Detroit public schools shut off all drinking water after tests show lead & copper contamination
Over half the public schools in Detroit have tested positive for high levels of lead and copper after their drinking water was inspected over safety concerns.
According to the Detroit Public Schools Community District, elevated levels of lead and copper were found in the water of 57 schools.
They are still waiting for the results for 27 more schools.
RT reports: Michigan’s largest school district initiated the widespread tests after a previous examination last year uncovered high elevations of lead and/or copper in 16 of 24 schools. Drinking water was turned off in the affected schools and water coolers and bottled water was supplied.
“This (testing) was not required by federal, state, or city law,” the DPSCD said. “This testing, unlike the previous testing in 2016, evaluated all water sources from sinks to drinking fountains.”
MRSA staphylococcus is an example of a superbug. These bacterial strains are resistant to most antibiotics and can cause serious infections.
“In the case of MRSA, these bacteria have also spread in hospitals almost worldwide,” says Jukka Corander, professor at the University of Helsinki, a member of an international research team that mapped several millennia of the evolution of the staphylococcus. In their extensive study, the researchers sequenced whole genomes of superbugs from a large sample from animals and humans, and were able to study the DNA changes that helped the bacteria adapt to new host organisms over thousands of years.
Based on genome analysis, humans were most probably the original hosts to these superbugs, and judging from DNA changes, the ability to colonise domestic animals appeared in an age when the first animals were domesticated to become livestock on farms.
In the study, published recently in Nature Ecology…
Note: this story is evolving by the minute (& changing). Last I heard (this morning) whatever it was wasn’t dropped from a plane, very convenient. And am I surprized, not at all. Whilst MS is in damage control overdrive, this will need to be ‘normalized’ asap.
Two articles from the NZ Herald & Dominion Post
21 September
Emergency services have locked down South End School in Carterton, Wairarapa, after a mystery chemical fell from an aircraft.
One student reportedly told school staff they had seen a plane dropping a substance near the school, and a strong smell of rotten eggs was reported in the playground.
At least five ambulances and eight fire appliances are at the school.
Carterton senior fire officer Wayne Robinson said 20 children had shown signs of illness, including vomiting, and four would be taken to hospital.
It is now planned to shower all staff and students. Parents have been asked to bring a change of clothes for their children.
Note: you can hear Dr Miranda Sherley speak in the GrafBoys’ doco “Poisoning Paradise“. There are graphic descriptions and footage of the agony 1080’d animals go through. A veterinarian has commented that dying from 1080 poison is like two days of slow electrocution.
RSPCA MEDIA RELEASE 2007
We can no longer kid ourselves that 1080 is an acceptable option; we urgently need to focus efforts on finding ways to make 1080 more humane, or otherwise finding more humane ways to control pest animals … Dr M Sherley
A new report into the use of sodium fluroacetate (or 1080) in Australia has found it is an
inhumane poison, and has called for urgent research into improving the humaneness of
vertebrate pest control methods in this country.
The report, written by RSPCA Australia’s Dr Miranda Sherley, has been published in the current edition of the highly respected Animal Welfare journal from the UK-based Universities Federation for Animal Welfare.
Dr Sherley said despite its widespread use, the animal welfare implications of 1080 baiting have received little attention. There has been ongoing research into the ecological impacts of using 1080 as well as a high level of public concern regarding the effects of the poison on non-target animals, including pets or working dogs that might accidentally pick up the baits, as well as native wildlife, said Dr Sherley.
However, we were concerned to further investigate what level of pain and suffering was caused by 1080 on any vertebrate animal, including the target animals which, we should remember, are also very much able to experience pain and suffering and deserve no less compassion in the way we deal with them, she said.
Dr Sherley said a range of criteria ñ including studying how the poison works, speed of death, behaviour of affected animals and long-term effects on survivors – were used to scientifically assess how humane the use of 1080 is as a method of pest control.
Human cases of 1080 poisoning are also helpful in understanding the effects on other animals: while conscious, people report feeling pain and distress, and through detailed hospital records we are also able to better track their recovery and any longer term effects, she said. Based on the evidence available, our conclusion is that animals affected by 1080 do not die a quick and humane death; rather, they suffer a range of potentially painful and distressing symptoms, often over a period of hours,î said Dr Sherley.
We can no longer kid ourselves that 1080 is an acceptable option; we urgently need to focus efforts on finding ways to make 1080 more humane, or otherwise finding more humane ways to control pest animals.
Note: remember people, this has been in court (big thanks to Sue Grey, lawyer) and DoC’s lawyers asked the judge for their scientist to NOT be cross examined. How dodgy is that? And the drop isgoing ahead. No surprizes there. See the Court approval here.
