RATGATE ---- the saga of dead rats, birds & fish on the

NORTH BEACH, WESTPORT, South Island NZ

as at 30th Dec 2019

CAROL SAWYER·FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2019·6 M

INUTES
TIMELINE :

1 - 3 November, 2019 - The Dept of Conservation aerially drops 104 tonnes of 1080 poison baits into the Maruia River catchment, South Island, to kill rats. This catchment feeds into the Buller River which eventually flows out to sea at Westport, 140 kms downstream.

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8 November -- A Westport local spots numerous dead creatures (rats, birds, marine life and a goat) on North Beach, Westport, at the mouth of the Buller River, after heavy rain.

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9 November - Locals collect a trailer-load of 680 dead rats, a goat, octopods, skates, sole, starfish, crabs, barracuda, monkfish, crayfish ( all bottom feeders which could have eaten 1080 baits washed to sea) and dead seabirds from North Beach and local Trevor Reid goes to the DoC office at 1.30 pm to ask for assistance.
Trevor is then made to wait for an hour in the carpark while, as we later find out via OIA request, DoC’s West Coast Operations Director, Mark Davies, frantically downloads photos of the dead creatures from anti-1080 Facebook pages and starts a flurry of emails to DoC’s Deputy Director General, Mike Slater, Director of National Ops, Hilary Aikman, and the CEO’s of Buller and West Coast Regional Councils, Sharon Mason and Michael Meehan, among others. By 2.50pm Mark Davies has already drafted a media release ! DoC names this cover-up operation “Operation Tidy Rat”.
Two DoC workers eventually come down to North Beach with a digger and dig a two metre deep hole in the sand and bury the potentially toxic load on the beach. Freedom campers move elsewhere.

Buller District Council, on behalf of DoC, announces that the aerial 1080 drop at Springs Junction the previous week (Maruia catchment) "may have contributed to the problem", and advises caution. As these carcasses could have been victims of both primary and secondary 1080 poisoning, selected carcasses are sent for testing - both by DoC and by an independent group.

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11 November - DoC, now moving into damage control, changes its story. On Prime TV News, West Coast Operations Director Mark Davies says 'Doc thinks it's unlikely the rats were poisoned by 1080 in a recent drop, then washed out of the hills by heavy rain. "I just can't imagine that the two are connected", he said.'

To Newshub, Davies said "... reports of dead fish and birds - along with the rats - are not consistent with the way 1080 is understood to work." ( This statement is illogical considering 1080 poison is indiscriminate.)

However 'One News' hadn't quite caught up with the new fairy story and said "The Department of Conservation (DOC) said they may be victims of a recent 1080 drop 140 kilometres away in the Lewis Pass National Reserve."

Also on 11 November, more dead rats and dead muttonbirds are discovered on a beach 8 kms north of Westport, seagulls are seen picking dead rats out of the sea at Waimangaroa Beach 17 kms north of Westport, and further reports come in of dead creatures found at Punakaiki and elsewhere..

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12 November - "DOC's West Coast regional director of operations Mark Davies said the 1080 theory was however just that - a theory - and highly unlikely." TVNZ News

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13 November - DoC's Buller Operations Manager, Bob Dickson, clutching at straws now, announces a brand new DoC theory - The rats were committing suicide. They had run out of food and were all jumping into the rivers and rafting, dead, down to the beaches.

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15 November - Announcement by two non-profit environmental groups, Flora and Fauna Aotearoa and Clean Green New Zealand that the first independent laboratory test results have been returned. Laboratory scientists tested samples taken from 5 rats, 1 Weka, 2 Sooty shearwaters, 1 starfish and 6 mussels. The samples from 4 of the 5 rats tested positive for three chemical markers of 1080 poison, including the toxic chemical, fluorocitrate. This was also the case for the birds. The starfish and weka also tested positive for fluorocitrate. There were no traces of 1080 detected in the mussels.
Very significantly, three of the rats and the two Sooty shearwaters also tested positive for the presence of green dye acid 9, which is only used in the bait pellets and is not a naturally occurring substance at detectable limits.
There were physical signs of poisoning in some of the animals as well.
The laboratory scientists’ professional conclusion is that the deaths of the beach animals tested were almost certainly caused by 1080 poison.

