Mysterious rain stains cars

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 9

Mysterious rain stains cars

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

Dozens of vehicles have been marked, possibly indelibly, by a mysterious chemical rain in the area of the Antigua StreetTuam Street intersection. A Canterbury Hospital Board car-park on that corner was the worst hit by the blue ink-like splotches, which appeared on several Hospital Board vehicles and staff members’ cars. . A number of private cars parked in nearby streets have also been hit. Hospital Board staff say the staining is extremely difficult to remove. It appears to wash off, easily and completely, but reappears when the surface dries. “It is really getting into the paint,” said Mr Len Downing, a board em-

ployee who spent most of yesterday scrubbing down board vehicles. The scrubbing had little effect, however, and Mr Downing believed the damaged paint would have to be rubbed down with a cutting compound. The staining apparently happened early yesterday morning, after some staff had arrived for work. It appeared as though the vehicles had been through a shower of dilute fountain pen ink. Ms Barbara Vaile, the Hospital Board’s information officer, said one theory was that the substance had settled as a powder, only becoming apparent on vehicles which still had dew on them. It might show up on others once they got wet, she suggested. It could have been

“burnt sulphur” from a nearby smokestack, and was possibly corrosive, Ms Vaile said. The nearest chimney to the area was at the board’s engineering department. Ms Vaile said the engineering staff had assured her it did not come from there. By late yesterday, no other authority had been called in to investigate the mystery. However, the hospital’s pathology staff had taken samples of the staining and were attempting to analyse it. The analysis could take, a day or two, Ms Vaile said. If the pathology department could not find the cause of the staining, it happened again, other authorities would be called, she said.