Dear Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Board,

I understand Te Papa museum have an arrangement with Nga Taonga Sound and Vision (NTSV) to store flammable nitro-cellulose based items in the NTSV owned dangerous goods storage vault at Whitireia Park, Titahi Bay, Wellington. This vault is built on land owned by Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and, in addition to Te Papa's items, contains almost the entire pre-1950 Nitrate Film collections of both NTSV and Archives New Zealand.

It appears this particular storage facility may soon be regarded as unsuitable for the ongoing storage of Class 4.1 flammable solids because of the close proximity to a replacement RNZ AM Radio transmission mast, due to be installed during 2018. The Radio Frequency radiation emitted from a High Power AM Radio transmission facility is a known possible ignition source, plus very high metal structures attract lightning increasing the risk of lightning induced damage to nearby electrical installations.

The opinion of Nga Taonga Sound and Vision is that the risk of ignition is extremely low and does not justify the expense of relocation. However international safety standards indicate otherwise and WorkSafe New Zealand is currently investigating the possible revocation of the dangerous goods location compliance certificate for this site.

I am interested in any contingency plans the museum have should they be required to quickly relocate the items in storage at Whitireia Park.

My OIA request is for a copy of the storage agreement between between Te Papa and Nga Taonga Sound and Vision and any associated correspondence.

Yours faithfully,

P L Ford

Dear Frances Lawrence,

Thank you for your reply to my OIA request. From the information provided it appears your Nitrate Film material is stored in steel cases within the vault.

Strong Radio Frequency radiation induces electric voltages and currents in metallic structures. This means there is a risk of a spark occurring whenever the boxes are opened for inspection.

Since lodging my OIA request WorkSafe NZ have determined that the site complies with the New Zealand Hazardous Substances Regulations for Classes 1 to 5 dangerous goods. The site location compliance certificate will be renewed by 18 May 2018. They do not understand the problem and refuse to further respond to my considerable correspondence advising that Radio Frequency Radiation is a known ignition source, therefore the site does not comply with paragraph stating the goods must be kept away from ignition sources unless ignition is intended.

Although International Safety Standards suggest that at the power levels at Titahi Bay a full investigation should be carried out if the separation distance from mast to vault is less than about 4 kilometres, unfortunately WorkSafe management has taken the attitude that there is no compulsion to comply with the advise of overseas safety experts.

Specialists in Radio Frequency systems such as myself are mystified why no one is interested in listening to appropriate technical advise and there does not appear to be a mechanism to appeal a WorkSafe decision.

If you are interested I could bring a copies of the relevant international safety standards to you to peruse but copyright prevents me from leaving copies with you. I asked WorkSafe via an OIA request if they had copies but they advise they do not.

Yours sincerely,

P L Ford