Worries 1080 will get into water supply

Email
Print

Worries 1080 will get into water supply

3News NZ

Protestors marching in Hokitika

Protestors marching in Hokitika

By Jessica Rowe

Anti-1080 protestors have marched in Hokitika against an aerial drop near Lake Kaniere on the West Coast.

They say it will contaminate the land around the lake which supplies Hokitika's water.

“Keep our water poison free, we don't want your 1080,” was the chant of about 100 protestors who say they are out to protect Hokitika's water supply. 

The Animal Health Board is planning an aerial drop of 1080 poison in the lake’s catchment area and some residents are worried it will get into the lake – the town’s main water supply.

Resident Tracey Piercy says the needs of the town are important.

“We've asked them since 2008 to respect the fact that it is a public water catchment and not to drop 1080 round there. They are being disrespectful and deceitful. It's unacceptable.

“We find pallets in the water ways and dead animals and whatnot.”

But Animal Health Board spokeswoman Katie Milne says 1080 is the most effective tool to control possums, which spread tuberculosis to cattle, and numerous tests have shown it doesn't get into the town's water supply.

She says since 1998, the Ministry of Health has tested more than 2000 water samples after aerial operations - and no trace of the poison has ever been found in public drinking water.

“There is nothing concrete that I’ve seen in their objections and certainly the amount of research that's gone on with 1080, with NIWA and Lincoln scientists, it’s a very, very well-documented poison.”

Ms Milne says 1080 is a crucial weapon in stopping the spread of bovine tuberculosis - a serious agricultural disease.

“It's a growing problem and we have to do our bit to make sure we do not have it in our livestock.”

Operators are under strict instructions to drop the poison no closer than 100m from the lake edge but that will never satisfy these protestors, who want it banned from the lake's entire catchment area.

3 News

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

1/08/2012 3:21:47 p.m.

Mary wrote:

Ministry of Health have not conducted the test as indicated by Tb free and AHB. I have an email from the MOH stating this, also the oft used (by AHB) statement that the MOH do consider that 1080 is safe is also not so according to the MOH. ask them the questions directly, do not take the AHBs statements as being correct,they are not. TB is not cured by 1080 and farmers can well farm with out the disease, infected farms should follow management skills of adjacent unaffected properties - TB is just a disease, not a mystery which makes NZ subject to a class one poison, tossed all over out native biota.1080 i not needed in NZ just honesty and education of those who still farm with the disease TB - a monority causing poisoning of a majority. Note that not only the water supply of Hokitika is being affected by this drop but also the water supply of our West Coast Westland Milk products which trades as producing a very high quality product. How can they do this with that water? It is not safe. AHB must be unstapled and a new approach devised under MAF including a revamp and assistance for our biodiversity controls at the border. Stop poisoning, come into the 21st century and realise the current antiquated policy of poison and be damned will kill our exports and our tourism

31/07/2012 2:02:40 p.m.

Richard wrote:

Steve is so right. Those people believing 1080 poison will not be dropped inside the 100m zone are dreaming. They have dropped 1080 poison on private blocks, ie, got their GPS co-ordinqtes wrong??? I've seen pellets on the dam side in the Hunua ranges, Auckland's water supply. No wonder so many women are having trouble conceiving. Pouring 1080 poison over our forest and streams is not only reckless, it is unimaginative. There are so many other ways to protect our environment from bovine TB - control, monitor cattle - as per the name, they are the main contributors to the spread of bovine TB. See 1080science.co.nz for more information and Poisoning Paradise on youTube.

29/07/2012 2:35:53 p.m.

steve wrote:

Any substance placed in the hills is going to end up being wahed down and into waterways regardless of wether they detect it or not. Remember it is not so long ago the Director of Public health told the NZ public 245t was so safe he would drink it in a TV interview.Trust the poisoners. Yeah Right???

27/07/2012 7:32:51 p.m.

H.Baker wrote:

If 1080 is so marvellous, why did Monsanto stop making it? They are not normally adverse to a profitable opportunity like this. Or did they possibly sell the rights to a tin-pot US company in the boonies, in return for royalties, so that their name would never appear when the lawsuits started? To learn more from the US side go to http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/121304/D86UI3MG1.shtml

27/07/2012 6:49:56 p.m.

H.Parry wrote:

Poor Katie Milne, either a dupe for believing what she has been told to say or a cynic for delivering such misinformation. '1080 is the most effective tool to control possums' yet after many years of use the possum population has reduced - not at all. 'possums spread tuberculosis to cattle' is just an excuse and not true at all. 'it does not get into the water supply' means we have not found it but we would rather not find it anyway. It is dropped directly into streams which feed the water supply so where does she think it will end up? If 1080 is wonderful why does only NZ still use it? Even the nazis knew it was too dangerous for the guards to use in extermination camps. Watch the graf boys documentary Katie and learn the truth.

27/07/2012 3:04:27 p.m.

connall wrote:

BAN 1080 you are poisoning NEW ZEALAND

27/07/2012 12:16:45 p.m.

Al wrote:

Heinrich, however cold the soil or water is, it is never sterile. Yes, 1080 breaks down more slowly in cold conditions. But this doesn't mean it poses any greater risk to either humans or ecosystems. The science is very clear on this. For example, in 2011, an updated review of the toxicology and ecotoxicology of 1080 by NZ's top vertebrate pest toxicologist Prof. Charles Eason was published in the NZJE. It gives a very detailed explanation of the breakdown of 1080 baits in the soil and its defluorination by bacteria and fungi, along with references to the relevant scientific research. The review is freely available to read online: http://www.nzes.org.nz/nzje/new_issues/NZJEcol35_1_1.pdf For people with a less scientific bent, a quick flick through the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's 2011 report on 1080 should also provide ample reassurance that 1080 poses no risk to either water quality or soil ecology. http://www.pce.parliament.nz/assets/Uploads/PCE-1080.pdf Dr Suren has conducted more recent research into the fate of 1080 baits in soil water. Dr Suren presents the methodology and results in this short YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAXaMFKFw9E

26/07/2012 10:29:25 p.m.

Heinrich wrote:

There is no evidence, outside the laboratory, of 1080 breakdown,either in water or in soil.
How it might breakdown is restricted to a chemical equation from the chemical formula for man-made 1080. 1080 in sterile water in the lab apparently does not break down at all.
Thus the scientific conclusion is that some outside influence, a catalyst of some kind, has to be present to initiate breakdown.
In soils this could be enzymes, bacteria or more recently, micro-organisms. That is all we know.
Thing is, if breakdown happens at all, it needs heat and time. That is assuming you have the required catalyst.
In winter, when the poisoning takes place, it is accepted that breakdown will take some weeks at least. Cos it's cold.
From Alexander Suren's research of 2006 we discover that 1080 poison adheres quickly to water and poison baits which land in streams lose their poison within a few short hours. It is accepted that the poison from baits which have landed directly in stream water will be washed downstream within a few hours. Medical Health Authorities take water samples after the poison has washed downstream to confirm that the poison has already passed the uptake pipes and the uptake taps can be safely turned on again. Please note how these clear water samples have been used to bolster the safe water propaganda. Alexander Suren's research results explode this argument completely. He found 1080 in every stream he monitored within the first 4 hours after a drop. Every stream received poisoned baits. Every stream carried a brief rush of poison. Every water sample was taken at least 24 hours after the drop when water was expected to be again clear of poison.
Thing is that the poison is known to have travelled so fast down the stream that it will reach the sea in a matter of hours. Nowhere near enough time to even begin any breakdown process even assuming all the other requirements for breakdown were present in the stream.