The news here below is from Carol Sawyer.
IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE*
THE INCREDIBLE LETTER BELOW HAS BEEN PREPARED BY DOCTORS WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT 1080 POISON BEING DEPOSITED IN DRINKING WATER
Open letter to the Government, Friday, 21st September 2018.
As doctors, we are extremely concerned about the health risk of depositing poisoned bait over 22,500 hectares of the Hunua water catchment area. Specifically, we are concerned about Sodium Fluoroacetate (SMFA / 1080), a known deadly poison which is known to cause sub-lethal effects on reproduction and is classified as a teratogen, having potential to contaminate the Auckland water supply.
There is no effective antidote for 1080 poisoning in humans.
We are extremely concerned that public officials are not adopting a far more precautionary approach to the safety of the Auckland water catchment, especially when the effects of 1080, a highly soluble poison, is not quantifiably able to be tested on how it affects the health of humans.
Studies show that 1080 affects the reproductive organs, the cardiac system, and respiratory system in mammals. There is no safe minimal level known and water testing and sampling after aerial 1080 application cannot prudently protect the public from risk of exposure from this poison.
As doctors, we are responsible for the health of individuals and communities. Therefore, we ask the government to immediately stop the usage of sodium fluoroacetate which has potential to contaminate the New Zealand water supply.
Signed,
Dr Ulrich Doering MBChB, Dipl O+G, FRNZCGP
Dr Roger Leitch MBChB, FRNZCGP
Dr Mogens Poppe FRNZCGP FRACGP
Dr Janine Budden MBChB, FRNZCGP
Dr Caroline Wheeler MBChB
Dr Ron Goedeke
Dr Tessa Jones MBChB, Dipl Obs, FRNZCGP, FACNEM, FAARM
Dr. Charles M. Baycroft BSc; MD. FRNZCGP, Dip MSM, QBE.
Dr Donald Palmer MBChB, Dipl O+G, FRNZCGP
Dr Jocelyn Lydford MD
Dr Kamal Karl MBBS, FRNZCGP, FACNEM, FNZCAM, FACCS
Dr Avani Karl
Dr Rick Coleman MB ChB, Dip Obst, FRNZCGP
Dr Helen Proctor
Dr Richard Drexel
Dr Tim Ewer, MB ChB, MMedSci, MRCP, FRACP, FRNZCGP, Dip Occ Med
A pest worker who worked for a New Zealand local council Environment Waikato for two years, has damned 1080 poison as cruel and destructive of bird life.
Graeme Merekara Shelford, now resident in Australia, said he had a mixture of sadness and anger over the inhumane nature of the poison and that contrary to the claims of government departments and councils using the toxin, it was killing the vast numbers of bird life.
“Numerous times I was told 1080 doesn’t kill anything but possums. I was just ignorant of the damage because of what I was told, but I learned firsthand that is just not true,” he said.
The poison is used by government agencies and local councils to kill predators supposedly annihilating native birds but was killing birds themselves and insects, food for insectivorous birds such as robins and fantails.
Graeme Shelford was involved in trapping, using 1080 and also aerial drops of the poison, which often involved visiting farmers’ properties to talk to landowners before using 1080. His boss was frequently involved in arguments with farmers.
“The farmers looked at us as if we were taking their farms. They didn’t want the toxic stuff. Many of them knew how nasty 1080 is.”
For further info on 1080 visit our 1080 pages (main menu) which include a complete list of resources and links. For other 1080 articles use ‘categories’ at the top left of the news page. If you’re new to the issue a must watch is Poisoning Paradise (links at our pages) a four times international award winning doco by NZ’s GrafBoys that is banned from screening in NZ. Visit their own website called tv-wild.com. They also have a channel on Youtube by the same name or search ‘GrafBoys’.
Visa and Mastercard have run up the mother of all credit card bills. The monopolistic payment providers had been embroiled in a long-running lawsuit instigated by merchants protesting their excessive fees. The credit card giants have now conceded defeat and agreed to settle the price-fixing case for a whopping $6.2 billion.
Visa and Mastercard Cop to Running a Card Cartel
Millions of Visa and Mastercard customers enjoy a love-hate relationship with their credit card provider. While the ability to buy goods on credit is undoubtedly convenient, the hidden charges, sporadic service interruptions, and security risks all take their toll. They’re not alone: merchants are equally weary of Visa, Mastercard, and their punitive fees. Unlike the helpless customers, however, the merchants have the ability to do something about it.
