Soil clean-up spreads to primary school

Decontamination work is due to start at Ferndale Kindergarten in Mt Albert this week. Picture / Greg Bowker

An Auckland City Council clean-up of childcare centre sites across the city has expanded to include primary school grounds.

Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker told the Herald last night the council was "consulting" the Education Ministry over the need for soil tests at Freemans Bay Primary School in Wellington St.

There were concerns that fill used on the school site could have come from the same place as earth found to have contaminated two Freemans Bay childcare centres, Dr Hucker said.

Those sites were found to contain elevated levels of toxic chemicals, including benzo-a-pyrene, a type of hydrocarbon that can cause respiratory upsets, skin irritation and, on rare occasions, cancer.

He did not know how many schools in the city area might be affected and no other details were available.

The council has so far completed clean-ups at five city playcentres at Pt Chevalier, Mt Wellington, Ellerslie and Freemans Bay. Decontamination of two other sites, Onehunga Playcentre and Mt Albert's Ferndale Kindergarten, is due to start this week.

Test results for a further two sites - Logan Campbell Kindergarten and Mt Albert Playcentre - are due today.

The latest two clean-up jobs, at Auckland Central Playcentre and Barnados Early Learning Centre, both in Freemans Bay, were likely to cost the council more than $100,000 each, Dr Hucker said.

Ferndale Kindergarten testing showed elevated levels of lead and arsenic, as well as concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzo-a-pyrene.

The clean-up will begin at Ferndale on Saturday, after landscaping work at the Freemans Bay centres.

That work will involve the removal of a half-metre of topsoil and placing a high-strength barrier mat over the site. Fresh topsoil will then be added.

Ferndale is closed for the school holidays.

As with the two Freemans Bay sites, the council will provide a grant to cover the cost of blood tests for children attending Ferndale.

"We are concerned that we've found elevated levels of heavy metals and organic chemicals at this site and we are doing everything possible to ensure this area is cleaned up and safe for the children when they return after the Easter school holidays," Dr Hucker said yesterday.

Letters had initially been sent out only to parents of present pupils, and those test results would determine whether parents of former pupils would be notified.

"If there are signs of exposure there, and if it has been occurring for a number of years, it's sensible to contact parents who were there earlier."