Maurice Bevin at the gates of the now demolished plant. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
A former neighbour of the controversial Ivon Watkins Dow chemical plant in New Plymouth fears he will not live long enough to see the results of an investigation into contamination at the Paritutu site.
Maurice Bevin - who has stage 4 prostate cancer - grew up on Scott Street, just a few hundred metres from the plant which made the herbicide 2,4,5-T from the 1960s through to 1987.
Standing outside the gates of the now demolished plant, Bevin reminisced about his childhood.
"Every day in the summertime I would be down the beach, but to get past the Ivon Watkins plant depending on the direction of the wind, the smells were horrendous and us kids used to hold our breath and run like hell and get up to the top and get down until we were out of the smell."
A recent splash of rain on the concrete remnants of the plant meant there was an unsettling whiff of that same odour.
"I can smell something and it's very diluted to what I smelt as a kid here, but there is a smell here.
"You know this morning I was down on Fitzroy Beach - it was beautiful fresh air, the whole lot, but I'm smelling this right now."
The 70-year-old, who has had an international diving career, said foul, chemically-tainted water used to pool at the base of Paritutu rock and find its way onto Onuku Taipari or Back Beach.
"On the cliff face here at the time you'd see chemicals seeping out through the cliff onto the sand, a kaleidoscope of colours and then dark brown on the outside.
"And because the sea was rough at times, we got heavy seas come in. It mixed in with the chemicals and the froth from the surf turned orangey brown."
Bevin said it was not unusual to see dead fish and crabs in the water, which some people took home with them.
The situation was not greatly improved when the stormwater ran out onto the beach through a pipe.
"Unfortunately people got under it. You go surfing or swimming and you've got a southerly wind which is cool.
"It would cool you down and guys would get their wetsuits off or whatever and someone started to get under the pipeline because it warmed you up and I've been under there a few times.
"It smelt like shit, but I tell you it warmed you up. We didn't know what it was."
The Ivon Watkins Dow chemical plant at Paritutu. Photo: Getty Images / David Hallett
Bevin now believed dioxin from the Ivon Watkins Dow plant might be behind his cancer.
Dioxins researcher Andrew Gibbs said Bevin's memory of ponding outside the plant boundary was consistent with documents he had uncovered.
"Just over the road from the office block there were two large ponds and then the waste ran down the accessway to the beach and as RNZ has previously reported officials were concerned about the dead fish, dead birds and that a child may be killed."
Gibbs was concerned the current investigation only captured what happened inside the boundary fence.
Tokin and Taylor - which was overseeing the eight-year remediation plan for Paritutu - said a draft preliminary site investigation has been completed and submitted to the Taranaki Regional Council for review.
It was unable to comment further due to the sensitivity of the work.
But Bevin just wanted everything sped up so he and other people like him had a chance of being around to see the results.
"What do they want us to do? Do they want us all to die off, and then no-one can tell you exactly what happened cause everyone is dying.
"I sat with my sister the other day and we were talking about all the people who lived on Scott Street and all the streets off there, and we just rattled off all these people's names. Most of them are dead, they've died of cancers."
Maurice Bevin. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
In a statement, Dow said it sympathised with Bevin due to his illness, but could not comment further out of respect for his privacy.
It referred RNZ back to the remediation plan.
Public Health Agency deputy director-general Andrew Old said the Ministry of Health recognised the operations of the former Ivon Watkins Dow plant had an adverse effect on the health of some people who lived in the Paritutu area in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
"We now know that dioxin exposure can cause health problems. Evidence has shown that dioxin appears to be a weak initiator of cancer, that is, it is weak at causing cancer by itself. However, there is also evidence that it is a strong promoter of cancer, which means dioxin can promote growth of cancer caused by something else."
Old said the controls and standards that applied to the manufacture of chemicals today differed from those that were in place between 1962 and 1987.
"Accordingly, the Ministry is not in a position to take legal action against the company for historical emissions governed by previous legislation."
Old said the MOH had established a health service 15 years ago to support people exposed to dioxin from the plant and people were eligible for the health support irrespective of whether they lived there for a short or long time during the manufacturing years.
"Individuals may be eligible for the Dioxin Support Service if they had lived, worked, or went to school near the plant between 1962 and 1987."
Old said guidance for the health support service for dioxin exposed people was available on the Health NZ - Te Whatu Ora website.
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research's study into the dioxins and subsequent peer reviews were also hosted there.