Shares in JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America will form part of the payment proffered by Visa…
This is from greenmedinfo.com, you need to register with them … info below.
If you’re worried about radiation from your smartphone… WIFI networks… electrical wiring… and other modern devices disrupting your health…
You’re right to be concerned.
These modern advancements are putting you and your family’s health at risk.
They could be promoting cancer, Alzheimer’s, depression, migraines, fatigue, low immunity and more. Even 40 minutes a day of cell phone use can increase your brain cancer risk by 40%!
But we’re not here to tell you to go live in the woods or wear a tinfoil hat.
This is the reality of the world we live in. Cell phones and WIFI aren’t going anywhere.
Since 2009, our friend and GreenMedInfo contributing writer Lloyd Burrell has dedicated his life to discovering and sharing the easiest ways to protect you and your family.
He’s spent the past year putting together a once-in-a-lifetime online event with 34 experts on this very subject – Electromagnetic Field Summit.
The Electromagnetic Field Summit will cover the best strategies to protect yourself from these digital toxins, which are causing chronic inflammation and a host of other conditions.
Best of all, this event is 100% FREE. He just wants you to have the tools to protect yourself and your loved ones. It’s all happening TODAY, September 18th.
After five years in power, the man described as the “world’s most humble president” has stepped down from office in Uruguay in 2015. Jose “Pepe” Mujica, who leaves with approval ratings of nearly 70 per cent, is a real person with real advice for leading a nation.
“We invented this thing called representative democracy, where we say the majority is who decides,” Mujica said in the interview. “So it seems to me that we [heads of state] should live like the majority and not like the minority.”
If you set up the board game like our actual economy, the poorest players quickly run out of money and the rich run away with the game. It’s unfair, boring, and exactly what happens in real life.
As a sociology professor in community college, I have my students play Monopoly. Only, I give them a special, rigged version.
There are five players. The wealthiest begins with $5,500, all of the railroads, and the two most valuable properties (Boardwalk and Park Place). The least wealthy begins with about $200 and no property. The remaining three are in between.
More than 20 newborns remain hospitalised in intensive care units but appear to be improving nearly two weeks after showing signs of blood poisoning following a hepatitis B vaccine.
Health officials are still struggling to determine and explain what led to the severe reactions and the deaths of three newborns at Bago Region General Hospital. But parents of seven infants medevacked to Yankin Children’s Hospital in Yangon are convinced of the culprit that has their sons and daughters struggling for life.
“It was the vaccine. What else could it be?” said Ko Aung Soe.
The infants’ tribulations, which began just hours after their birth, have underscored the country’s underfunded and ailing health system, revealing the toll of medical shortages and doctors ill-appraised of national policies.
“I feel hopeless,” Ko Aung Soe Myint said. “So far, no doctor has even explained why my daughter is sick.”
At first, Ko Aung Soe Myint thought his daughter was the only one affected with seizures and difficulty breathing. She was born in the morning on March 7. Around noon a nurse came to administer a hepatitis B vaccine. Within four hours something appeared to have gone wrong.
“Her skin colour started turning blue. Doctors came and they took her to a special ward. They wouldn’t say why,” he said. He added that he had not seen his daughter receive any other medication or injections.
“In the evening, other babies in a similar condition arrived at the special treatment ward. After midnight the doctors called all the parents, and said, ‘your children are not well.’ But they didn’t explain what was happening,” he said.
Anti-Vaxxers – your gut feelings were right. Autism is NOT the worst thing that vaccines have done. The Pro-Vaxxers have significantly damaged a whole generation, and like the Nazis in World War II, they kept detailed, but secret, records of it.
The map at the top of this page [at the link] shows that there are NINE contractors, in EIGHT States, that work with the completely corrupt US Center for Disease Control (CDC) to carry out what is OFFICIALLY known as the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) study.
But once we begin to examine what is REALLY going on, something else became VERY obvious…
The VSD Has NOTHING to do with vaccine safety…
It has EVERYTHING to do with secretly monitoring the effects of MASSIVE numbers of vaccines on children heading for adulthood beginning January 1st 1991 to the present.
It is NO SURPRISE that every one of the participating States showed up prior to the 2016 election in the “Blue State“ column of national US politics.
“Blue States”were picked for this project, I think, because liberals, as a group, do not question Big Government, but, in fact, embrace it. Frankly, they think what CNN tells them to think. CNN gives them their buzz-words for the day. Like good little socialist/communists they smile while they do what their masters tell them to do.
The farm with the cow deaths adjoins Mapara Wildlife Reserve, administered by the NZ Department of Conservation. 1080 baits were photographed in the neighbouring farm paddock. Bees could be seen feeding on the poisoned carcasses… so 1080 is potentially going into our NZ honey!!!
