An Independent Commissioner has declined an application by Envriofume Limited to discharge methyl bromide at the Port of Tauranga.

The company had applied to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to discharge methyl bromide, an odourless and colourless gas which is commonly used to fumigate logs for export.

An application made by Envriofume Limited's to discharge methyl bromide at the Port of Tauranga has been declined this week. File photo.

In his decision released on Tuesday, Independent Commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen noted the gas is known, or suspected, to cause a range of significant adverse effects on human health.

This includes cancer, genetic mutations, and neurological disorders, says Commissioner van Voorthuysen.

'Based on the evidence I am not persuaded that proposed discharge of methyl bromide to air at the Port Of Tauranga site by Envirofume can be undertaken in a manner that will ensure that the mandatory tolerable exposure limits will not be exceeded.”

Mandatory tolerable exposure limits are set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Envirofume uses methyl bromide as part of pre-shipment fumigation of export logs, which is a necessary quarantine requirement for some countries, particularly India and China, which import New Zealand logs.

In its proposal Envirofume outline positive effects of discharging the gas which included increased competition in the provision of fumigation services at the port.

This in turn would result in increased innovation, greater awareness of the effects of the ventilation activity, more detailed accurate and timely monitoring and reporting; and broader economic benefits for New Zealand.

But Commissioner van Voorthuysen remained unconvinced.

'I am not persuaded that I should place much weight on these suggested positive effects for two reasons. Firstly, the purported innovation, awareness and economic effects are speculative in nature and were not supported by any industrial research, marketing or economic evidence.

'Secondly, monitoring and reporting are routinely required of consent holders and they routinely improve in quality over time as monitoring results are received, audited and evaluated by the council.

'That can hardly be called a positive effect,” says Commissioner van Voorthuysen.

Green Party pesticides spokesperson Steffan Browning has welcomed the decision saying it's fantastic the Commissioner recognised what the party and many others have been saying for a long time.

'Port workers and the neighbouring community should not be exposed to this potentially fatal pollutant,” he says.

Steffan says it's 'just the first step” and ports throughout New Zealand should look at this decision and make sure any use of methyl bromide is not putting workers and neighbouring communities at risk.

'Methyl bromide continues to be used at the Port of Tauranga by the company Genera, and the Regional Council has to ask if it's use is being conducted in a safe manner given the Commissioner's ruling,” he says.

The hearing on the application was held in the BOPRC Tauranga offices over March 8-9.