Who are the serial polluters? Corporations/local councils/industry … they pollute with impunity. And they sell off our clean water to offshore corporations. I’m not holding my breath on this one I’m afraid. They pollute it with impunity then fix it with carcinogenic chemicals like chlorine (the new sticking plaster) & NZ wide the awake people are spending a fortune on filters & other means, or purchasing bottled water. (The rest sadly are pummeling their vital organs filtering this stuff from their systems). What a scam. We cannot even swim in our waterways now let alone drink what was once a free, unpolluted natural resource. They’re quickly selling it off to not the highest but the lowest bidder … peanuts. Remember this (image below) with the Key govt? And charging you mega bucks to buy it. And I haven’t even mentioned yet the ecoli scares we’ve had around the country.
I’m afraid I really am not holding out a lot of hope for a truly dedicated watchdog given they are the ones who created the complete mess we have now with the state of our water. To boot they are dumping a class 1A Ecotoxin into the waterways with the blessings of a tweaked RMA. The header image features industrial waste pouring into the local river loop at Foxton in the Horowhenua, where children once used to swim & fish. Not any more. There’s a hazard sign up now saying not to swim there. A young man even contracted trench mouth from swimming in the Manawatu (not seen since WW2 his MD said).
It’s called the ‘sustainable development’ lie.
Here is the article from tvnz
The Government has today announced the creation of a “dedicated watchdog” to regulate water quality in New Zealand.
The decision to create the new regulations was spurred by the Havelock North Campylobacter outbreak in 2016 where 5,000 people got sick from their drinking water.
“Access to safe, clean drinking water is a birth-right for New Zealanders and a key concern for communities up and down the country. Wherever they live, consumers and communities expect to be able to turn on the tap and drink the water without fear of getting ill,” says Minister of Health Dr David Clark says in a statement.
“Immediately following the Havelock North Inquiry Stage 2 Report we began implementing its recommendations to increase public safety while the Three Waters review worked through the longer-term programme of reform options.
Impending Milford Sound 1080 drop (Southland Cleddau area)
By Sacha Stevenson
1080 – It’s nothing new to most Kiwis. Opinions are divided.
The last aerial drop of 1080 here was only two years ago. Before the last drop (although I wasn’t working in Milford at the time) there was some community consultation, including a Q & A session with the Department of Conservation (DoC) – the lead agency involved with the drop in this region. I understand some local workers and one Iwi objected, but the drop went ahead anyway, including into the public water supply catchment area.
The next drop in the Southland Cleddau/Milford Sound area is scheduled for between Aug 1st and Dec 2019 and, just like the Sept 2017 drop, this again includes dropping 1080 into the water supply.
(See map below clipped 4 July 2019 from the online DOC map.)
In my opinion, the community here has not had an honest open forum to voice their say on the next scheduled drop (and every opinion is valid) but much worse, even if we get to have our say, chances are high that the tourists will be left uninformed.
There are many aspects to this topic, many already discussed. One of the main aspects here being in regards to the Public Health Unit (PHU) VTA Permission and conditions statement and its lack of implementation here in Milford Sound, and the effect it may have on locals and tourists. I’m not a lawyer, but I see this as a legal and moral failing in our duty to protect tourists (and locals).
The Ministry of Health (the Ministry) is responsible for ensuring that the provisions of the Hazardous Substances & New Organisms (HSNO) Act are complied with where it is necessary to protect public health. The Public Health Unit (PHU) is legislated by the Ministry of Health, to approve permission and attach conditions to interested parties applying a VTA (Vertebrate Toxic Agent) in a public place. This applies especially to drops into (or near) a public water supply. Public Health South (PHS) processes and approves permissions for the Fiordland area.
Permission is required because VTAs (of which 1080 is one) are toxic to humans through acute poisoning and chronic exposure. 1080 is considered a hazardous substance, for good reason. (See link to 1080 effects at p7.)
Some things stand out for me with the model PHU permissions:
1) Full disclosure to users is expected, with signs and warnings (which would logically be placed at the point of possible consumption)(see conditions 19 & 20 pg47 of VTA permission guide.)
2) An alternate water supply should be offered, if requested, until testing has been completed. (Case example – Condition 25 p67 note ii and conditions 25 – 32 of VTA permission guide.)
Bowen River valley and public water supply catchment area (see red circled area)
Figure 1: (Map clipped 4 July 2019 from the online DOC map.)
Milford Sound is one of NZ’s iconic tourist locations. We have between 500 to 5000 guests per day visiting the Fiord, hosted by various companies across the different seasons. The large majority of tourists are foreign nationals, many of whom don’t speak or read English very well.
However, I’ve had contact with the public water supply company in the last week, confirming that they’ve had no warning about the upcoming use of 1080. (As at 24th July)
Not a good start.
Despite the lack of communication from DoC (the lead agency for this particular drop) and from the aerial application contractor, many of the workers here in Milford know the drop is now imminent.
I understand that some of the companies here are planning to make bottled water available for their staff, but none of them (as far as I know) are planning to offer bottled water to the tourists, or even to put notices up in the terminal or on the vessels to warn them of the 1080 drop – so they can choose for themselves whether they would like to drink the tap water or not.
Knowing that 1080 is teratogenic (may cause birth defects) and with my partner being pregnant, I wouldn’t wish her to have any exposure whatsoever to 1080. I assume no foreign national in her position would wish to be exposed to that risk either. (See MOH Guidelines p7 re known 1080 effects.)