This is not an irregular occurrence folks, remember the news hitherto hidden from the ’90s of 570+ dead sheep, reported by Dr Meriel Watts! See the working document on poisoning by 1080 being compiled still as we speak. Since publishing some of these farm deaths it’s become very apparent by feedback from farmers that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Remember, the incidents are hidden by DoC in the paper work.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
10 cows POISONED by 1080 13/09/2018. Video at the source shows a bee feeding on the poisoned protein/salt on the poisoned carcass. DOC is out of control. Photos & Videos- Lefur Dan
An article by the late Bill Benfield.
See our article on the Manawatu River here.
The Manawatu
The Manawatu is an interesting comparison. Not only is it often cited as one of New Zealand’s dirtiest rivers, research by the Cawthron Institute in Nelson showed it to be one of the dirtiest in the western world. In an item from the Dominion Post of 26/11/2009, it cites Dr Young of Cawthron claiming that a system measuring oxygen changes in water (un-defined) show the Manawatu has a reading of 107, nearly twice that of the next worse, a river near Berlin just below a sewage outfall, where the reading was 59. Dr Young cited leaching farm nutrient and treated town sewerage, with agricultural use, i.e. nitrogen run off, being most of it.
Looking to maps Google Earth, it is obvious that there is a lot of human settlement, hill country farming, some forestry and, in the valleys, long strips of pastoral farming (including dairy). There is just not the weight of dairy to support Dr Young’s claims. As well, there are many significant towns, and they cannot be ignored, this is where the authors of this review exhibit a bias. It starts with the description of the sewerage discharges; they are described as treated. In fact, the city of Palmerston North is operating a non-complying system on a temporary consent till 2020; it is the biggest urban discharge consent and for up to 46,600 cubic metres per day of only partially treated sewerage. Horowhenua District Council has also admitted dumping 5.1 million litres of “partially” treated sewerage into the Manawatu which they also admitted contained tampons, condoms and toilet paper!
Untreated storm-water is not even mentioned. It is all the rubbish from the roads and gutters, fuel spills, dead animals, garden rubbish in the drains, sometimes even raw sewerage from old combined connections. There will also be leachates from landfill rubbish sites – it’s everything.
In all, from the towns, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, Woodville, Dannevirke, Ashurst, Fielding, Shannon, Palmerston North and so on have a combined sewerage discharge consent of 75,600 cubic metres per day. To that, we can add industrial discharges from milk processor Fonterra, New Zealand Pharmaceuticals and Tui Breweries.
By claiming “sediment washing into the river from overgrazed farms or eroding countryside”, the authors ignore some of the bigger generators of silt. Forestry is certainly a major contributor, both in clearing the land for planting and at time of harvest. Another is cross blading and bulldozer work in the river bed. I’m not actually championing dairy farmers, but I think it is reasonable to say that there is a lot more involved in the Manawatu than agricultural runoff – aka “dirty dairy”.
What can one say, Timaru you did a great job in turning up to a very important cause.
8th of September 2018 will go down in the record books for the amount of people who came together, to stand together and to voice their concern over the use of a poison, 1080.
Throughout New Zealand, from the Cape to Bluff, over the last 5-6 months, two blokes set about creating awareness on both islands. Alan and Emile began the HIKOI OF A POISONED NATION.
Incredibly brave move as it was the cold winter months and the 8th Sept was the day they would congregate in Wellington outside the Beehive.
Not sure on the actual number, but with Wellington holding the main event, many, many towns throughout both islands, came together in full support for the banning of 1080.
I was born and bred here in Timaru, I went away for a few years but returned. Only the day before (the 7th) I saw some post that was looking like a typical Timaru response, ONLY 6 were showing as going. I thought that was just typical of Timaru, so many voice their own opinion, so many not having much knowledge on many topics, but when action takes place, you don’t see them.
I was absolutely wrapped in what i saw outside the Timaru City Council building. One by one, the people gathered and in the matter of 4–50minutes, an incredibly great turn out.
Well done to ALL who showed, well done to the ones who organized the Timaru 1080 Gathering and as we all get together, country wide, lets hope that common sense takes place and this government actually KILLS 1080 ONCE AND FOR ALL.
I see many posts where the blame points to the immediate government, it can’t just be blamed on this one, as over the last 30 years, this criminal element has been going on through many puppets, of different parties.
If this Government now, run my Jacinda Adern wants to put herself and party on the map of good, NOW IS THE TIME. KILL KILL KILL 1080!!!
