Concern has been raised about four Invercargill sites storing the same potentially dangerous chemical that sparked fear during the recent storm in Southland.
Cr Nobby Clark voiced his concern at the Invercargill City Council community services committee yesterday.
"We had the issues in Mataura with the dross. We’ve got facilities around town storing dross as well.
"This has been a long-term issue. If we have some sort of major disaster here and face what Mataura potentially would have faced, we would be discussing things like ammonia leaks and the potential for explosions as well."
After the meeting, Cr Clark said that all four sites containing the ouvea premix were in industrial areas in the city.
"You just can’t leave it and hope nothing happens.
"There is huge amounts of it ...
"You can’t leave this toxic waste sitting around in buildings hoping you’ll never get a flood," Cr Clark said.
Cr Biddle said at the meeting the mayoral forum and emergency committee were discussing the issue.
She said it was a priority after the floods.
Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt said they were looking at putting $100,000 into the mayoral relief fund to "match the Government’s contribution".
It would be discussed at an extraordinary meeting at a later date.