I am shocked that it appears that no one in Milford, including DoC, Milford Sound Tourism NZ (MST – the port operational company), Milford Sound Infrastructure ((MSI – the public water supply company), or the tourist companies providing vessels and the drinking water aboard them, is planning to at least inform the tourists that the water they may drink in the terminal and on board the vessels may potentially have a birth defect causing agent in it.
It is probably true that signs will likely be erected along the road into Milford, as we have seen done in various locations around NZ. But it is wrong to conclude that because those signs are at the rest areas, that foreigners will equate that with the drinking water in the terminal and on the boats being also potentially contaminated. One must remember, that many visitors can’t read English for a start, plus many come from areas where it is obvious that one doesn’t drink from any tap. Is it obvious here?
I would expect the duty of care and a minimum standard would mean that we’d firstly err on the side of caution. I would also assume that foreign governments would want us to set the minimum standard bar rather high when it comes to looking after the health and welfare of their citizens. As we would hope they do for our citizens when they’re abroad.
We know that the US and China for example, among others, take the safety of their citizens travelling overseas very seriously.
To add to the issues, Fiordland is a unique area in terms of its topography and rainfall. The Bowen River catchment valley is rather like a giant granite bath, with very little top soil, and average rainfall of 7000mm per annum. Together with winter temperatures, ice and snow melt, this will likely increase the risk of 1080 arriving at the intake at the same time and breaking down much more slowly. Further, according to TBFree HYPERLINK “https://ospri.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Documents/How-1080-Breaks-Down-in-Soil-Water.pdf” NZ:
“Biodegradation of 1080 is faster in warmer conditions (20degC), but still occurs at 5degC. At cooler temperatures rates of degradation are slower…..”
“Urgent samples for 24-hour turnaround testing may be sent unfrozen to the testing laboratory, but they must be chilled to 4°C and placed on ice as soon as possible after collection.”
Looking closer at Landcare’s testing regime (at 4.0): “Results will be available no later than 9.30 a.m. on the following day.” This means, at a minimum, no water should be drunk in Milford for 24hrs.
Do we need reminding that there is no antidote to 1080 poisoning?
It really seems easy to avoid the vast majority of the risks in this case. Just don’t drop 1080 in the water catchment area, meaning no 1080 to be aerially dropped in the Bowen River valley area of Milford Sound.
If DOC is so determined to go-ahead with the poison drop in the catchment area, then full disclosure to tourists should be made and an alternate drinking water supply offered (as per the model PHU statement example of 1080 in a public water supply).
It’s embarrassing that we call our country ‘Open and Inclusive’, ‘Clean Green’ etc and yet treat foreigners with this sort of disrespect.
Also of interest, according to the above Cleddau report; NO non-target species monitoring was undertaken. The water quality testing (pg 6 of DOC’s operational report 5.2.2) revealed the presence of 1080 at 1ppb.
I can tell you that as of writing, we have quite a few Kea (approx 20) hanging out in and around the village here in Milford.
Kea in Milford Sound, down near Deep Water Basin, May 2019 (Photo: Sacha Stevenson)
Plenty of Wekas here as well, plus I’ve seen the odd NZ Falcon eating road kill on the drive into Milford.
Weka at Deep Water Basin July 2019 (Photo: Sacha Stevenson)
I wonder how they will fare with the ‘Clean Green’ 1080 pellets raining down in the near future. Will anyone know if they’ve been affected?
To conclude: yes, opinions on the use of 1080 differ here, but no locals I’ve talked to think tourists shouldn’t at least be fully informed of what might be in their drinking water, to allow them their ‘Free Will’ to drink the local water or not.
Increase the peace
S Stevenson
Skipper – Milford Sound
An update to this article can be found at this link.
RELATED: EWR links to articles on 1080 in water. Search for other articles on 1080 poison at the categories drop down box at the left of the news page.
If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program, here is a good article to start with …
A must watch also is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information.
Check out the 1080 pages at the main menu, particularly the sub tab, ‘suspected 1080 poisoning cases’. Finally, remember what the retired MD Charlie Baycroft said recently …‘if you die from 1080 poisoning, nobody will know because the Ministry of Health is bullying NZ Doctors into not testing for 1080′. EWR
This item of news has naturally gotten people very concerned. Some of us know our water is not healthy to drink, either polluted straight from the source, or treated. Treated means you ingest chlorine & other chemicals, sometimes fluoride (& note Auckland is now making noises about mandatory fluoridation up there). Chlorine has been a known carcinogen for quite some time & has links to other health problems as well. Anyway the article points to a mysterious illness but says little else, no mention of symptoms, nothing … this always invites speculation. Where I posted this newshub article on social media a local has commented thus:
“Here’s a yarn. 930 Wednesday night Buller council put boil water notice in effect as pipelines are been repaired and treated water was lost, low pressure was given to town to help reinstate. So we boiled water for three minutes for drink bottles the next day. I tell the kids a story about giardiasis and coughing, reinforcing don’t drink water from school.” According to this person only one teacher at the school gave alternative/safe water to the children. He said his son drank from the drinking fountain & became violently ill that Saturday, vomiting every 20 mins. Although the principal had made a statement that the fountains were turned off and children had no access, which is a lie. Coincidence or not, you decide.”
Another commenter has said a child has tested positive for e-coli. Obviously these are just conversations but still very real for those involved.
“E-coli is responsible for more than 85 percent of all urinary tract infections, according to research published in March 2012 in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
In children, severe giardiasis might delay physical and mental growth, slow development, and cause malnutrition”. (Info supplied … see comments section).
This article from stuff claims the boil water instruction has nothing to do with the outbreak. A curious coincidence however, please draw your own conclusions.
