Gas scare at Taupo

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 2

Gas scare at Taupo

PA Hamilton. The amount of hydrogen sulphide escaping into the atmosphere in and around the tourist township of Taupo is reaching a dangerously high level. A potentially lethal situation was discovered after a team of D.S.I.R. scientists recently carried out tests in the town and found a high concentration of the gas. Tests showed that in some parts of Taupo the level had reached 950 parts per million. The lethal concentration is 1000 parts per million. The gas scare comes at a time w'hen more development of geothermal energy is being looked into. A private concern wants to open a large geothermal field at the foot of Mount Tauhara on the outskirts of the town. If this field goes ahead before by-laws are introduced, more hydrogen sulphide will escape into the air, it is believed. “It is vital that we take precautions now rather than wait until someone dies,” said the town’s senior health inspector (Mr M. A. Miles) yesterday. The amount of gas escaping from bores had been on the increase during the last few years, he said. He had also noticed an increase in sulphur deposits. “There are one or two residential areas at risk/’

said Mr Miles, who has noticed a trend towards the tapping of thermal energy for households. “It has not yet reached the stage of a mass evacuation or anything like that, but precautions must be taken,” he said. The Taupo Borough Council will meet early

next month, and after consultation with the D.5.1.R., hopes to draw up controls and recommended by-laws. In an effort to rectify the situation, the council will examine the by-laws in force at Rotorua, which puts a restriction on the number of bores put down.