Timaru, this video is for you, all those that supported a worthy cause in exposing and bringing an end to this democidal ingredient. #hikoiofapoisonednation
A wee ‘small’ reminder of the honesty of the plebs who run the NZ corporation …
Remember this post on social media? September just gone? QUOTE:
“I was there last week Doc wouldn’t let our lawyer cross examine their scientists and court allowed that. Lawyer won hands down against doc They couldn’t prove 1080 safety…..TOTAL CORRUPTION
Our lawyer proved by DoC’s own files they were lying …but we LOST”
NOTE: SINCE THIS POSTED, I’VE HEARD THE DROP IS NOT GOING AHEAD AT THIS STAGE. STILL IN COURT…. (PS 19/1/2019 … it DID of course go ahead).
Why do they not want their scientist cross examined? Couldn’t stand the heat? Don’t have the back up science for their data? Could be anybody’s guess but certainly not rocket science. Whatever side of the fence you sit on the 1080 issue, this is about justice of which there appears to be very little these days, remembering Graeme Sturgeon for instance & his ‘win’ that left him with $23K court costs. Looking from afar here we are being sent a very clear message which I’m sure you can figure out for yourselves.
Further comment from Facebook today:
“I was there last week
DoC wouldn’t let our lawyer cross examine their scientists and court allowed that. Lawyer won hands down against DoC
They couldn’t prove 1080 safety…..TOTAL CORRUPTION
Our lawyer proved by DoC’s own files they were lying …but we LOST”
In the animated film “Rio,” a Spix’s Macaw named Blu flies all the way from Minnesota to Rio de Janeiro because he’s the last living male of his species and that’s where Jewel, the last living female, lives. Blu and Jewel ultimately fall in love, have a baby and the movie ends happily – with the hope that the literal lovebirds can save their species. In the real world, however, Blu would’ve been too late.
A new study by BirdLife International, a global partnership of conservation organizations that strive to conserve bird species around the world, reveals that in recent years several bird species have lost their fight for survival. And sadly, one of those species is the beautiful Spix’s Macaw. The species is now considered extinct in the wild, although some of the birds survive in breeding programs.
While the vast majority of bird extinctions in recent centuries have occurred on isolated islands, five of the eight highlighted by this study occurred in South America – four in Brazil alone – a tragic statement on the impact of deforestation in that part of the world.
The Smarden 1080/1081 poisoning is important as an incident because it led to the banning of this chemical in the UK and later the EU. A ‘large number’ of rats and other animals died as a result of a poisoned pony used as pet food and at least 20 horses and cattle died as a result of the contaminated water near a 1080 pesticide factory. From my own read of the article & the poisonings around the factory, there were 78 domestic animals poisoned (cats & dogs), seven sheep, 20 odd cows & several calves, one goat and two guinea pigs. (There are two articles here):
The forgotten story of how a toxic spill and a book launched Britain’s environmental movement
Today we take for granted an awareness of environmental matters, but this was not always the case. It could be said that in Britain there was a moment when that environmental consciousness arrived. When in 1963 some farm animals in the parish of Smarden in Kent became sick and died, suspicions fell on a nearby pesticide factory run by a division of Rentokil Laboratories. The events that followed amounted to one of the first environmental scandals in contemporary British history – one that would galvanise the environmental movement.
It became clear that the factory, a large shed in the middle of farmland, was manufacturing toxic chemicals and that a leak of one of these, fluoroacetamide, led to Britain’s first documented livestock mass poisoning. The incident might have passed by as only a historical footnote, but instead the Smarden leak quickly became a national concern with international implications, and has cast a long shadow across the approach to intensive agriculture in the UK in the years since.
Part of why this incident had such major repercussions is due to timing, coming as it did at the same time as American writer Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in the UK. Seen as the first polemic of the environmental movement, Carson’s book was a significant catalyst to the emergence of modern environmentalism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Local veterinarian Douglas Good had unique knowledge of fluoride poisoning having worked with a leading expert in South Africa and on cases of animals affected by industrial fluoride poisoning in England. Taking his cue from Carson, Good disseminated what he called a “short story” about the incident to the press, putting across the Smarden incident as not simply a local industrial waste spill, but as deadly evidence of the pervasiveness of toxic pesticides in the environment. Acknowledging his inspiration, Good concluded his narrative by declaring that the “subject of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring had become a reality here in the heart of the Garden of England”.
The media placed the Smarden incident within a Carson-inspired ecological critique of the dangers of an intensive, industrial approach to agriculture. Good, like Carson, was a trained scientist. Like her, he raised concerns about technocracy – governmental administration underpinned by scientific and technological expertise. As the Smarden incident unfolded, it highlighted the risks and hazards which accompanied the government’s commitment to industrial development. Tensions arose between veterinarians, government scientists, local government, media, and business interests.
