There is worldwide interest in the trial this week of six parties over the Whakaari White Island eruption that claimed 22 lives.
The trial will concentrate on health and safety practices leading up to the deadly disaster, and those charged include the island's owners, the Buttle brothers.
Nearly four years after Whakatane's darkest day in living memory, WorkSafe is going to court in an effort to find accountability for what led to the disaster.
December 9 2019 was the day Whakaari erupted with deadly force.
As a result of the disaster, 22 died, 25 were injured and some relatives are still raw with anger.
"It's taking forever, you know? I'm in a nightmare and it's a nightmare that I'm not waking up from, it just continues and continues," said the mother of a victim, Karen Griffiths.
Her son Jason was one of 17 Australians who died.
"He was only 33 years old when he died. He had a lifetime left and they stole it all," she said.
Griffiths told Australia's 7 News her son was pulled from the island by rescue teams suffering burns to 80 percent of his body.
"That's what I see every time I close my eyes, is him laying in hospital and I kept it from my husband for a long time that I had to watch Jason basically melt before my eyes as he passed away," she said.
Government agencies and helicopter companies are among those who in recent months have pleaded guilty over holes in their health and safety plans.
But tour companies, the island's owners, the Buttle brothers and their company will stand trial.
The trial is set down for 12 weeks. It's taking place in court in Auckland but residents of Whakatane will be able to follow the case as it unfolds.
Acacia House, a building in the centre of the town, will be playing the trial on screen as it happens.
Judy Turner was Whakatane's mayor at the time of the disaster. She said residents have mixed emotions about the prosecutions.
"There was quite a lot of anger because some of those who were being charged were people who had been absolutely heroic on the day Whakaari blew up, put their own lives at risk actually," she said.
But Turner said more people understand the prosecutions aren't for what people did afterwards but what WorkSafe says they didn't do before.
"What they were going to trial over was not what had actually happened on the day but what was missing, elements in their health and safety policy," she said.
The destinies of Whakaari and Whakatane have always been entwined. White Island was one of New Zealand's top five destinations and put Whakatane on the tourist map.
But with or without the trial it's unlikely any future tours will set people down on White Island again.
