possible contamination.