A chemical double agent
While the use of inorganic poisons as pesticides stretches back to antiquity, large-scale use of organic pesticides is a 20th-century phenomenon. Fluoroacetamide is a toxic organic pesticide with nefarious origins.
A cartoon that appeared in Punch on February 12, 1964).Punch, Author provided
The two world wars fostered a massive growth of the chemical industry, and fluoroacetamide was a pesticide that arose from the search for lethal chemical weapons. After the war it was approved for use as a poison for use against rodents and insects – it was not uncommon for the science, technology, institutions, and language of chemical warfare to be redirected to the problem of agricultural pest control during peacetime. But by the time of the Smarden incident in the early 1960s, the origin of these chemicals was seen as damning evidence of the perniciousness of the military-industrial complex and its impact on the environment.
by F.D.T. Good, M.R.C.V.S.
I live and practice in Tenterden near the village of Smarden in the Weald of Kent where
there is a small factory, which makes orchard sprays.
In January 1963, a man who worked at the factory brought a four-month old Labrador
puppy to my surgery. It was having convulsions and after treatment appeared to be
making an uneventful recovery. Two weeks later the puppy was brought back to the
surgery, together with its litter brother. Both were dead, having had fits earlier in the day.
The owner suspected poisoning and wanted a post mortem examination. I explained the
difficulties of this unless one knew what poison to suspect, and reluctantly he went away
not knowing what had killed his puppies which had been so well that morning.
On Benenden Fair Day, a Saturday in mid-May, I was called to GREAT OMENDEN FARM
where a client had lost five sheep suddenly. They were being loaded for sale. A few
minutes before they appeared normal and just sank to the ground and were dead. This
was a mile from the factory. The post-mortem examination revealed nothing of
significance to indicate the cause of death. I was baffled. The Veterinary Investigation
Centre at Wye had closed down for the weekend. A sixth sheep died at Benenden Fair and a seventh with the new owner at Rye. Sheep can die suddenly from a number of infectious diseases but there was no reason to suspect any of these.
The farm manager asked me whether I had heard about three of his neighbour’s cows,
which died a few days before. This was Mr. Jull and his sons Cyril and Norman at Roberts
Farm. It was a fine afternoon and this was my last visit of the day, so we took a walk along a stream, which ran through his neighbour’s land. We noticed that the further we went upstream, the less clear the water became. The vegetation in the ditches was black and dead. The stream originated alongside the factory, which made pesticides. The water on which the cattle and sheep depended for drinking water became suspected. Water
samples were collected and internal organs from the dead sheep were taken to the County Analytical Laboratory at Maidstone. Telephone calls to my neighbouring veterinary practice at Ashford established that they had been attending three cows at Roberts Farm. We were mystified. They knew the factory made methyl bromide, and one of the ponds smelt of bromide.
The following day, Sunday, I was called urgently to attend a goat at Limes Land Farm
which lay directly across the main road from the factory. This client used to work there
and I asked him what they made. Amongst the many pesticides he mentioned was
fluoroacetamide (1081), a rat poison. The goat was trembling and in a convulsive state.
She died a few hours later. Many meetings transpired between the Ashford veterinary practice, the factory manager and myself. Analytical test results bean to come through. Fluorides were present to the extent of 5 parts per million, but bromides were a hundred times more. Sulphuric acid was also present in the water. The sheep specimens revealed no chemicals of any significance. Testing of the ditches and ponds for bromides were carried out at intervals.
The acid had been neutralized by the factory management with washing soda and only
bromides appeared to remain. Testing for fluorides was abandoned in view of the alarming quantities of bromide present. The Kent River Board, responsible for the
prevention of pollution of watercourses was alerted. The factory manager told me that
fluoroacetamide could not possibly have got into the ditches, but he was able to account
for the bromides and acid. The black chemical residue from the manufacture of
fluoroacetamide had been pumped out onto the factory land for months and the Kent
River Board assured me that this could only be carried downwards into the soil.
