Chemical spill plan urged

Press, 22 December 1986, Page 10

Chemical spill plan urged

1 PA Hamilton 1 A national plan for ?• dealing with chemical or ; industrial waste spills is * urged in a report commis- ; sioned by the Health De- » partment on hazardous i waste management. S The report, compiled at J a time when the number $ of spills and the variety of •J chemicals involved is in- » creasing, cites confusion ‘ and poor planning among ? local bodies, and says too i much reliance is placed » on an over-worked Fire £ Service that would rather f not be involved in hazard- ■* ous waste disposal. > The report says every * local body in New Zea- .« land should have a standi ard set of incident '• response procedures by ’ 1990, the Health DepartI ment’s target date for a * national hazardous wastes * management plan.

* The report was pres pared by Waikato Univer- ’ sity researchers for the j department, after a sur- ? vey of 22 territorial local 2 bodies in the Waikato-

? Thames Valley region. f It deals with methods of * waste disposal and procet dures for dealing with

‘ spills, but paints a picture j ‘ of confusion and bucket ’ passing, the “Waikato » Times” said. K Citipg the need for a

clear chain of responsibility, the report says a big chemical spill on the main highway through Te Kuiti would involve the Waitomo county engineer and health inspector, the local police, the local fire brigade, the Hamilton Fire Service, the Medical Officer of Health in Hamilton, the Dangerous Goods Inspector from New Plymouth, the Ministry of Works and Development, and possibly the Railways — while advice might be sought from the National Poisons Centre in Dunedin, or the Hamilton City Council. In adjacent Otorohanga, a different set of people from local agencies would be involved, along with the Rotorua dangerous goods inspector. “How a spill would be handled would depend very much on which of these numerous officials arrived on the scene first,” the report says. It says that only two local bodies — the Hamilton City Council and Waikato County Council — have established clear procedures for handling a hazardous waste incident, and only two refuse disposal sites, at Hamilton and Tokoroa, appear to .meet Health Department i

criteria for disposal of hazardous wastes.

It says many local bodies in the area are small and under-staffed, with little experience in hazardous waste management, and 17 of them do no monitoring of what goes into their dumps. Among its findings in the region: Seven local bodies of the 22 had access to temporary hazardous waste storage facilities, but there was little evidence of detailed planning. Those interviewed considered storage facilities to be the most-needed hazardous waste facility, especially in areas where accidents are most likely to happen. Two local bodies were certain that illegal dumping took place, while five others suspected it. All seven said there was nothing they could do about it. Seven local bodies have some treatment or recycling facilities in their area, all owned by industry, mostly timber treatment plants and dairy factories.

Local bodies generally have little knowledge of the Health Department’s role in hazardous waste management. A

The hazard most frequently mentioned, and considered to be the most serious by local and regional authority officers, is that posed by road and rail shipments in transit.

“Since this hazard was so frequently mentioned as presenting a potentially serious problem, it is surprising that so few local bodies have formulated incident response plans.” Fire Service personnel in the region said the public and local bodies make ever-increasing demands without a corresponding increase in resources, and often end up “baby-sitting” spilled material until “someone tells them what to do with it,” the report says.

Although the service’s legal responsibility related mainly to prevention and suppression of fires, it has been called on to deal with more and more nonfire incidents, including spills of hazardous substances, it says. The service would prefer the Government to take over transport of spilled hazardous materials, and “they definitely do not wish to carry out waste disposal. They are keen for the Government to provide more expert advice

hazards of specific wastes, including a 24-hour advisory service and regularly updated reference material.”

The report recommends that:

Every local body have a standard set of incident response procedures in place by 1990.

The Government evaluate the need for centralised facilities such as high-temperature incineration and chemical treatment, and that industries be required to set up treatment and recycling facilities.

Land for disposal be provided by regional authorities or large local bodies, for shared use.

A technical advisory committee be set up in every region.

The Health Department grant scheme, available now only to larger authorities, be extended to provide small grants or loans to local bodies wanting to set up storage facilities. An extensive education programme be set up for fire service and local body inspectors. Local people be consulted at every stage of hazardous waste management planning.