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20 November - The Dept of Conservation finally announced the results of ITS testing of samples taken from North Beach, Westport. They said that Landcare Research had tested eight dead rats and one Weka, none of which had any residue of 1080 toxin. Landcare did not test for anything other than fluoroacetate. They said “We were not asked ( by DoC) to test for other chemicals." Fluoroacetate metabolises into fluorocitrate after being ingested. Landcare should have tested for this substance. In view of this fact, Prof. Ian Shaw, expert toxicologist at the University of Canterbury, said he found this “confusing”. Landcare told a journalist “Fluorocitrate remains in complex with the aconitase enzyme. It is therefore difficult to test for.” Yet the independent laboratory was able to test for fluorocitrate and found it in all animals tested except the mussels.
DoC once more declared that the influx of dead rats on North Beach was a result of their being starving (despite a megamast in the beech forest, and a hundred tonnes of 1080 cereal baits landing on them) and swimming across rivers in desperation in search of food, thereby drowning, and that the dead marine creatures were a result of stormy weather.

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19 December - ‘Independent testing’ scientist named as Dr. Nick Wall and the testing laboratory named as his Ideas Lab, Timaru. Dr. Wall is a highly-qualified UK scientist (BSc Hons, MSc, two PhD's in surface chemistry, and an MBA). His laboratories worldwide are contracted by many of the world's largest organisations to solve thorny problems for them, and have a strong and long list of successes. His laboratory budget globally is greater than Landcare's and DoC's combined, and he employs more independent scientists than either of them.

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FOOTNOTE:
The Dept of Conservation, hoping that time will erase this business from people’s memories and that 'Operation Tidy Rat', as they called it, will have tidied itself away to nothing, have conveniently forgotten that nearly 1,000 highly toxic carcasses are buried a few feet down in an unmarked grave in the sand on North Beach, Westport. We have not !
With regard to Ratgate, these are some of the questions that remain:
Why is Landcare using a testing method more than 30 years old?
Why was a crayfish collected and not analysed?
How long did Massey University hold onto the samples for autopsies (which were inconclusive) before sending the remains to Landcare?
Is there a chain of custody for what was tested?
Which parts were sent from Massey to Landcare, and which parts did Landcare analyse?
Were the samples homogenized to release any bound fluoroacetate?
Why did Landcare not release all the results?

MOST IMPORTANTLY, as at 29 December 2019 , Dr. Wall has eight highly regarded teams getting up to speed on this topic internationally, as there are still many questions remaining to be answered, and these teams intend to provide answers to a global audience--to be continued

1080 poison tests in New Zealand are based

on methods written in 1987 – 32 years ago.

Flashback: You may remember 1987 as the first year the Rugby World Cup was held, which of course the All Blacks won against France. We were listening to ‘Funky Town’ by Pseudo Echo on our radios.

In 1987 the first mobile phone became widely available - it was a brick.

More interesting news from the Dept of Conservation:
On 1 November, DoC aerially dropped 104 tonnes of 1080 poison baits on the Maruia catchment because, they said, there is a beech mast producing masses of food, and consequently a plague of rats all over the country.

One week later, a large amount of dead rats (680) washed up on North Beach at Westport (12 November, 2019). This is quite an unusual occurrence and might be explained, according to DoC's Buller Operations Manager, Bob Dickson, by the fact that the rats were starving to death, jumping into the rivers, and ending up on the beaches.

A glut of food one week. Suicidal starvation the next. Well, that's quite a turnaround!

One has to ask the question... if the rats are voluntarily jumping into the rivers, at no expense to the taxpayer, why would DoC feel the need to drop tonnes of 1080 poison on rats that are doomed already?