All up this whole incident invites much speculation & highlights the fact that NZ authorities are not taking the contamination of our waterways seriously. With only 40% of our waterways safe to swim in now let alone drink from, they persist in tipping 1080 into the waterways with (apparent) glee. Environmentalists have been petitioning the government to desist from this for decades, all falling on deaf ears. They have even tweaked the RMA rules to allow them to do this in spite of the manufacturer’s instructions telling them quite plainly to avoid distributing into waterways. Is it any wonder we have widespread speculation on the many mystery illnesses floating around? This particular region has been poisoned with 1080 also, distributed by hand. A map reveals quite prolific distribution.
If you go to the DoC website & click on 1080 at the main menu, then ‘where 1080 is used’, select ‘West Coast’. The first screen requires you to read the terms etc … scroll down & tick the ‘I agree’ box (bottom right of screen) which takes you to the map. You also need to see ‘layers’ left hand side to the bottom, which allows you to click on which view ie where 1080 has been laid & where it will be laid. Below is a screenshot.
Note: We are not saying this illness was due to 1080 poisoning … we are bringing to your attention the very real need for caution around the application of 1080 to your environment. It is just one of many environmental risks to our health today. Risks your government seems not too inclined to desist from subjecting us to. A glance at this map indicates that this area has been widely treated with 1080. If you zoom out and compare the rest of the South Island you will see how prolific the red patches are (red being 1080’d areas).
Unlike our authorities, folk should be taking a safer route by using the precautionary principle of not drinking from the public supply at all. Distilling is preferable in terms of purity in my opinion.
Here is the brief article from newshub:
“A school on the South Island’s West Coast has been closed due to a mystery illness.
Westport North School had 66 students off sick on Monday, out of a roll of around 189 students.
“There are some very nasty bugs doing the rounds. Please do not send your child to school if they are unwell and keep them home for 48 hours after they last show any symptoms,” the school’s Facebook page said on Monday.
The school website says the Board of Trustees has decided to shut down the school for three days.
It will be disinfecting and cleaning all of the schools’ surfaces and will decide whether to reopen on Friday.
Since posting this article word has come to light that of 6 tested for influenza 5 tested positive. It is being labeled the possible cause for the outbreak. Would be good if all were tested wouldn’t it? Sixty six is a lot of kids. To be honest in light of recent goings on I don’t personally place a great deal of confidence in the authorities mandated with protecting our health. However, here is hoping those children get well & don’t contract further serious illness.
It’s called ‘sustainable development’ … sustaining the profits of multinational corporations. It has little if anything to do with conservation. The big LIE.
teaomaori.news
“A South Island iwi hope their freshwater spring will gain environmental protection after a local council granted a water bottling company consent to take 208 million litres a year for $470.
Already in the Tasman district, four water bottling companies have consent to take water from the area – at more than 427 million litres at a cost of $943.
In 2005, Tasman District Council gave Kahurangi Virgin Water Ltd consent to extract water near Te Waikoropupu Springs, which has one of the clearest freshwater in the world.
The company has yet to take any water from the sacred site and have applied for an extension. Local iwi Ngāti Tama was initially involved with the original resource consent but were not consulted about the extension and took the council to the High Court.
Ngāti Tama spokesperson Margaret Little says the springs need to be preserved and their court action was funded by the iwi’s Treaty settlement.
“The settlement has given us the financial backing to take them to court whereas before it would have been really difficult,” Little says.
Earlier this month, the Government announced it will consider giving the springs the highest level of conservation protection and grant it the same status as a national park.
“Safe as a cup of tea…salt and vinegar chips…..disappears….dissolves…etc.”
These are the words of pro-1080 spin by those with vested interests or those whose money depends on their bureaucratic jobs, and all are unscientific lies.
The better words to think of are “soluble, solute, solvent, and solution.” A universal solvent is water, and if 1080 toxin is the solute, the number of parts per million or trillion the toxin will be diluted to will depend on a number of factors.
For example:
A bait lying in a pond of water in the bush will be a significant solute in a small body of solvent and the solution would be highly toxic.
A bait resting in a fast flowing bouldery river bed will be leaching its toxin but the solute does not disappear. The atom and molecules remain.
Temperature is the other factor (other than the solute/solvent equation) that is considered. We do know with 1080 that micro-organisms can break down 1080 over time, but only in higher temperatures and with high dilution.
In the meantime even 1080 toxin in parts per trillion can affect reproductive and mitochondrial health. 1080 is a synthetic poison that is a teratogen (i.e. an agent or factor which causes malformation of an embryo). It is also deceptively colourless and odourless. 1080 anywhere near water especially
where there are colder temperatures, (most of NZ) or not enough water (the solvent) to adequately dilute the toxin, (the solute) is simply dangerous.
(This was written and sent to me by a Facebook friend who is a high school teacher. I think it sums it up well).
Search for related articles about water & 1080 by using the categories drop down box at the left of the page.
If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program, here is a good article to start with …
A must watch also is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information.
Check out the 1080 pages at the main menu, particularly the sub tab, ‘suspected 1080 poisoning cases’. Finally, remember what the retired MD Charlie Baycroft said recently …‘if you die from 1080 poisoning, nobody will know because the Ministry of Health is bullying NZ Doctors into not testing for 1080′.
Note: the good Doctor was forced into early retirement for giving us this good piece of news since swept under the proverbial carpet. If you hadn’t already noticed our esteemed ‘authorities’ are good at that. Back in 2006 ‘they’ even lost a body organ sent for 1080 testing which would’ve shown us whether or not that other poison quite liberally distributed throughout our environment had possibly caused the owner’s death. Are you joining any dots?
