Elevated levels of arsenic have been found in road reserves in an established residential subdivision in Frankton.

Levels are below the national environmental standard for recreational activities and parks (80mg of arsenic per kg of soil) but some are above the standard for residential land (20mg/kg).

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has been working with the Medical Officer of Health and the developer of the subdivision, Remarkables Park Ltd (RPL), to establish the extent of the issue and to provide advice and reassurance to the community and property owners.

Residents and property owners have been advised by letter today (Wednesday 10 August) and are invited to a community information session in Frankton tomorrow.

QLDC’s General Manager Planning and Infrastructure, Tony Avery, said the information came to light after RPL carried out testing as part of routine preparations for the next stage of its development. RPL also sampled a small number of sites in the adjacent developed residential area.

The results were shared with QLDC, which informed Public Health South (PHS) and the Otago Regional Council (ORC). QLDC then commissioned a further set of samples to be taken on road reserves in the vicinity. These also showed arsenic levels that were lower than the level permitted for recreational activities (80mg/kg, which is the closest category of the standards relating to roadside reserves) but often higher than the permitted maximum of 20mg/kg on land used for residential purposes.*

Contractors engaged by Remarkables Park Ltd brought in soil from elsewhere in the 1990s when the subdivision was being developed. This was used to establish the roads and berms; it was not used within the sections that were subsequently built on. The source of the imported material is not known.

The Medical Officer of Health, Dr Derek Bell said the level of arsenic on a property would need to be established to understand the degree of personal exposure and any personal health effects.

“Exposure would be dependent on the amount of soil ingested through gardening activities and from eating home-grown produce and the duration of that exposure,” he said. Eating soil was most commonly associated with small children. “The health of people with no exposure or limited exposure is unlikely to be affected.”

Dr Bell said the environmental standards were very precautionary and assume that a significant proportion of a person’s diet came from home-grown produce over a lifetime. “Generally, at the levels of arsenic observed so far, health effects would not be expected,” he said.

He advised anyone with health concerns to consult their general practitioner.

Mr Avery said that the law required QLDC to record the information about arsenic levels above the standard for residential land. This means that properties close to the road reserves where levels of arsenic above 20mg/kg have been found, will have that information placed on their Land Information Memorandum (LIM).

Landowners can choose to have their own properties sampled. If the results show arsenic levels that are lower than 20mg/kg of soil and QLDC is advised, the Council will be able to record on the LIM that the levels are below 20mg/kg for the property and include the evidence for that.

Brian Fitzpatrick, the Development Manager at RPL, said that when the subdivision was developed in the early 1990s, the company complied fully with all regulations and there were no requirements to test the soils. The National Environmental Standard soil guidelines were introduced in 2012.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Queenstown Lakes District Council: Tony Avery, GM Planning & Development – 03 441-0499
Public Health South: Melissa Garry, Southern DHB Senior Communications Advisor 03 476 9452 or 027 226 0633
Remarkables Park Ltd: Brian Fitzpatrick, Development Manager – 03 442 3084

The area where levels are above the standard for residential land is between the East side of Riverside Road and Copper Beech Ave including Magnolia Plc, Juniper Plc and Elm Tree Ave - See map here

Information on Arsenic and Health is on the Ministry of Health website