Thousands of litres of hazardous waste spilled at a Fonterra plant in Southland early today. Emergency services were called to the Edendale factory just after 2am when staff reported 5000-litre tanks of nitric acid and caustic alkali were overflowing. The bunded area has successfully contained the two chemicals and there hasn't been any chemical mixing at all," Chalmers said. Firefighters and Fonterra staff were now making the scene safe and removing the chemicals from the bunded area. Fonterra was investigating the cause of the spill but a machine malfunction may have caused multiple tanks to overflow, he said.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 15, 2016 20:15 UTC