Check out the article at the link on the many poisons we are inundated with, within it is the information cited here about fluoride & the NZ research that was clearly hushed up.
1990 “Dr. John Colquhoun in New Zealand is forced into early retirement in New Zealand after he conducts a study on 60,000 school children and finds no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and unfluoridated areas. He additionally finds that a substantial number of children in fluoridated areas suffered from dental fluorosis”. (See below for article … Why I Changed My Mind About Water Fluoridation).
SOURCE: Colquhoun J. (1997). Why I changed my mind about fluoridation. Perspectives in Biology & Medicine 41(1):29-44.
To explain how I came to change my opinion about water fluoridation, I must go back to when I was an ardent advocate of the procedure. I now realize that I had learned, in my training in dentistry, only one side of the scientific controversy over fluoridation.
I had been taught, and believed, that there was really no scientific case against fluoridation, and that only misinformed lay people and a few crackpot professionals were foolish enough to oppose it I recall how, after I had been elected to a local government in Auckland (New Zealand’s largest city, where I practised dentistry for many years and where I eventually became the Principal Dental Officer) I had fiercely — and, I now regret, rather arrogantly — poured scorn on another Council member (a lay person who had heard and accepted the case against fluoridation) and persuaded the Mayor and majority of my fellow councillors to agree to fluoridation of our water supply.
(Note: the meme below is not citing the NZ Doctor mentioned in the article).
NINETEEN Doctors. If nothing else gets your interest about 1080 poison that certainly should.
These medical professionals who are against excessive use of poisons in our environment are neither violent, extreme activists nor conspiracy theorists as DoC and the media would have you believe. To confirm this you simply must read the independent information. To begin with at least, here is a list of 19 Doctors … why would they spend their valuable time warning both yourself & the authorities about the perceived dangers of 1080 in your water supply if there wasn’t any?
In efforts to prevent the last Hunua Ranges drop this was taken to court by Sue Grey, lawyer where it was noted that DoC’s lawyers asked the judge that their scientist NOT be cross examined. The lawyers were granted their request & the drop went ahead. See the Court approval here.
BELOW IS THE LETTER PREPARED BY DOCTORS WHO WERE 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 must watch also is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information to make your own informed decision on this matter.
For further 1080 articles on this site use ‘categories’ at the left of the page.
Note: Taranaki is soon to be re 1080’d (2019). See details below the Stuff article on that.
I am noticing in discussions around aerial 1080 drops, folk are saying they’ve not heard of any health effects happening. What you need to know however, is when it comes to testing for 1080 there are parameters around time frames for that (as you will see in the Putaruru family’s ordeal in the links below). A retired NZ Medical Doctor has been concerned enough to inform the public that Doctors are bullied into NOT testing for 1080 poisoning. So in his words last September 2018 “if you die from 1080 poisoning, nobody will know [that it was 1080] …”. You should also read our page on suspected 1080 poisonings to see the foot dragging & cover up that is exhibited by our esteemed authorities.
From stuff.co.nz
A former DOC ranger says he’s concerned about 1080 reaching Taranaki’s water supply following aerial drops of the toxin in Egmont National Park.
Barry Ovenden, who has helped conduct 1080 operations in the park in 2002 and 2010, said there had been a lack of public consultation about the poison reaching rivers which run off the mountain and supply the region with fresh water.
“If the drop goes perfectly then there shouldn’t be any problem, the risk is if someone say drops a bucket of it into a stream,” he said.
“By the time DOC have tested that water 24 hours later, the water is already on the way to the tap.”
Ovenden said there hasn’t been a history of negative effects – like sickness – from people drinking 1080 contaminated water in Taranaki, but cautioned the effects were still relatively unknown.
“DOC test the water supply after the first significant rainfall after the drops, but there’s no long term testing,” he said.
Unlike many stalwart anti-1080 campaigners Ovenden said 1080 was still very effective, but there were other means of controlling pests in the park.
“DOC could conduct that aerial operation on the ground,” he said.
“Sure it would be more expensive, but it wouldn’t be dangerous.
“They (DOC) are dictating to the public of Taranaki that this is the only way.”
However, DOC refutes any claims 1080 poses a danger to our water supply and the government’s environmental watchdog Landcare Research backs up the department’s claims.
According to Landcare’s protocol for sampling and testing water for 1080 there is no evidence water had been contaminated in a study of 76 samples done in 2007.
The report also states that contamination in waterways from 1080 is “highly improbable if current safety procedures are followed”.
The Ministry of Health recommends that water should not be used for drinking if 1080 is found to be above two parts per billion, whereas 70 of the 76 samples done by Landcare were below one part per billion.
DOC spokesperson Herb Christophers said the department simply wouldn’t use 1080 if it was contaminating people’s waterways.
“We base everything we do on the science that supports 1080’s use,” he said.
“There is just no evidence to say it poisons our waterways.”
As for conducting the 1080 operation on the ground, in a more targeted approach to pest control, DOC’s bio-diversity planner Bill Fleury has previously said it would cost 25 times the cost of using 1080 to control pests manually in the park.
Fleury said possums had a small territory and trappers would have to physically trap every hectare in the park to have the same effect as dropping 1080.
“The problem with doing that from the ground is that pests can move back into an area you’ve just baited and nullify any progress you’ve just made,” he said.
1080 is dropped in the the park every six years and this year’s drop is yet to commence as DOC need several fine weather days.
Following this year’s drop DOC will drop 1080 every three years, but at half the dosage.
