A truck driver from the Central Otago District Council's waste collection contractor, AllWaste, became unwell on Thursday after being exposed to chlorine granules in a metal drum, which had been placed in a wheelie bin.
The driver got out of the truck to remove the drum which had become jammed in the truck after the wheelie bin was tipped in with the other waste, council infrastructure services manager Jon Kingsford said yesterday.
''The man had to go to the doctor [at Roxburgh] and get checked out in case he'd inhaled any chemical or in case it had come into contact with his skin,'' Mr Kingsford said.
He understood the man was able to return to work the next day.
''Chlorine can be fatal, so it was lucky for the driver, for the contractor and for the council that this man is well and that there was only a small amount of this chemical and it did not explode.''
Council health and safety co-ordinator, Bernie Scurr, said it was a serious incident and could have had more serious, or even fatal consequences.
''It was fortunate the outcome from last week's incident was a positive one and the driver was given medical clearance but the potential for there to have been a fatality and/or an explosion and need for a full-scale evacuation/decontamination of the Roxburgh township was huge,'' she said.
Mr Kingsford said it was a ''genuine mistake'' by the person who dumped the material, who was ''very remorseful and horrified their actions might have caused harm.''
No action would be taken against the person, whom he declined to name.
''I don't think it's fair to point the finger or apportion blame. Everyone just has to learn from this experience.''
Because of the location of the truck at the time, tracking down the person responsible had been an ''educated guess''.
They had admitted dumping the chemical as soon as they were spoken to about the matter, he said.
The chemical could have been used in a pool, or in a spa or as part of a cleaning product, Mr Kingsford said.
It was clearly hazardous waste, which was prohibited from wheelie bins.
''There's a list in capital letters and large font on the top of the new bins of items unacceptable to put in the bins and people need to take note of that. It's not there for fun,'' Mr Kingsford said.
That list included hazardous material, including containers that may have included hazardous material, and items such as hot ashes, rocks, bricks and soil, electronics, scrap metal, demolition and construction waste, paints and oils and gas bottles.
If anyone was in doubt about an item, they should leave it out of the bin and take it to the nearest transfer station, he said.
The contractor and council would be ''reviewing their processes'' as a result of the incident to see how risk could be minimised further.
Roxburgh Fire Brigade Senior Fire Fighter David Weatherall confirmed one crew had attended the incident.
''When we got there, the driver had been checked and cleared [by medical staff] and most of the stuff in the tin had evaporated, so there was nothing left for us to do. There was no danger at that stage,'' he said.
When approached, Queenstown Central Otago AllWaste manager Mark McKone declined to comment on the incident.
