Wildlife hospital inundated with ducks affected by toxic spill after factory fire
A wildlife hospital is inundated with ducks covered in oil since a Kaiapoi factory fire spilled a toxic product into nearby rivers.
Fifteen ducks have been transferred to the South Island Wildlife Hospital in Christchurch since the blaze destroyed the factory, but three subsequently died.
Veterinarian Pauline Howard said the 12 remaining ducks were doing well but would need intensive care in the coming weeks to wash and waterproof their feathers.
Called wet feather, the condition occurs when a duck’s feathers become waterlogged, due to contamination with oil, detergents, lice or sooty black mould, causing them to lose their ability to repel water.
Howard said the ducks were unable to control their body temperature while they were covered in oil and that had caused two deaths, with one arriving too hot and another arriving too cold to save.
Sutton Tool NZ, Australasia’s largest drill bit manufacturer, suffered catastrophic damage in its main manufacturing facility after fire engulfed the building in the early hours of Sunday.
The blaze was so fierce a nearby resident described feeling a heat blast on his face after one explosion, and people from up to 40 houses had to be evacuated to a nearby school because of the risk of toxic fumes.
The fire also caused a product called quenching fluid to leak via stormwater drains into the Kaiapoi and Waimakariri rivers.
Designed to rapidly control the cooling of steel or other materials as part of the hardening process, the fluid produced oil slicks on the surface of the rivers.
Environment Canterbury on-scene commander Emma Parr said 18 New Zealand scaup – or black teal ducks – affected by oil had been captured and transported since the spill.
ECan advises anyone who sees oiled birds not to attempt to capture or clean them but to ring the incident response team with details of the location. “It can be distressing to see birds in this way, but the best way you can help them is by letting us know where they are.”
Parr said a final flush of the stormwater link between the site of the fire and the Cam/Ruataniwha River was carried out on Tuesday. The flush did discharge some oil, which booms collected and sucker trucks removed.
Brooklands lagoon and some less accessible areas are being surveyed for oil, both on water and by land, she said.
“To date, we’ve recovered approximately 2400 litres of oil from the water using sucker trucks and another approximately 250 litres of oil using sorbent materials.”
Oil at the site of the fire had been contained, she said.
Kevin Donovan, general manager of the Kaiapoi site, said while it was too early for the company’s Australian owners to make any decisions about the business and its 80 employees, Covid-19-affected supply chains meant the company played an important part in hardware supply in Australasia.
“A lot of what we manufacture is important for Australia and can’t easily be replicated at the quality standards or costs the market expects.”
Donovan said the company had been researching alternative sites, and said both the engineering facility and goods areas had not been damaged. “It’s one day at a time at the moment.”
Poll: How do you feel about dogs being allowed indoors in cafes?
For most of us, seeing a friendly doggo while out and about instantly brings a smile to our faces. But how do you feel about cafes welcoming pups inside?
Cast a vote and share your thoughts below.
-
27.5% I love it!
-
32.2% Only in designated areas
-
40.3% No, it should be outdoors only.
Growing demand for Rangiora’s Christian schools
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Two North Canterbury Christian schools are seeking permission to grow their student rolls.
The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback on requests from eight Canterbury state integrated schools to increase their maximum rolls, including two in Rangiora.
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Rangiora wants to increase its roll from 175 to 225 students, while Rangiora New Life School (pictured) is looking to increase its maximum roll of 470 by an additional 100 secondary students to 570.
Rangiora New Life School principal Stephen Walters said demand for Christian education in the region is strong.
‘‘I think it is exciting for all of those schools listed.
‘‘It will be phased in over a number of years and it will likely be mostly from home school families.’’
As the school took students from throughout the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts, he said he did not expect it to have a major impact on local state schools.
The school has 230 year 9 to 13 students, so an extra 100 students will represent significant growth.
Walters said about 30 extra students could be absorbed within its existing buildings and the five hectare site has plenty of room for expansion.
As it was too late to plan for next year, he anticipated gradual roll growth to begin from 2026.
‘‘We want to be a low density site, so when we reach 650 we would look for another site.’’
State integrated schools have less ‘‘bureaucratic hurdles" because they don't spend Government money on buildings, he said.
‘‘We build a classroom and then collect the fees from parents to pay for them over 20 or 30 years.’’
North Canterbury’s booming population means local state schools are all growing, with Rangiora High School reaching 1750 students this year and Kaiapoi High School fast approaching its site capacity of 1100.
‘‘Oxford Area School used to be same size as us, but it has overtaken us with its growth.’’
St Joseph’s School principal Ben Gorman said there was strong demand for a Catholic education.
‘‘We've had significant roll pressure for the last six to seven years.
‘‘Currently, we have over 50 applications for enrolment for next year, but only have 20 spaces available (with departing year 8 students).’’
Gorman said if the maximum roll increase is approved, it will be phased in between from 2026 to 2030, with two classrooms built.
St Joseph’s School board of trustees chairperson Emma Dangerfield said North Canterbury’s growing population is likely to lead to more enrolments.
‘‘We want to see students enrolled in their preferred school option so ensuring we have more spaces available for these children is a no-brainer.’’
She said the increased roll would have little or no impact on other schools due to the rapid population growth.
Christchurch schools Aidenfield Christian School, Emmanuel Christian School, Middleton Grange School, St Mark’s School and Christchurch Adventist School have requested to increase their rolls.
St Bede’s College is looking to increase its day student roll and reduce its roll for borders, while keeping its maximum roll at 786.
The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback until September 27.
State and state-integrated schools and kura have a school board that governs it and makes decisions on the school's strategic direction.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?
What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Loading…
