Firm may face charges after spill on ferry

Press, 1 December 1987, Page 4

Firm may face charges after spill on ferry

PA Nelson An insecticide spill on a Cook Strait ferry on Saturday which prompted emergency services to be mobilised in Picton, Blenheim and Nelson could lead to an Auckland trucking company being prosecuted.; More than 20 20-litre drumsVof an organo-phos-phate compound, diazinon, split in jhe .incident. Searail’s manager in Wellington, Captain Adam Gullen, said Railways’ regulations prohibited dangerous goods on passenger ferries. The insecticide was classed as a dangerous good, and the trucking firm, Regan Carriers, Ltd, of Auckland, had not told Searail it was on board its truck, he said. “We can take dangerous goods on our freight ferry, but we must know what it is,” Captain Gullen said. “The ferry staff coped extremely well on Saturday but this chemical should not have been on a passenger ship.” He did not know yet if the trucking firm would

be prosecuted because that was a Health Department decision. The department said it was still investigating but a decision about prosecution would be made later this week. Captain Gullen said that ferry staff had noticed a bad smell coming from a truck on the ferry; Arahura midway through the 8 a.m. sailing from Wellington. “We evacuated staff from the engineroom, then staff opened the truck and investigated.” They had found that drums of insecticide were leaking. It had not been obvious what the chemical was, so staff rang the Dunedin National Poisons Centre for help. They were told it was diazinon, an organophosphate insecticide, he said. The chemical is used by kiwifruit growers and the order was coming to Nelson. The accident could cause shortages of the chemical for growers. Captain Gullen said ferry staff washed away

the small amount of insecticide that had dripped on to the deck before the ferry docked at Picton. Picton Fire Service staff then took over. >, The fire service said more than 20 20-litre drums of the chemical had split, causing the spill. There were 64 drums in Etheconsignment. >: A scientist from Nelson’s Cawthron Institute and the Health department in Marlborough were asked for advice. . Hydrated lime was used to soak up the liquid in the truck, then caustic soda washed it clean. A bulldozer scoop gathered up as much of the powder as possible before washing. Marlborough’s health protection officer, Mr Ken Biss, said a shipment of courgettes bound foi* the Christchurch . produce markets was in the same truck. The vegetables were contaminated and had to be dumped. An owner of Regan Carriers, Mr Colin Bower, said the company was looking into the spill.