KEY POINTS:
Auckland City Council is closing the playground at Victoria Park after soil testing showed high levels of contaminates under nearby trees.
The testing was undertaken after a study identified the land as potentially contaminated due to its proximity to the former Beaumont Street gas works.
Results showed high levels of the chemical, benzopyrene, a suspected carcinogen found in coal, diesel and oil.
Tests in 2004 and 2005 had shown moderate contamination in isolated areas of the playground, leading the council to put interim measures in place.
However, the latest results showed contamination at much higher levels and the council is closing the playground and tree area this afternoon in order to begin an immediate clean up.
"In the interests of finding a long-term solution the council had planned to fully remediate the playground area in the new year. However, these latest test results show contamination at a much higher level under the trees and we need to act now," Deputy Mayor Dr Bruce Hucker said
"The playground will be fenced off and our top priority is to ensure that this area is cleaned up so that people can use it freely in future."
Dr Hucker said the council had sent the soil test results to independent medical expert Dr Tim Sprott, who had said the health risk from the contamination was likely to be low.
His advice was that adults and children would have only spent short amounts of time in the area and would therefore had had limited exposure to the contaminants.
"The advice from Dr Sprott is reassuring because it means that while the health risk is not zero, it is likely to be low for individuals," Dr Hucker said.
"We also need to be aware that we are all exposed to potential cancer-causing agents, from a variety of sources, every day. So it is likely that exposure to contaminated soil in Victoria Park will have very little impact on our lifetime cancer risk.
"I would therefore reassure the public that they do not need to be unduly concerned."
The council plans to isolate the contaminated soil then cover it with half a metre of "clean protective material".
The clean-up is expected to take up to eight weeks and will be followed by work to upgrade the playground. It is expected to be closed until the end of March, the council said.
* Dr Sprott's health assessment was based on risk modelling considering children 0 to 6 years of age who have used the site moderately intensively for 140 days a year and have eaten a reasonable amount of soil on site.
- NZHERALD STAFF