You’ll note in here that a time period of March-August 2019 is identified. The job is different to 2016, with Kaitake being separate as contributing to a joint project with TRC – Towards a Predator Free Taranaki project. This Kaitake project is intended to start earlier in March (hence the reference to that in the link), with the main cone being later in 2019. This Kaitake timeframe may be what you are hearing, or timings may have changed since the last communication with your friends in November 2018.
Letters are to be sent shortly to more of the community which will include more detail around each part of the job.
Thanks
Sean
NOTE: For further articles on 1080 use categories at left of the news page.
If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program here is a good article to start with …
A must watch also is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information to make your own informed decision on this matter.
If you are pro poisoning of the environment, EnvirowatchRangitikei is not the place to espouse your opinions. Mainstream would be the place to air those. This is a venue for sharing the independent science you won’t of course find there.
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.
So NZ seems to be able to just bypass the manufacturer’s instructions. And we the public are supposed to just ignore these guidelines too & trust that all’s good? Where is the scientific data that says it’s now safe? The years long scientific testing of 1080 in water? I haven’t seen any. And what other regulations are they bypassing? I for one do not drink town supply water any more. I desisted long ago to avoid ingesting chlorine, the carcinogen they add to stop us getting sick from their sewage and industrial waste discharges put into the waterways. Those additions are called ‘sustainable development’ folks. They help keep corporate profits up & kick the proverbial pollution can down the road.
Below are the manufacturer’s instructions for 1080:
By Carol Sawyer
NO RESTRICTIONS ON 1080 BAITS BEING DROPPED DIRECTLY INTO RIVERS NOW
No buffer zones are required. A river can be any width… like the mighty Clutha in Otago, as it heads out of Lake Wanaka on its 338 km journey to the sea, or the beautiful, clear Burke River in South Westland, or the magnificent brown trout fishery, the Mataura River, (the latter two seen below) in Northern Southland.
Re the aerial 1080 drop on the Eyre Mountains, Northern Southland – On 25 October, 2018, I reported local farmer, Cara Metherell, as saying :
“I asked the Operations Manager ( David Priest of Vector Control Services) about the 3 metre waterway rule. He said some regional councils had different rules. Some were 3 metres, some were 2 metres, and some had none at all.
Apparently the rules were changed so that it would be the same for every region. They changed it to none ( no restrictions ).
There are no rules about the size of the river they can drop it into now apparently.”
See Ban 1080’s press release on the removal of restrictions:
For further articles on 1080 use the ‘categories’ drop down box at the left of the news page. Check out the 1080 pages at the main menu, particularly the sub tab, ‘suspected 1080 poisoning cases’. Educate yourself on the risks & protect your children.
Finally, remember what the retired MD Charlie Baycroft said recently …‘if you die from 1080 poisoning, nobody will know because the Ministry of Health is bullying NZ Doctors into not testing for 1080′.
Former Greens MP Steffan Browning, interviewed recently by Raglan Community Radio, discusses his preference for exploring alternative methods in culling pests. He also believes the information supplied to Eugenie Sage regarding the frequency of finding 1080 in water samples is at odds with independent testing. Official figures say 1080 is detected only 3% of the time however, from the calculations of an independent scientist that incidence is closer to 60%. The 3% figure supplied to OSPRI, Forest & Bird and so on, is in Browning’s opinion inaccurate & a gross misrepresentation. To go straight to the water sampling discussion go to 12 minutes.
And by the way, in addition to saying there are other Green MPs who are pro alternatives to 1080, he mentions former Green Party Co-Leader Rod Donald’s preference for the trapping alternative, illustrated by the Possum covering he had for his Parliamentary seat. What a shame their current Party stance is not so green on this topic.
Below is an excerpt from 1080’s product information warning about dropping baits in water, however the government has changed the rules so that they can drop it into waterways without a resource consent. The point of this news item is the way tests are carried out to determine poison levels, however, it is also pertinent to remember the manufacturer’s warning regarding water sources & 1080 risks:
A must watch is yesterday’s interview of Alan Gurden & Emille Leaf. They refer to the problems raised in this article that 1080 is purportedly addressing.
The article below is from Herald:
An urgent injunction has been lodged in the Māori Land Court Te Taitokerau to stop the Department of Conservation making 1080 drops over public or private land.
The injunction was accepted at the Te Taitokerau land court in Whangārei on Thursday afternoon on the grounds of the urgency of the case, said a spokesman for the applicants.
The injunction will be considered today.
Lodged by Northland men Riki Ngatoki and Hayward Brown, it was prepared with the help of Nga Tikanga Māori Law Society Inc.
The Department of Conservation (DoC) is due to drop 1080 poison over Russell State Forest and part of Cape Brett in the next two weeks, weather permitting, after laying taster bait last week.
A spokeswoman said a copy of the injunction was delivered to the Whangārei office late last week.
DoC has called off all planned drops until the outcome of the injunction is known, she said. DoC could not comment further while the matter was in that process.
The injunction did not specify the Northland drops but applied to the use of 1080 anywhere over Māori land in New Zealand, Ngatoki said.
Another case is expected to be heard in the Environment Court this week, lodged by Auckland opponents of 1080 trying to stop a drop in the Hunua Ranges.
But Nga Tikanga Māori Law considers the matter its injunction is based on is about land and ownership rights.
It is understood Māori Land Court injunction refers to land boundaries and legal descriptions in the intended Northland drop zone.
Ngatoki said the underlying argument is about returning to tangata whenua the right to say what happens on Māori-owned land. He said poisoning the land and water was not part of the values of past generations or of tikanga Māori.
