East Coast News

By Frank Wynne-Jones

The East Coast, which over the years has shown various signs of containing hidden oil wealth, has a "little Kapuni" at Te Puia, where natural gas pours from a hole in the ground in the hills behind the township.

A gas which requires no purification and is of a very high calorific value, it was used by the Te Puia Hospital for many years. The old gas stoves have now been removed, but the plant still produces thousands of cubic feet per hour, most of which is just exhausting into the air.

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The hospital's water-sealed holding tank supplies the gas at the correct pressure to various points in the hospital and staff quarters.

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This installation collects the gas from the ground and pipes it down to the holding tank.

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Puketiti Station, although it has its own private powerline, still uses the gas for cooking, water heating, and central heating.

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Te Puia Hospital.