Carol Sawyer

In light of the current situation with the uncertainty around Westport event, ALL scheduled 1080 drops should be halted, pending test results etc.Especially the area in the attached image from Docs pesticide summary for New Creek West outside of Westport.I have also attached screenshots of info from docs website.
It will take a concerted effort to raise awareness with a variety of organisations that, at the very least, the precautionary principle should be applied and ALL drops should be halted pending investigation (independently)I know people are angry, frustrated & just plain ‘what the hell’
Below is a list of contacts.
Please POLITELY (I know how difficult that is, but please, please be better than them) email your concerns about any drops continuing.
Copy & paste just one same email if that makes it easier for you.
But just take a little time to raise your voice 🙏🏻😊
Quicker than a coffee 😁
Keep in mind Cheryl Brunton is the medical officer who currently signs off on all West Coast drops.
Hopefully will post in comments some examples of what to write if you’re unsure 🙂
editorial@westportnews.co.nz
editor@greystar.co.nz
news@newshub.co.nz
breakfast@tvnz.co.nz
info@epa.govt.nz
paparoavc@doc.govt.nz
e.sage@ministers.govt.nz
info@bdc.govt.nz
mayor@bdc.govt.nz
info@wcrc.govt.nz
sharon.roche@bdc.govt.nz
joanne.howard@bdc.govt.nz
margaret.montgomery@bdc.govt.nz
cheryl.brunton@cdhb.health.nz

‎Fiona Harman‎ to Ban 1080 - South Island

I am reposting a report I wrote in March, 2018, 5 months after the first-ever aerial 1080 drop on the Hollyford Valley, Fiordland,

Gunn's Camp, Hollyford River, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

Photo Earth Burners

October, 2017. FB Ban1080 Party 5/11/2019

As a follow-up, I visited Gunns Camp in the Hollyford Valley last February, nearly 18 months after the 1080 poison drop in 2017. (All Kaka disappeared after the drop as well as other species, as you can read in the original post.) Eighteen months later up to 3 Kaka had been seen and one Morepork was heard in the distance one night according to the people who were living there (The “generator” Morepork was obviously killed by the poison.) Fantails were all still gone.

Fantail, NZ insectivore, endemic, ( Rhipidura fuliginosa ). Maori name - Piwakawaka.

Photo Birding NZ

HOLLYFORD VALLEY, FIORDLAND - MONKEY CREEK - 1080 POISONING THE TOURISTS From FB : Ban1080 3/11/2019

DoC are getting better and better at this. Dropping 1080 poison onto tourists and into rivers.As Perrin Brown says - " tourists with no idea the creek they're drinking from could have traces of one of most deadly toxins in the world".

Sorry this has to be viewed with your head on one side

Film - Perrin Brown back in 2017.

https://www.facebook.com/carol.sawyer.3511

"1080 FACTORY LOSS FLAGGED WITH AUDIT NZ"
by Laura Mills - Greymouth Star, Nov 1st, 2019

Audit New Zealand has flagged the West Coast Regional Council’s loss related to its investment in a 1080 factory at Rolleston. The annual independent auditor’s report has just been released. Auditors said the council had included in its financial statements unaudited information relating to an investment in Pest Control Research Limited Partnership — the 1080 plant.

The auditor’s report said the council’s financial statements included the share of Pest Control’s loss of $45,574, and its investment of $943,174.

“The associate (Pest Control) is not a public entity and, as such, the AuditorGeneral is not its auditor. At the date of our audit report, the audit of the associate was not completed,” Chantelle Gernetzky said. “There were no satisfactory audit procedures that we could adopt to obtain sufficient evidence to confirm the financial information relating to the associate is fairly reflected.” From: Ban1080 FB 2/11/2019

DoC rejects a conflation of legislation allowing sharks to be baited to come towards manmade cages for the entertainment of tourists as a loophole in the law to stop 1080 operations while legislation is examined, as requested by lawyer Sue Grey. And DoC is also busy doing the math on how much poison they are dropping over a portion of the territory they aerial drop with 1080-laced cereal baits... twice in one operation. Doubling down on the desire to keep on with their failed programme at any cost. This double drop method appears to be the new normal and a new 'double expenditure' for the programme.