With the Hunua Ranges 1080 drop about to happen following a brief foray in court to stop it, where the judge deemed it should go ahead anyway in spite of 19 Doctors writing to the government cautioning about health risks. Not to mention DoC’s lawyers asking that their scientist not be cross examined… how dodgy is that? They just plow on regardless & ignore the voice of the people. Getting very fascist isn’t it? Meanwhile, down in the Wairarapa school children have fallen ill from something initially witnessed by a child as dropping from a plane, now not as the story evolves & gets ‘curiouser’ by the minute, a great diversion nevertheless, and mainstream whore media is in full on damage control mode.
The Hunua Ranges were also aerially 1080-poisoned in 1994, and the late Bill (William) Benfield (read more about Bill at the end of the article*) had this to say in his book titled “The Third Wave: Poisoning the Land”:
“For Auckland there was the interesting incident from the Hunua drop. The water treatment station at Papakura operated automatically, but if there was a problem, the system could be overridden by phone in an emergency.
Apparently a series of filters blocked and the phone override control did not shut the system down, so someone had to go out to find the problem. What they found were filters packed with 1080 poison pellets, their deadly load having dissolved into the city’s water supply.
As the whole business was hushed up, no-one probably knew what was to blame for a dose of Monday morningitis sweeping the city, as well as a possible spike in the number of miscarriages and teratogenic effects (extremely low dose effects such as impaired development that can occur in the very early stages of the foetus) in children.”
“The drop was done for the Auckland Regional Council. A separate entity, Auckland Water, was not happy, and through them, Friends of the Earth managed to get in with the monitoring, hence the information re Hochstetter’s frogs. In the course of it, they learned of the problem at the Papakura filters. Auckland Water was very unhappy, but it was too late by the time they found out.”
Read Amazon’s commentary on At War with Nature: Corporate Conservation and the Extinction Industry:
“This is a book about how the destruction of one of the world’s most unique, ancient and unspoiled wilderness areas has led to the growth of an international industry eradicating animals and plants which have been deemed to be “invasive”. That is because they are where pseudo-scientists say they should not be. What New Zealand began as an industrialised extermination has now become island eradications in many parts of the world. To expand and grow, it must either seek more islands, or widen its scope to cover whole nations; that is what it is now doing.
The parasitic riders who drive this conservation gravy train are:-
•Government conservation agencies who seek to increase their bureaucratic power and influence,
•The agri-chemical industry who supply the chemicals and poisons.
•The powerful and wealthy conservation charities who whip up the concept of “threats to nature” as a way generating donations, bequests and corporate sponsorships.
•The academic and science institutions who see in it a rich seam of grant money for supplying junk science in support of the eradication industry.
Eradications are carried out on a scale reminiscent of the US military aerial deforestation of Vietnam with “agent orange”. Here, for all wildlife, the animals, birds and insects, the poisons used are super-toxins such as brodifacoum and 1080. For vegetation, they have devised new wonder chemical cocktails such as “Armageddon”. It is total ecosystem genocide.
To whip up a public fervour to help justify such mass environmental poisoning, the people are fed the concepts of invasive pests and threats. Thus, harmless creatures are demonised and need be shown no mercy. By deliberate and devious propaganda, the public are kept unaware, that in the blinkered rush of zeal to kill “pests” and “predators”, the eradication industry is killing everything else, even the rare and endangered species such as an entire monitored population of rock wrens from an aerial 1080 poisoning at New Zealand’s Kuhurangi National Park.
It is a war against nature.”
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
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”.
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”
[NZ Herald] A trust opposing Auckland Council’s 1080 poison drop in the Hunua Ranges has won a court injunction temporarily suspending the operation.
The council had already begun covering the bush with non-toxic pre-drop pellets, to be followed up with 1080 within seven to 10 days, despite being aware of the application to the Court from the Friends of Sherwood Trust.
Judge Jeff Smith said the pre-feed drop had commenced just prior to a telephone conference.
“The Council proceeded with the drop in the knowledge of this application and therefore at its own peril in the event that the interim orders are granted for the long term.”
This happened also in 2015 as pointed out in the GrafBoys’ video. See also how the authorities testing get around the technicalities. The maps showing the drop area that included the waterways was obtained via the OIA. Watch the video at this link.
This is the stuff of the third world right? Here in ‘yeah right’ clean green NZ (next to one of the worst polluted/trashed lakes in NZ) … a NZ land owner, mana whenua I believe, is denied access to the town supply water. The council simply turned it off. The lake by the way, trashed by the local council since practically forever. See the other articles here on how the council historically has treated Mr Taueki. Shame. You could be forgiven for thinking the authorities were trying to run him off his own land.
For more info on HDC’s history on pollution see our Local Govt Watch pages … hear from whistle blowers and read Dr Russell Norman’s comment that … “HDC had a history of resource consent breaches”.
The following video was posted at FB this week by Horowhenua’s Mayor who needless to say is not in agreement with the shutting off of this man’s water supply:
“SHARE … I totally oppose any system that allows council to disconnect anyone’s water supply to their residence. It is a breach of human rights at the very least. Try going without running water for 640 days and you cannot bathe in the Lake either. I trust the powers that be get onto this asap in the appropriate manner. Regards” [Mayor Feyen]
Water fluoridation is compulsory mass medication, in breach of human rights, the Supreme Court has ruled by a majority vote. It confirmed that fluoridation is a medical treatment as claimed by opponents for over 60 years. It is not a supplement “just topping up natural levels”, as claimed by the Ministry of Health.
