12 February 2020

New Zealand's environment minister has threatened the mining conglomerate Rio Tinto with legal action over what he says is an "outrageous" failure to deal with toxic waste from an aluminium plant.

Recent South Island floods – in which the waste's storage facility was nearly inundated, bringing ecological and human tragedy – have infuriated locals in Mataura, where 10,000 tonnes of "ouvea premix" resides.

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Rio Tinto stores the waste from its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in a disused paper mill in the South Island town, an hour away.

That waste is a class six hazardous substance, capable of generating poisonous ammonia gas when combined with water.

So when flooding ran through Mataura earlier in February, forcing the town's evacuation and ruining dozens of properties, locals were understandably fearful for the potential for tragedy from the waste.

They believe another six inches of floodwater would have seen the storage facility breached, thereby devastating the town and water catchment.

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