Mayor Neil Holdom says residents have been taken aback at earlier responses from health authorities on the historical dioxin emissions issue. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
New research into historical dioxin emissions at a Paritūtū chemical plant in New Plymouth will be very concerning to some residents of the city, says Mayor Neil Holdom.
Sarah Monod de Froideville, from Victoria University of Wellington's Institute of Criminology, and community activist and researcher Andrew Gibbs argue in the paper Silencing Paritūtū there was an orchestrated campaign to silence evidence of health impacts from the production of the herbicide 2,4,5-T.
Holdom said this was personal for many people.
"This has affected people's families and we know people have gotten sick and people have died and many people believe that the chemicals there were a contributing factor."
The paper deserved a response, Holdom said.
"The questions that have been raised in the paper really ... [do] present something for government to kind of respond to because they are legitimate questions and I think the community has every right to ask them," he said.
"Then it's just up to someone from within the Ministry of Health being prepared to acknowledge the information and take a look at it and respond to it - I think [that] would be a prudent way of the government reacting."
Residents had been taken aback at earlier responses from health authorities, Holdom said.
"Anecdotally, there's evidence to indicate that there were material adverse affects on people's health and I think most people were surprised when the Ministry of Health came out and said 'we can't really trace it back to the plant, there's a whole lot of other factors'," he said.
"And I think it's good that people are grinding away and asking questions and I think the ministry should do a bit better than asking people to do their own research [on its website], they should respond to the paper, you know.
"They've put the time and effort writing that paper and I think the Ministry of Health owes the community the dignity of a response."
In its initial response to the Silencing Paritūtū paper, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said it was satisfied concerns over 2,4,5-T were investigated and it had been transparent in its dealings with residents affected by historical dioxin exposure.
"The ministry has worked to ensure transparency around the actions taken in response to the issues linked to historical dioxin exposure for some residents of Paritūtū, and continues to do this."
The spokesperson said detailed reports published on its website supported public discourse and awareness of the issue.
The ministry pointed to the blood serum testing, which started in 2001 and found elevated levels of TCDD from historical exposure from 1962 to 1987, as an example of actions it had taken to address concerns about possible exposure to emissions in Taranaki.
"As a result of these findings, a special health service was provided in 2008 for people who were exposed at that time, focused on a free annual health check, which remains available."