The impracticality of avoiding fluoridated water makes it compulsory in practice, the majority also ruled.
Three judges held that there was conflicting scientific evidence, confirming that the science is NOT settled.
Chief Justice Sian Elias then held that fluoridation was not prescribed by law (i.e. is unlawful), applying section 6 of the Bill of Rights Act. That was the correct decision in Fluoride Free NZ’s view.
The rest of the majority held that it was prescribed by law, and it was then necessary to apply a balancing test to determine if the breach of the right –…
Through its new rules the New Zealand Government has effectively excluded the spreading of Compound 1080 – a WHO class A1 eco-toxin – from environmental protection legislation, to increase its company profits … TV-Wild
Important information from TV-Wild by the Graf Brothers:
“New Zealand is known for its pure water, mountainous peaks and majestic scenery. Millions of tourists visit every year. They tramp the Great Walks and drink from the mountain streams – a land of milk and honey, 100% Pure! …”
However…
“There is growing concern across New Zealand about the massive use of Compound 1080 poison. Government agencies currently spread 1080 poison bait aerially, across the forests and directly into the waterways – enough poison to kill over 60 million people every year. The poison kills 1000’s of deer, and 100’s of 1000’s of other animals, birds and insects, every year.” (Explore menu at the TV-Wild link for references)
Up until 2017, regional councils issued resource consent certificates to government agencies and contractors that permitted 1080 poison bait to be spread across land and directly into water. However, in 2017, the New Zealand Government changed legislation, and that legislation now permits poison bait to be aerially spread across land and directly into water, without the requirement for a resource consent certificate – effectively excluding the aerial distribution of poison bait, from the protection of the Resource Management Act.
The New Zealand Government owns Orillion, the 1080 poison factory that imports and manufactures 1080 poison, and brodifacoum cereal baits. The factory’s mission statement makes it clear that the company exists for profit.
Through its new rules the New Zealand Government has effectively excluded the spreading of Compound 1080 – a WHO class A1 eco-toxin – from environmental protection legislation, to increase its company profits. “
Follow links at the TV-Wild site for further info on 1080. Also see our 1080 & related resource sub pages for other links to information. The information your esteemed leaders are not providing you with. The independent research. Search categories here (left of page) for further articles on topic and/or use the search box. Especially you should visit our page on suspected 1080 poisoning of humans (and that’s not including the thousands of animals and birds not specifically targeted that die with each drop). Folk are commenting that the bush is quiet. The birds are disappearing.
Finally, consider how you can support the coming hikoi from far North & far South to parliament. All info at TV-Wild.
A range of historic firsts have been taking place at Horowhenua Lake Domain Board meetings in Levin since new board chair Jenny Rowan took up the role earlier this year.
A former mayor of Kapiti Coast District Council Ms Rowan, who represents the Board on behalf of the Director General of the Department of Conservation, delivered an historic first when she made a verbal submission in response to Horowhenua District Council’s first 20 year Long Term Plan consultation document last week.
She said the Board, “has responsibilities for the Domain land, buildings, and the surface waters of the lake for recreational purposes, so has an interest in what water (mostly storm water) enters the lake.
She said Lake Horowhenua is, “on private land – it should not be seen in this century to be the local sewer for everyone else’s rubbish and pollutants. The responsibility surely lies with other private land owners to be managing their own properties in a way that protects the lake from their pollutants such as nitrates, heavy metals and sediment run off. We would expect the HDC to invest in educating industry and agricultural operators better on their obligations around runoff and farm management.”
Then there was another first when the Board chair stated an intention, “to have meetings at a venue he [Philip Taueki] can attend” as there is a trespass notice preventing Mr Taueki from entering the council building in Levin. This means he cannot attend Board meetings. Mr Taueki is the great great grandson of paramount chief Taueki who signed the Treaty of Waitangi, and he is an owner of Lake Horowhenua.
Ms Rowan also said the fact that water to Mr Taueki’s residence at Lake Horowhenua has been turned off raised questions about the “human rights and morality of the decision.” In a verbal submission to the Board former councillor Anne Hunt said Mr Taueki has lived in a residence with no water supply for over 500 days. Horowhenua District Council chief executive David Clapperton has refused to turn the water back on.
Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen said he found the decision to turn the water off, “a breach of human rights…concerned about HDC taking the action it has and what it might lead to further down the track.”
Ms Rowan reiterated, “We need to have more conversations with Phillip. I am very committed to sorting this out. I find it unacceptable. He is down there. The Toby for the water is on Domain Board land. Need to think about this team,” she said to the other board members seated around the table. “We have a responsibility to turn that water on.”
Last year Environment Canterbury (aka ECan) issued consents to two water bottling companies that allow them to bottle over 24 million litres per day of precious Canterbury aquifer water from bores in Belfast, North Christchurch.
The consents are based on historical permits for the Silver Fern Farms works and the Kaputone Wool Scour. Those industries used only a tiny fraction of the consented water ‘take’ but the bottling companies will be using every last drop.
The aquifer is fully allocated and ECan doesn’t understand the potential effects of the increased extraction on artesian pressures and water quality; on freshwater ecosystems; on neighbouring bores; or on the community water supply, because there have been no assessments. Despite this they’ve bent over backwards to find a process that will enable the bottling to go ahead without public consultation. We’ll be challenging the legality of that process.
At the time of writing this nearly 90,000 people had signed Genevieve Robinson’s petition calling for the consent to be revoked.
However, construction is going ahead and a new bore has been drilled.