DoC was accused of only knocking on the door of backcountry huts to inform groups of 1080 operations. That is “clearly unsatisfactory in terms of health and safety obligations”, Grey wrote, as she urged DoC to “take seriously its legal and moral responsibilities”.

“You are urged to place all imminent aerial poison operations on hold until all Wildlife Act, health and safety and consultation obligations can be properly assessed and complied with, in addition to ensuing compliance with all label and other mandatory conditions of approval on the use of these deadly poison baits.”

DoC rejects a conflation of legislation

allowing sharks to be baited to come towards manmade cages for the entertainment of tourists as a loophole in the law to stop 1080 operations while legislation is examined, as requested by lawyer Sue Grey. And DoC is also busy doing the math on how much poison they are dropping over a portion of the territory they aerial drop with 1080-laced cereal baits... twice in one operation. Doubling down on the desire to keep on with their failed programme at any cost. This double drop method appears to be the new normal and a new 'double expenditure' for the programme.

DoC was accused of only knocking on the door of backcountry huts to inform groups of 1080 operations. That is “clearly unsatisfactory in terms of health and safety obligations”, Grey wrote, as she urged DoC to “take seriously its legal and moral responsibilities”.

“You are urged to place all imminent aerial poison operations on hold until all Wildlife Act, health and safety and consultation obligations can be properly assessed and complied with, in addition to ensuing compliance with all label and other mandatory conditions of approval on the use of these deadly poison baits.”

"Carol Sawyer, an anti-1080 campaigner based in Wanaka, challenged parts of Newsroom’s story last week about a reduction, to 900,000 hectares, in the area of native forest being treated by 1080. Sawyer - who was put out by the suggestion that a reduction in area might please some of the poison’s opponents - claimed the more intensive operations would increase the poison bait being applied by “a massive 631,288kg MORE than was originally planned”. [Interesting tone of voice by Newsroom to describe a campaigner as being 'put out']

"But based on DoC’s figures, the increase is 51,035kg of bait. Given the poison comprises 0.15 percent of bait, that’s an extra 76.5kg of poison across almost 850,000 hectares of forest."

DoC doesn’t need to urgently improve its consultation practices, deputy director-general of biodiversity, Martin Kessick says.

The 1080 toxin is one of the most researched toxins in the world, he writes. It’s approved by the Environmental Protection Authority, and the Ministry for Primary Industries, and has been investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment but not so in USA & even some Asian countries. Look at Vietnam for instance but why not drive from Murchison to Westport & count the birds either flying or dead on the road--- there aren't any or many???? as at Oct 2019. Then ask about manganese in the water systems & bores in the North Island---- MPI nor Horizons regional council have any MAVs on the water quality for manganese???? why not/

For those reasons, deputy director-general of biodiversity, Martin Kessick argues, consultation is limited to the effects of a specific operation in a particular location???????

[That's a lot of extra killing power in a toxin that can spell death to humans at between 0.7-2mg per kilo]

(And to answer to the question above, if you think about it, the wildlife are the victims of all this point scoring by DoC, including the marine wildlife)

Normally you mow whatever the width of your mower is and then you step across that area and mow the next bit. What were doing is instead of going the full width across, were only going halfway across, and mowing half the same area twice.
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100,000 ha lopped off the drop area... sound good ? Not really.

Still a massive 768,208ha of the South Island aerially poisoned by the Dept of Conservation in 2019, and it appears most of it has been at double sowing rates, with Wet Jacket Peninsula (39,671 ha) deferred to next year.

TWO TONNES 1080 BAITS PER RAT !

