Fumes upsetting teachers

Teachers at a central Christchurch school continue to complain about allegedly illness-inducing fumes despite assurances from health authorities.

The complaints first arose in 2008 when three Phillipstown School pupils fainted and two teachers felt unwell as fumes drifted across the school, which is surrounded by an industrial area containing a brewery, a pickle company, a coffee plant, a bakery and manufacturers.

A neighbouring factory, Wright Marble, which produces kitchen benchtops and which did not at the time have a resource consent to emit fumes, was initially blamed.

Subsequent tests by the Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury (ECan), the Department of Labour, Community Public Health and independent consultants found odour concentrations were detectable in particular wind conditions but were not a health hazard.

Some teachers at the school have continued to complain about fumes, including three times on one day this month.

Christchurch Central Labour MP Brendon Burns said one staff member had resigned over the problem and another was on "ACC-approved sick leave".

The school would not comment on the claim, but The Press understands both were teachers at the school's technology centre. The teacher on sick leave has been off since September.

ECan director of regulation Kim Drummond said the regional council had received 50 complaints about fumes in the area since last June, when Wright Marble was granted a consent to discharge to the air.

Pollution-control staff had made 19 site visits and had once detected a "distinct odour".

Air samples were taken and analysed for styrene and acetone, Drummond said. The results showed levels well below Occupational Health and Safety workplace-exposure standards.

He said ECan would continue to follow the matter, but at this stage it was not able to "substantiate the concerns".

Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey said his inquiries had shown "absolutely no evidence" that health symptoms reported by teachers at the school were due in any way to air quality.

Wright Marble's resource consent will expire in June and the company has already applied for a new consent. ECan has yet to decide whether the application should be publicly notified.

Phillipstown School principal Tony Simpson declined to answer written questions from The Press and said in a statement that air-quality concerns in his community had been referred to the appropriate external agencies.

Department of Labour workplace southern regional manager Sheila McBreen-Kerr said her staff investigated after the incident in August 2008.

"The investigation found that while the chemical odour from the adjoining business can be offensive and distressing, independent monitoring showed that chemical-exposure levels were within the workplace-exposures level," she said.

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