All ditches and ponds on Great Omenden, Kelsham and Roberts Farms were fenced off to
prevent access by livestock. The remainder of the young Friesian herd on Roberts Farm
was kept under close observation by the Ashford veterinary surgeons. No more deaths
occurred and we felt a little easier. We had at least prevented further deaths. Mr. Lowe, the farmer at Great Omenden, also kept pigs, poultry and cattle, as well as two
pet dogs, one of them a sturdy and obedient foxhound. A month after the sheep deaths,
and after all acid had disappeared from his ponds and ditches, the foxhound was taken ill at night. I will use the housekeepers words:- “At 1 am he jumped onto my bed, a thing he never does…his eyes staring and big…trembling a little and teeth bared as he panted and seemed mad…I was frightened…I let him out of the bedroom and he fell downstairs…he stumbled out of doors and went onto the green…there he fell over, head bent backwards and his legs kicking as he gasped for air…a horrible noise from his throat as he breathed…his eyes were very big…then he got up, looking wildly around, then shot away and we did not see him again alive.”
His actions were suggestive of fearful hallucinations. The following morning he was
found drowned in a pond. A post-mortem examination in the forecourt of my surgery
showed only the signs of death from drowning, and the big meal he had eaten the evening before was undigested in his stomach. The owner could not accept my post-mortem certificate. What had caused the madness before he bolted away in terror? I explained this as being due to severe abdominal pain and colic. The dog had been out hunting the previous afternoon and given a big meal on his return that evening, when he was in an exhausted condition. Mr. Lowe was still not satisfied. He had lost sheep, his neighbour had lost cattle, this was still poisoning! But how could it be? The water analyses for acid and bromide were almost normal, and the bromides, if responsible, would only have a sedative effect and not one of stimulation. Doubt grew in my mind. The Veterinary Investigation Centre was not so concerned with dogs, and besides they would be reluctant to intervene as litigation might be involved. Meanwhile the cows at Roberts Farm were reported to be normal to the casual observer.
Cyril Jull knew their milk yields had fallen, they were less alert than usual, and they were easily tired. If made to hurry, they would stop and pant like a dog. A few calves, which were born strong and healthy, died in convulsions before they were a few hours old. Mr. Patterson, the Ministry Veterinary Surgeon at Wye was again pressed to come to our aid. Yes, he was willing to do so if we could tell him what poison to look for. The factory sold scores of pesticides, from the more complex chlorinated hydrocarbons, DDT,
Lindane, Parathion, down to the simpler copper, arsenic, zinc and sulphur ones. Was one
to start at the top of the list and work down, or try one’s luck with a pin? The de la Warr
Laboratories at Oxford offered me their help and in July a team of three visited Tenterden and took apparatus out to Roberts Farm. Within minutes of setting up their apparatus they diagnosed fluoroacetate (1080), much to the surprise of the farmer and myself.
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL. WORKING DOCUMENT. Intellectual Property of Clean Green New Zealand Trust, Reg Charity no: CC54185. Collated by Dr Ursula Edgington, Michelle Terry, Clyde & Steve Graf, Kathy White and Sue Grey LLB (Hons), BSc, RSHDipPHI & other citizens.
New Zealand Register of Unintended human, stock, wildlife, dogs, native birds & aquatic life. and other poisoning incidents and deaths from aerial Compound 1080 & brodifacoum operations between 1954 and 2018. http://1080science.co.nz/
(NaturalHealth365) Most people assume that the drugs they are using either by prescription or off store shelves will be labeled correctly. It’s the sort of thing you hope you can take for granted. However, a recent incident involving blood pressure medication made by Accord Healthcare indicates that this isn’t always the case.
The pharmaceutical company was forced to issue a voluntary recall across the nation for their hydrochlorothiazide product, a popular blood pressure medication. The medication was discovered to be mislabeled; instead of hydrochlorothiazide, the bottles contained spironolactone – an edema medication for persons suffering from organ failure.
Drug dangers of taking mislabeled medication could be deadly
The labels on the affected bottles indicate they contain 100 tablets of hydrochlorothiazide, 12.5-milligrams each. However, they actually contain spironolactone (100 25-milligram tablets). This…
The Department of Conservation says it needs to use 1080 poison to kill rats and stop rat plagues. Rats have been present in New Zealand forests for over 700 years. This clip looks at various areas where 1080 poison has never been used, and one example of where it has. This is an observation only, but does raise some questions about areas where 1080 is used …
The small factory at the end of Burton Street does not look like much from the outside, but its product is getting attention from Washington to the other side of the world.Virtually unknown outside the neighborhood where it has been operating since the late 1950s, Tull Chemical Co. is the only known producer of Compound 1080, developed as a rat poison in German-occupied territories during World War II. Once banned in the United States, a teaspoonful could kill dozens.Compound 1080 is used only sparingly in the United States but more widely in New Zealand to control outdoor predators and pests. Animal welfare groups and other environmentalists say it should again be outlawed because it kills too indiscriminately.Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) has asked the Department of Homeland Security to ban production of the odorless, tasteless poison for another reason: the belief by the FBI and others that Compound 1080 — the most toxic pesticide registered by the World Health Organization — could be used by terrorists to poison U.S. water supplies. There is no known antidote.Trying to hold on to a business started by his grandfather, Tull Chemical owner Charles Wigley defends his product as safe when used properly. Other chemicals could be just as deadly in the hands of terrorists, he argues, and someone else could start making the poison.