Two tonnes of 1080 poison baits were dropped per rat in 2017......the poison drop was aimed at approximately 43 rats ( only 1.9% of 2,280 tracking tunnels had evidence of rats over a two year period, Jan 2015 to Dec 2016). Read on:I have a copy of the Otago Regional Council's recommending report (5/9/2016) re the Department of Conservation’s "application to discharge pesticides onto Regionally Significant wetlands within the Matukituki and Makarora River catchments".It states that the operational targets were:"To reduce possum numbers within the area to a residual trap catch (RTC) index of 3 possums per 100 trap nights or less (♥% RTC), immediately following the operation
and

To reduce rat tracking tunnel rate to LESS THAN 5% within one after bait application."However, in response to an OIA request before the drop, a “Makarora data” file was provided. This showed that DoC had looked for tracks of rats, mice and stoats in 2280 tunnels in total between January 2015 and December 2016.

ONE POINT NINE % of the tunnels contained rat tracks, 28% of the tunnels contained mouse tracks, and 1.4% contained stoat tracks.

Well done, Tony Orman ! However the stupid Wanaka Sun still doesn't know it's opossums from its possums. Or perhaps it wants its readers to think our pretty possum looks like a nasty snarling creature because that suits its purposes ? (But this is the second time it has posted this photo, despite complaints, so I think they are doing it deliberately.)
The poor creature pictured here has absolutely nothing to do with the Australian Brushtail possum we have in NZ... which is a beautiful and harmless herbivorous creature that has one baby per annum. (The North American opossum has masses of babies per annum, eats birds, lizards, eggs, dead carcasses, and bones, and looks fierce. But is has its place in the N. American ecosystem, obviously.)
Our beautiful little ( now, by length of habitation, surely Australasian) possum is a gentle soul, that loves, and nurtures for a long time, its one baby per year. It makes an amazing pet, and never, ever deserved the awful reputation it has been given !!!
Talk to anyone who has raised a possum joey. They fall in love !
Protected in Australia, sadly in NZ the possum has been demonised. It has been blamed for spreading bovine TB without a single shred of scientific proof and with no known method of transmission.
It has been blamed for deforestation. That too is a nonsense. See the following:
https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/…/possum_native_vege.pdf…
and

(Landcare Research scientist ) VIEW - so why is the New Zealand Government trying to poison them out of existence ? :
Tony Orman writes - At a Department of Conservation workshop held in the mid-1990s on "Possums as Conservation Pests”, respected scientist Graham Nugent of Landcare Research, spoke on the subject.
Assuming the oft-quoted figure of 70 million possums in New Zealand, the marsupials "apparently consume about 21,000 tonnes of vegetation per day - presumably 300 g wet weight consumption multiplied by 70 million possums," he said. "This oft-quoted figure is frequently used to depict possum as a rapacious consumer of all things green,” he said obviously rebutting the idea of a possum as a threat to vegetation.
"But," added Graham Nugent. "that implication ignores the trees’ daily foliage production of 300,000 tonnes for forests alone - 7.5 million hectares x 15 tonnes wet weight of foliage per hectare per year."
In simpler words, the fictitious number of 70 million possums would gobble only about 1/15th or 7 percent of the new foliage each night.
It would be less because most possums live near margins of forests adjoining paddocks rather than in the forest and a significant part of their diet is grass or spring and summer growth on farm trees like willows, growing outside the forest.
Graham Nugent termed the 70 million possum "guess-estimate" by DOC as a "back-of-a-cigarette-packet" calculation. Recently DOC have tended to reduce the "estimate" of the total possum population down to about 35 million. Even that could be far too high.
And let's take a more realistic figure of perhaps 10 million rather than 70 million possums. If a more realistic national possum population of 10 million is used, they would consume just one per cent, of the daily foliage production.
Is that a forest pest?
Graham Nugent went on to say that possums do not threaten the total national forests by deforestation. For the bulk of New Zealand's forest, the process is one of a change in individual species known as composition. There would be less of palatable vegetation species. So the change is merely a structural forest change.
( With thanks to Tony Orman for sending me this piece, and thanks to Morton Bartlett for the Landcare Research link)

