Sawmill workers want family cover

Former sawmill workers hear what the Ministry of Health has to offer yesterday in Whakatane. Photo / Alan Gibson

Former sawmill workers exposed to harmful chemicals are pleased they have been offered free and extensive health services, but hope it will be extended to their families.

Ministry of Health officials told 200 people at a meeting yesterday that those who worked in the Whakatane Sawmill between the 1950s and the 1980s would be given an annual check-up, counselling and mental health services.

The mill closed in 1988 and the group Sawmill Workers Against Poisons (Swap) has been fighting for recognition for almost 30 years.

They complained that workers exposed to the timber-treatment chemical pentachlorophenol (PCP) had high rates of cancer and diabetes, and kidney, liver and heart failure.

Swap co-ordinator Joe Harawira said the ministry's offer of support was great progress.

"A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. We have recognition from the government, a dialogue, and now support."

Next, Mr Harawira said, the group aimed to gather further evidence of the affects of the chemical exposure on the next generation.

"We know now that our health cannot be fixed, but ... I don't want my grandchildren to go through that, too."

Charisse Hawkins, 39, who lived near a contaminated site and swam in affected waterways, said many of her family had suffered rashes, and she questioned whether her infertility and her siblings' infertility was the result of exposure to dioxins.

"Is is good that the harm has been recognised and documented. But the offer has fallen short of looking after families.

"We need it to extend to the next generation."

The ministry said there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the workers' children or grandchildren would suffer health effects.

An initial compensation package offer was turned down by workers this year, and no new announcement of compensation was made yesterday.

The cost of the health support will depend on how many people take it up, but consultants have estimated $400,000 to $1.3 million over two years.

People who worked for at least a year in a sawmill where PCP was used would get support, but no more quickly than other New Zealanders with the same needs.

The ministry also said doctors would be better educated to recognise symptoms of PCP exposure.

A ministry study found a 40 per cent greater risk of cancer in sawmill workers exposed to PCP compared with those who were not, and a 200 to 300 per cent increase in deaths from chronic non-cancerous respiratory disease in PCP-exposed workers.

Workers had also reported increased prevalence of other health conditions, including eczema, thyroid disorders, unexplained persistent fevers, recurrent nausea and diarrhoea, heart palpitations and low libido.