Besides, unknown quantities of the poison could be stored around the United States from decades ago, before production was regulated.
“If they shut me down, it’s not like it’s going to just go away,” Wigley said.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Valerie Smith said the agency is reviewing Compound 1080, but it lacks the authority to ban production.
DeFazio previously asked the Environmental Protection Agency to shut down Tull Chemical because of safety problems at the company and the danger of its product, but officials refused. Neighbors of the factory were not surprised.
Lea Cheatwood has lived about 150 yards from Tull Chemical for decades, but she did not know what the company made until the early 1990s, when a neighbor obtained a copy of an EPA audit that cited numerous safety problems at the small plant, about 50 miles east of Birmingham.
Since then, Cheatwood has spent hours watching the plant and keeping logs that document truck traffic from the site, located in a city of about 15,000 people. Cheatwood said local, state and federal officials all have ignored complaints that the company transports deadly chemicals in unmarked trucks, has virtually no security and sits on the bank of a creek that regularly floods.”They all just say it’s not in their jurisdiction,” Cheatwood said. “It’s an extremely dangerous product, and it worries me it’s made in my neighborhood.”Wigley said he follows the law and laces his poison with black dye that would show up if the chemical, an organic compound, got into floodwaters in the neighborhood or — if used by terrorists — a public water reservoir.”I haven’t been contacted by Homeland Security, but EPA visits a couple of times a year,” Wigley said. He accused Rep. DeFazio of trying to make a name for himself with environmentalists by seeking the ban on Compound 1080.”He’s talking about shutting down a plant in Alabama. They’re against outsourcing jobs, but he’s talking about outsourcing mine,” Wigley said.
Tull Allen, Wigley’s grandfather, started Tull Chemical in 1956 after purchasing the process to make Compound 1080 from Monsanto Co., which had made the poison at a nearby plant that later became infamous for polluting Oxford and nearby Anniston with PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls.
Compound 1080 originally was developed as a rat poison in Nazi-controlled territory in the 1940s, and some research indicates that the Nazis considered using it to kill people in Holocaust death camps before deciding it was too dangerous for guards, said Brooks Fahy, executive director of the Oregon-based Predator Defense, which wants the poison outlawed.
The recipe made it to the United States, where the poison was used on rats and then at livestock ranches to kill coyotes and other predators.
Faced with complaints that the chemical was also killing eagles and other animals, the Nixon administration in 1972 banned the use of Compound 1080 for livestock protection. The Reagan administration reversed course in 1981, and the EPA said the poison could be registered for limited domestic use in poison-laced collars worn by sheep.
Government records show Tull Chemical closed for several years in the mid-1980s as the government considered whether to allow continued production of Compound 1080, but Wigley later reopened it. He reinforced the buildings and installed a chain-link fence topped by barbed wire after an EPA review noted inadequate security and other problems.
Wigley said he makes as much as five tons of the poison annually, with most of it being exported to New Zealand. He said his only U.S. customer is the Department of Agriculture, which said it uses less than four tablespoons of Compound 1080 annually in sheep collars. The collars kill coyotes by poisoning them when they bite an animal’s throat.
The poison collars are used in nine states, but the government said they only kill a couple dozen coyotes annually. It was once used in California, but voters there in 1998 approved a ballot resolution banning the use of Compound 1080 and another poison, sodium cyanide.
Environmentalists in New Zealand oppose the use of Compound 1080, which they claim kills slowly and painfully and can poison animals that feed on carcasses of its victims. Their protests are echoed in the United States by groups including Predator Defense, which got DeFazio involved in the issue.
Fahy has twice visited Oxford to gather information about Tull Chemical and Compound 1080.
“It’s so dangerous, there’s no legitimate use for it,” he said. “It is beyond belief that this place is operating and operating where it is.”
A locked gate blocks the entrance to Tull Chemical in Oxford, Ala., the only manufacturer of Compound 1080, a deadly poison opponents say poses terrorism and environmental risks.
See our 1080 pages at the main menu for further info. Use ‘categories’ to find other 1080 articles. Watch the GrafBoys’ Poisoning Paradise on the 1080 page. See our resources page for links to all other resources and groups to do with 1080 poison.
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