Didn’t a soil study show that there are elevated dioxin levels in soil close to the plant in New Plymouth?
Following a national soil study, a further local study was published in September 2002 which reported on dioxin levels near the New Plymouth plant. The full report is here Dioxin Concentrations in Residential Soil, Paritutu, New Plymouth (420 KB PDF) In summary the report concluded that all the residential soil samples showed dioxin below the New Zealand, German and US criteria or guidelines and therefore “not considered a health concern.” One soil sample in a public park near the plant was elevated above the USEPA “trigger” guideline for further analysis but below the current NZ criteria. The report concluded any health risk to residents was “negligible”.