We don’t want NZ to stop at protest when we can use the law to protect our water. We have an opinion from a top Queen’s Counsel that we have a strong case and we’re ready to bring legal proceedings to overturn the Belfast bottling consents. But we need your help…
Please click on a reward (to the right) to pledge. If you have any trouble pledging please let us know so we can fix the problem.
For deposits direct into our bank account use: Aotearoa Water Action Incorporated 38 9019 0530141 00
Cheques can be made out to Aotearoa Water Action Inc. & dropped at Linwood Law’s offices at 15 Buckleys Rd Linwood, Christchurch.
Fluoride Free NZ has sent a letter to the Minister of Health, David Clarke, drawing his attention to the research. You can read their letter at the website:
The funding agencies for this study were U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institute of Public Health, and the Ministry of Health of Mexico.
Becoming a familiar story isn’t it? (They legally have around 21 days to come up with the requested info).
Recently we saw they’d declined to notify the public of the presence of 1080 in storage which they should be doing (remember Whitianga?). Or if it is burnt which they also recently declined to do in Levin. And increasingly, info is declined in the OI requests. I’ve also been hearing lately information about the burial/dumping of 1080 & also of asbestos in ‘unknown’ locations! If folk know anything they need to blow the whistle. This is an area of total cover up in more ways than one. Yet another illustration that the ‘sustainable’ verbiage on the council websites is just that & of no particular use except to pull the wool as the saying goes. Sustainable practices stopped with Rogernomics. The history is long and damning. EnvirowatchRangitikei
Horizons Regional Council’s chairman has blasted the Defence Force for keeping his organisation in the dark about contamination from firefighting foam used at Ohakea airbase.
The regional council was not told groundwater and water supplies might be contaminated until December last year – many months after the Defence Force knew of a potential problem.
“We are the environmental agency and they wanted to keep it from us,” Horizons chairman Bruce Gordon said.
“We found out from the media [about the contamination] because the Defence Force didn’t want to share it with us.”
It was revealed last week Horizons Regional Council was asked for information about water systems near Ohakea Air Force Base in Rangitīkei three times before it was told there was a contamination problem involving firefighting foam.
The first request for information came as early as April 2016 – a year after the Defence Force received the first results of tests – but officials didn’t let on to the regional council that some water was contaminated until December 2017.
We call on the Tasman District Councillors to ban taking any more water from Te Waikoropupū springs for industrial dairying.
Why is this important?
Te Waikoropupū (Pupū) springs in Golden bay has some of the clearest waters ever measured on earth.
And right now they are under threat from an extreme proposal to take water from the rivers that feed the springs and use it to water grass for more dairy cows. More cows would mean more pollution in these pristine springs.
If accepted the proposal would allow the springs to lose at least 20% of their world renowned clarity. It would also allow the level of nitrate pollution go above what National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has recommended is the safe upper limit. (1)(2)
The springs are of immense cultural, ecological and spiritual importance to New
Zealanders and are also visited by tens of thousands of tourists every year. They are Wahi Tapu (sacred place) for local iwi.
But in the coming months, Tasman District Councillors could accept this drastic proposal from a group called FLAG – the Takaka Freshwater Land and Advisory Group. This would be a disaster for the springs, for New Zealanders and for the local economy that depends on tourism.
Our international reputation and one of our cherished places of unique natural beauty destroyed forever.
These councillors have a choice to make. They can either protect the springs, or they can choose more dairy cows.
We the undersigned call on them to protect and safeguard this national and international treasure for current and future generations.
Dairy farmer Bevan Fox talks about 1080 poison in his dairy shed water supply (footage from most recent aerial 1080 poison operation across the southern Coromandel Peninsula) …
Whenuakite in the Coromandel Peninsula
The the NZ poison manufacturer’s warning label states not to drop pellets into the waterways!
How to plunder the New Zealand Economy 101
1.Develop “free “trade deals that allow foreign companies the same access to local resources that New Zealanders enjoy
2.Buy a property that sits above an aquifer and drill for water virtually for free and sell it at a price than is more than we pay for petrol.
3.Perpetuate the myth that “no one owns the water”
4. Makes sure that local and national politicians are elected who either do not have the will to change the economic order or a vested interest in keeping things just the way they are.
A timely legal challenge reported on TV3 Newshub last night ( source of the graphic)
My question for David Parker Trade Minister as well as the Environment Minister – How will the signing of the CPTPP
affect the kind of exploitation of our fresh water resources we are seeing in Christchurch?
Kiwis love herbicides and poisons, particularly Kiwi farmers. They spray roundup over their pastures because the text books recommend it and they believe it’s safe. They won’t read the independent research either. Not in my experience. Still that’s what we’re up against. The corporations particularly Monsanto in this instance, have control of the media so they control the public perception. Their methods aren’t working & they’re not sustainable witness the filthy state of our waterways now. Can’t even swim in them any more. A total shame & total hypocrisy to be calling our country clean and green. See our Glyphosate pages. EnvirowatchRangitikei
An intensive farming practice taking off in the Rangitikei, known locally as spray and pray, is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, according to Fish and Game.
The method involves aerially spraying steep hill country with herbicide, then sowing a winter crop and aerially spraying with fertiliser.
Stock are then fed in mobs on the crop during winter, which strips it back to bare land.
It has locals, including farmers, worried about what it is doing to waterways, particularly the protected Rangitikei River, which is one of 15 rivers in the country with a water conservation order on it.
Fish and Game chief executive Bryce Johnson said he first heard about the practice from a fishing guide in Rangitikei, who was noticing the river was clouding with sediment on fine days and becoming increasingly discoloured.
Stop big irrigation and Save Our Rivers 
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