Residents of Southland town anxious after third incident with toxic material warehouse in six months

September 1, 2020

The Mataura warehouse stores thousands of tonnes of by-product from the Tiwai aluminium smelter.

A fire near a warehouse filled with toxic material in the Southland town of Mataura has left locals in a heightened state of anxiety.

It's the third incident in the last six months near the site, which contains thousands of tonnes of by-product from the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter.

Despite an agreement on paper to remove roughly 10,000 tonnes of ouvea premix from the town's old paper mill, most of the bags remain inside.

A nearby fire yesterday afternoon had residents preparing to leave.

“I was contacted yesterday by two people who have their bags packed and are ready to go, elderly people that are going to have trouble getting out of the town,” a resident told 1 NEWS.

The fire was put out safely, but it was the water being used that was concerning as the premix lets off toxic ammonia gas when wet.

Laurel Turnbull has campaigned for the last six years to remove the dross and she's calling for cooler heads from locals.

“It was in a place where it couldn't get anywhere near the dross, but people see the smoke and then they say, ‘Oh, there's a fire,’ and they just get all upset and blow it out of proportion really.”

Environment Minister David Parker is joining legal action to determine whether the producer of the waste, Rio Tinto, is responsible for removing it.

The multinational says it's willing to work with all concerned, and an initial meeting is scheduled for next week.

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