No panic at Parnell, police tell inquiry

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33189, 31 March 1973, Page 2

No panic at Parnell, police tell inquiry

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 30. At no stage of the Parnell fumes emergency was there any panic, the officer in charge of the police dealing with the situation. Inspector L. R. Woodgate, said today.

He told the Commission of Inquiry into the emergency that in the early stages everybody had taken the attitude, “Never mind who is responsible; it is' there, what can we do about it?” The commission—Mr R. K. Davison, Q.C. (chairman), Mr P. J. C. Clark and Dr W. I, i Glass—adjourned at 4.30 p.m. ! today until Monday. Mr C. H. Collins, Auckland City Council sanitation foreman, said that between 8 a.m. and 8.20 a.m. on Monday, February 26, he received a telephone call from a man who said he was from Russell and Somers, agents for the ship Good Navigator. The man said he was ringing on the recommendation of the Health Department. At that I stage witness thought be meant the council’s health deI partment.

The caller had referred to the Meola Road tip, and said [the ship had a load of chemicals in 16 drums. Tip use refused He wanted to know if he (could store the drums, which contained a toxic chemical, ion the end of the reef at the j tip. I “I asked if they were leaking, and he said. ‘Yes’,” said Mr Collins. He told the caller it was against council policy to accept anything that was in the condition of the drums mentioned The caller had accepted this.

Mr J. Marshall, the council’s senior health inspector, said Mr Collins had told him iabout the telephone call. Witness could not remember [what day this was. To Mr B. H. Clark (for Russell and Somers), Mr Marshall said he agreed that in i possible hazard to public [health, in general the counIcil’s attitude was that the

I person with the problem [should take care of it himself. The city council would allow chemicals to be dumped in its tips only under very careful supervision, in small quantities, and when the council was sure there was no danger to the public. No quantity in the order of 44 gallons would be allowed to [be dumped. Storage problem [ Mr R. T. Clark, assistant secretary of the Auckland branch of the Port Employers Association, said the lack of facilities for the storage, of dangerous goods had been a cause of continuing concern to the association. Witness produced a letter, written in 1968, from the association to the Auckland Harbour Board, about the inadequacy of the dangerous goods store. The board had replied that a new store would be built when suitable land and finance were available.

Mr Clark produced another letter from the association to the board, stating that earlier action was necessary to meet the immediate needs of the port. The letter suggested the use of reclaimed land in Monash Street, south of Fergusson wharf, as a site for some dangerous goods storage. Witness said no additional facilities had been made available for dangerous goods storage in the last five years. Port employers, in the association’s view, still lacked the facilities needed.

Cross-examined by Mr E. W. Thomas (for the Auckland Harbour Board), Mr Clark agreed that the problem discussed in the correspondence between the association and the board had receded somewhat, but not altogether.

Police evidence The officer in charge of the police dealing with the emergency, Inspector L. R. Woodgate, said that at 9.32 a.m. on February 27 the police received a message about a spillage of a chemical, which appeared to be toxic, in Parnell.

The area was cordoned off, and it was learned that residents and firemen were being affected and had to be moved. An emergency centre was set up, and extra police were called in to evacuate further areas. The medical centre was kept busy caring for people, said Inspector Woodgate. At 11.35 a.m. he learned that residents were being admitted to hospital.

“At 11.45 a.m. my own [radio operator collapsed, and (had to be taken to hospital,” [he said. He called for more; [staff to replace officers who (were becoming ill. At 12.30 p.m. he arranged! radio broadcasts to ask resi-[ dents of the area to leave. | By 12.35 p.m. the situation j [seemed to be deteriorating! (rapidly. Increasing numbers[ i of people were being taken to 1 [hospital. “Some confusion’’ “I considered the actions iof the essential services needed co-ordinating,” Inspector Woodgate said. “In my view there was some considerable confusion, and it was necessary to prevent any show of panic by people in the Parnell area.” At a meeting of concerned parties at 1 p.m. agreement was reached that the police should remain in over-all charge. The operation was named “operation gas.” Evacuation of the area continued during the day, and the cordoned area was peri-! odicallv widened. Assistance! was requested from the people of Auckland in billet-' ing people who had been; evacuated. I

“The central police station was flooded by offers of assistance,” said Inspector Woodgate. He was told that decontamination of the spillage, being done by firemen, should cease at night because it was hazardous.

Emergency declared At 11.30 a.m. on February 28, Tooley Street, in the wharf area, was isolated because of a spillage. At 2.30 p.m. that day the civil defence controller (Mr G. O. Sims) formally declared a state of local civil defence emergency. I The co-ordinating headquarters was shifted from the Honey Marketing Board’s office to the periodic detention centre in St George’s Bay Road. Inspector Woodgate described how the cordon around the Parnell area was gradually reduced, until at 1 p.m. on March 3 the whole area was cleared for re-occu-pation. At midnight on March 4 the civil defence emergency was terminated. He said Mr Sims had been loath to reduce the police control of the situation, and had preferred to allow witness to co-ordinate essentia) services. The Minister of Civil Defence (Mr McGuigan) had concurred. One possibility that concerned him was that of largescale looting within the cordoned area. Two persons were arrested for theft within the area of the emergency, but outside the police cordon. A prosecution had been recommended against one person for obstruction of the police during the emergency. To Mr C. M. Nicholson, counsel assisting the commission, Inspector Woodgate said the police were frightened there might be people still in their houses after the evacuation, and entered houses to check. There was surprisingly little resistance to the police action in preventing people entering the sealed area. Witness had instructed his men that if people did resist, they were to be warned they [were obstructing the police, (and removed. [ “Generally, my men reported people were only too [pleased to get out,” he said. [ Before the declaration of (civil emergency he considered [he could take this action [under the Public Safety Conservation Act. | “There was no panic at any [stage,” said Inspector Wood[gate.

Leave cancelled Eighty policemen were involved at the peak of the emergency. The police were able to continue other normal duties because days off were cancelled, men were obtained from various sources, and a 12-hour shift was introduced. Mr Nicholson: If it had gone on for three or four days more? inspector Woodgate: Provided it had not escalated, we could have handled it. Passport delay.—A travel boom is causing delays of up to six weeks in passport processing in Wellington, a Hastings travel agent said yesterday. He said the Department of Internal Affairs and the British High Commission in Wellington had been snowed under with applications for passports and passport renewals.—(P.A.)