Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations says; “Contractors will use a method called ‘foamed bitumen stabilisation’ to improve the pavement.

This treatment, while it hasn’t yet been used in Tairāwhiti, is a commonly used method in other parts of the North Island. It recycles existing road materials while injecting foamed bitumen into the pavement, which rejuvenates a heavily deteriorated road into one that is more robust and has a longer life than traditional pavement.

“With SH2 still closed between Napier and Wairoa, there’s increased traffic between Gisborne and Ōpōtiki so we’re ensuring the road can withstand that increase,” says Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations Jaclyn Hankin.

“Heading into winter we also want to improve the resilience of this critical route and repair existing damage,” says Ms Hankin. Waka Kotahi Regional Manager 14/5/23.

CEAC is sending a warning and is concerned that this new system is strikingly similar to ‘oil company fracking ‘- (a very controversial oil extraction system) now must be carefully studied and guaranteed as certified as safe by NZ EPA and WorkSafe as any other new chemical exposure is, that has been released to the environment from, ‘Foamed Bitumen Stabilisation’ a system of blasting high pressure injections into roading in our country.

• The process was released quietly by NZTA without EPA involvement being questioned by it apparently?
• Sadly again the public have been left in the cold, and the road workers and first responders are not being protected from exposure to the new chemical exposures that has been released to the environment when this new system similar to ‘oil company fracking they call it ‘Foamed Bitumen Stabilisation’ a system of blasting high pressure injections down into the roading in our country.

There are several reports now showing that the release of the chemicals of blasting high pressure injections to roading in our country by high temperature/pressure into the lower base of the roading, will leave very toxic chemicals (Isocyanates) to leach out of the road and into our waterways also as chemicals wash off our roads now such as oil, tyre dust and brake dust.

• One in particular is a 2011 Study; Modification of bitumen using polyurethanes
• P. Partal, F.J. Martínez-Boza, in Polymer Modified Bitumen, 2011
• 3.7 Sources of further information and advice
• Modification of bitumen with isocyanates is a new topic in the pavement and building construction fields. Few research groups are currently studying this topic, among others including those from the Complex Fluid Engineering Laboratory of the University of Huelva Spain.

CEAC caution note - isocyanates discussed in this study from Spain is a toxic cancer causing carcinogen, any toxicologist will confirm this fact.

We need to be careful to not pollute our environment further when we change road repair practices.

If Dow Chemical Company and the other Producers of the chemicals used in ‘Foamed Bitumen Stabilisation’ system can prove the clear safety to our environment and people to global satisfaction good, but don’t use it until we are all sure.

We see that the ‘stabilisation’ is forming a solid polymer under base which is resembling a plastic binder, to stabilise the road base which is plastic which is not what the world needs more of now.

Fact; ‘road dust from tyres is plastic’.

CEAC sent this challenge to Waka Kotahi (WK/NZTA) and Government back in 2022 entitled “Road Dust: An Overlooked Urban Pollutant” and sadly nothing was done then.

As the Science Media Centre points out clearly CEAC agrees 100% with their findings here,

These two documents provide the evidence to show about “road dust from tyres is an overlooked pollutant of our environment and waterways.
Tyre dust is micro-plastics.

• If NZ along with the world is to limit the effects of global warming, drastic changes must be made and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report Executive Summary.

• All must be taken seriously now along with report on sediments for watersheds.

So less ‘transport micro-plastic dust’ is considered as a major plus - and only ‘steel wheels on a steel track’ will do the job to deal with Climate change.

So if we lower the micro-plastics and climate change emissions in our environment we will make our lives and environment healthy again.

So we at CEAC have alerted the facts now to advocate that our Government use the funds to restore rail again to become the ‘prime mover of NZ’s freight and passenger service again for the health, wellbeing and security of our future generations of all habitants sharing of our environment are protected.

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