N.Z. equipped to handle bomb scares

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34022, 11 December 1975, Page 5

N.Z. equipped to handle bomb scares

(From our Wellington Reporter)

WELLINGTON

New Zealand is reasonably well-equipped to deal with the number of bomb scares which “can | reasonably be expected,” according to the chief inspector of explosives of the Department of Internal Affairs (Mr C. G. Lauchlan),

“I do not see us being put in the position that London is in at the moment, but if people start putting 1001 b bombs in buildings, then we will be faced with an entirely different situation,” he said in Wellington. There should, ideally, be two men to each bomb scare, and this meant that Wellington was in a better position to cope than other New Zealand centres because it had headquarters explosives staff to draw on as well as a Wellington office. There were other officers in Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch, and Dunedin. HELPS POLICE

“What is happening in Britain is almost a war situation, and if something similar arose here — Heaven forbid — the Army would become deeply involved,” Mr Lauchlan said. “Our Army has quite a few men trained in this work, as well as the members of the explosives section. so New Zealand is fairly well placed at the moment."

For the last three or four years, the explosives section had provided assistance to the police in the handling and disposal of explosive devices.

‘‘We try to destroy them, on the spot if necessary, but preferably elsewhere. We do not believe in dismantling explosives we do not know everything about.” Mr Lauchlan declined to divulge the methods used to handle and destroy bombs, on the ground that to give away its secrets would make the section’s work harder and more dangerous. The section had three qualified explosives inspectors in its headquarters and another 12 at its branches. It held training courses for its inspectors, some of whom also attended Army courses, and the Army

provided a back-up service for the section. More than 3000 substances are on the United Nations list of “hazardous chemicals” as well as a wide variety of commercial and ancilliary explosives. All are the responsibility of the explosives section. Since the Parnell fumes emergency in 1974, the section has been rethinking the transport of “hazardous substances,” and resulting emergencies.

A n inter-departmental committee was set up in 1974, comprising the departments of transport, health, internal affairs and railways, the ministry of agriculture and fisheries, the police, the Fire Service Commission and the D.S.I.R. with subcommittees looking at labelling, handling procedures, container specifications (particularly for bulk conveyance by road) and documentation.

Most of the sub-com-mittees have now reported back, and the inter-depart-mental committees report is expected to be presented to the Minister of Transport next June. No single international body is responsible for dangerous goods — it is too complex a subject for any single body — but international marine and air codes have been worked out and are now being used by more and more countries. However, even these specific

codes are not comprehensive in their fields. “Because so much of our chemicals and explosives are imported, New Zealand cannot cope with the problems on its own,” Mr Lauchlan said. "We have no control over whether goods arriving are correctly labelled, and as some substances have a variety of names, some of which are unfamiliar to us, labelling is not itself the sole answer.

"Then, at the other end of the scale, we have the problem of ensuring that anyone who could carry small and occasional cargoes — or use them — can be advised of the nature and degree of danger of the goods.” Investigation of explosive or dangerous goods accidents is a major function of the section, Others are the new developments of offshore platforms (such as the Maui rig), the proposed establishment of the polyvinylchloride plant at Whangarei, the establishment and expansion of the Marsden Point oil refinery, and

the extremely rapid expansion of the use and carriage of liquefied petroleum gas. The section also has a major commitment to the work of the Standards Association.