Remember, this is a Class 1A Ecotoxin with no research studies done on 1080’s impact on the unborn, and this dust is known to drift with the wind. The late Dr Scanlon raised concerns about these risks. The drop in question is near the Luggate community & an ag-pilot of 6,000 hrs flight time has just sounded a warning regarding the dangers of the current winds influencing that drift onto the small township. This is not rocket science and yet OSPRI who promised to consult, have failed to do so. Remember also what Dr Charles Baycroft said about 1080 poisoning? If you are poisoned nobody will know because the MOH are bullying Doctors NOT TO TEST FOR 1080! Please visit our page, Suspected 1080 Poisoning Cases for further information on that topic. EWR

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OSPRI REFUSE TO CONSULT WITH LUGGATE COMMUNITY OVER AERIAL 1080 DROP

By Carol Sawyer

As a result of the public meeting the Luggate 1080 Action Group held in the Luggate Hotel, 21 May, 2019, a letter was sent by Cherilyn Walthew ( on behalf of the Group ) to OSPRI’s Programme Manager, Eric Chagnon, asking for OSPRI’s attendance at a public meeting to fulfil their obligations with regard to community consultation, and containing a list of questions generated from the wider community at that community meeting at the Luggate Hotel,( see attachments) That original letter is at bottom.

Here is the response received today from ???? ( Team OSPRI), and Cherilyn Walthgew’s reply to that, also today:

From: Community Relations Southern South Island <CR_SSI@ospri.co.nz>
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2019 8:13 AM
Subject: RE: Urgent. Outstanding questions regarding the proposed Luggate 1080 drop, 2019

Dear Cherilyn,

Thankyou for the invitation, however, OSPRI considers that all statutory obligations for the operation concerned have been met.

Your questions will be responded to as soon as possible within the required timeframe.

Yours sincerely,

The team at OSPRI

OSPRI New Zealand Limited

Level 1, 399 Moray Place, PO Box 5745, Moray Place, Dunedin 9058

P 03 477 9829 | ospri.co.nz

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Cherilyn Walthew responds:

Dear “Team at OSPRI”,

It is interesting that in refusing our invitation to come and meet the community for consultation to answer the pre-identified questions we have already sent you, you have now morphed from Eric Chagnon to a “faceless identity”.

The community of Luggate does not consider that you have met your statutory obligations around “public consultation” and given you assured them this would happen, it is not unreasonable to request that you uphold this commitment. Especially as this drop is to occur in what could be considered a highly populated “remote and inaccessible” area.

We are aware that in most circumstances, the residents of “remote and inaccessible” areas generally don’t “speak” however, in this case, the residents include quite a large number of people who reside in an area that has a 1km boundary from the poison operation.

These same people have raised serious health concerns with you, ranging from dust drift from the toxic class 1a ecotoxin monosodium fluoroacetate (1080) to E.coli contamination of water tributaries, that run through the village, as a result of rotting carcasses.

I feel that I really need to point out the obvious here, you have not met your obligations for public consultation as you committed to do so in 2017 for any future operation. Given your past history of nearly poisoning people outright, this is a shameful stance.

Pregnant women and those with health concerns have no wish to be guinea pigs in your experiments with this toxic poison. In the name of human decency, were you at least planning to publicly inform people when this drop is commencing so that pregnant women and mothers will have an opportunity to protect both existing and unborn children?

I will now be petitioning all relevant parties who have issued consents, for them to suspend the consents until these serious concerns can be responded to, and consulted on, in conjunction with the community.

I have included the question file for those parties who are cc’d in on this email and may not have seen these at this time.

This is very disappointing behaviour from your organisation and troubling from one that is looking for community support, yet fails to engage in any meaningful or genuine manner.

In the meantime, we will look to progress a public meeting without you.

Yours sincerely

Cherilyn Walthew

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On Fri, May 31, 2019 at 2:00 PM Cherilyn Walthew wrote:

Dear Eric,

It is with alarm that I read of OSPRI’s intentions, in the Wanaka Sun, to start dropping poison around the settlement of Luggate as of the 1st June, 2019.

To date, OSPRI have not fronted for genuine consultation with the Public as was promised back in 2017 by one of your predecessors.

There are still a number of questions that the community would like you to answer prior to the commencement of your poisoning operation and given that you and your Organization appear reluctant to come and discuss this, we would like to take this opportunity, on the 1 year anniversary of your organization walking out of the last promised community consultation, to invite you to a genuine consultation event.

We are aware that your staff have made claims of being “ambushed” in the past with our questions and there have been other claims that you were concerned for the health and safety of your staff. These are very destressing claims and I can assure you there is absolutely no threat to your staff from our community however, we will also look to invite a number of other people to attend the consultation meeting including MPs, local councilors, DoC representatives, Police etc. to ensure that you feel fully comfortable in your environment.

In addition, we are including a copy of the questions that have been raised by the community in advance of our requested meeting so, that you can prepare yourselves appropriately.

We are aware that the 1080 discussion has been subject to many claims of “mis-information”, particularly around these aerial operations. Therefore, in good faith, we will appoint an independent “fact-checker” to adjudicate on the answers.

We are happy to take on the administration of arranging the meeting and co-ordinate the additional guest list if you would let us know a date that will suit you and the relevant staff members you require to attend. We will be happy to try and accommodate any date after the 11th of June. I realise this is after the date you had indicated commencement for this operation however, had you come to us earlier, we may have been in a position to arrange things a bit quicker.

In view of the lack of facilities in Luggate, our suggested venues would be either the Hawea Flat Community Hall which we can secure for free and is available on either Monday evenings or Thursday evenings after 7pm. Or, we are checking dates that the Lake Wanaka Centre is available and will forward you some dates as soon as possible. The Lake Wanaka Centre will have an associated charge and we would expect you to incur this cost as part of your community consultation budget, if this is the preferred venue.

There has been some reluctance in the past by your Organization, and associated parties, to answer these same questions however, it is a matter of public urgency that you do so, before irreparable damage is caused by your actions, as was nearly the case in 2017 with the residential water supplies.

This list of questions has been generated by the wider community at a gathering in Luggate on the 21st of May. This was coordinated by a local volunteers and is a community initiative under the collective name Luggate 1080 Action Group.

Before commencing the poison operation, we formally ask that in the spirit of human decency, you answer these questions first.

Given the urgency of this subject, please respond with your intentions by close of business on Tuesday, 4th of June so, that may continue with arranging the necessary details and ensure invites are put out to the relevant parties.

Yours sincerely and on behalf of people representing

Luggate 1080 Action Group

Cherilyn Walthew

Tracey Morrow

Carol Sawyer

Kirstin Dana

Joel Lund

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NOTE: If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program, here is a good article to start with … WHY ARE PEOPLE SO CONCERNED ABOUT 1080?

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.

This is a venue for pointing to the independent science you won’t read in mainstream. It is not a forum to host for and against debate, you will have to find another venue to do that. Social media is a good option. And we neither advocate nor condone violence.