We already know through various sources and Official Information Act (OIA) responses that since their establishment as a (toothless) Government authority, WorksafeNZ has (conveniently) only identified one, single workplace incident recorded as being related to an employee poisoned with 1080. That incident was located at the Pest Control Research (PCR) site in Wickham Street, Bromley, Christchurch on Wednesday 29 May 2019.(Google Map: Image 1) At the time, Fire & Emergency NZ (FENZ) were NOT called (or notified) of this serious poisoning event (reasons for this are unknown). (The subsequent TVNZ news reports claim that the poisoning incident happened on the 28th May, so perhaps there was a delay in PCR reporting the incident to Worksafe?)
Two days later, on Friday, 31st May, FENZ Assistant Area Commander, Christchurch area, Steve Kennedy wrote an email to all the Christchurch Fire & Emergency stations warning them about the extreme risks from the poison contaminated site (OIA Image 2). He lists three poisons involved, and we know from OIAs that at least one (likely the shortest redacted word in the text of the email) was 1080. Note that the combined effect from 3 highly toxic hazardous chemicals is very dangerous – the potential consequences for public health are completely unknown so any risk assessment is impossible.
The Precautionary Principle SHOULD have been adopted immediately: all areas should have been evacuated until public safety was assured. But the building was simply padlocked by Worksafe and there was no evacuation – even at the swimming pool next door where children innocently played...
TWO WEEKS LATER, Fire & Emergency NZ were in attendance at the site on the morning of 12 June 2019. Reasons for this delay are unclear. However, it would appear there was a report of an explosion at the same site that morning. On the FENZ incident report, it was noted that “[X?] Has information that there was incident at this address earlier today (12 June) that R(?)call from (FENZ) National Hazardous Substances Advisor based in National Headquarters Trudy Geoghegan resulted in an explosion.” It is not known why the report of an explosion did not come directly from the Bromley area.

From the very beginning of the FENZ visit to the contaminated site on 12 June, their Media Spokesperson Mark Scott was involved. They know poison use in NZ is a highly sensitive issue and the public has a right to know the risks. But the various news broadcasts on that day did not include Mr Scott: all media queries were directed to Worksafe. It is unknown what information had been provided by Steve Kennedy or others to Mark Scott. Certainly there is concerning evidence that the fire crews themselves seemed to be completely in the dark about what the hazardous substances were they were dealing with at the site and how they were to address the risks (to themselves and the public).

For example, even after 5pm on 12 June, the FENZ Incident Report records “Unknown what safety measures would be required but Breathing Apparatus wearing at the very least. Could be toxic or corrosive or both. The actual substance is not identified at this stage. If for whatever reason we get responded to this address tonight Worksafe is NEE. There is a possibility that there is a hazardous gas inside the building and the actual name of the business is unknown […] FENZ was not called [to] the original call. Building has been secured by Worksafe with padlocks.” (see image 3).
Shockingly, it was only at this late point in the day - 17.20 - that the FENZ incident report finally mentions Steve Kennedy’s crucial email dated 31 May. No-one had been evacuated and presumably no-one even knew what the symptoms of 1080 poisoning were, what they were testing the building (or staff) for and how to ‘decontaminate’ the area. For instance, were the drains sealed around the hosed-down areas, the water-table tested? What risks were staff, volunteer crew and the nearby public subjected to, during that day? And during the 2 weeks prior to their attendance at the site? Has anyone living/working /visiting that Bromley retail & industrial site been interviewed or checked for health problems? Why did Worksafe ‘padlock’ the building but NOT take any further action for two weeks, putting the public at serious potential risk?

What has happened to the employee who was rushed to hospital on 29th May? We wish him/her all the very best for a full recovery and fully respect the family’s wishes for privacy. BUT why weren’t FENZ and the public notified of the potential serious risks from 1080 (and other poisons) contamination in that area?
Unfortunately, Worksafe have refused our request for copies of the correspondence between Mark Scott and/or his colleagues at Worksafe and Fire & Emergency NZ between 29 May 2019 and 12 June 2019, which would provide some insight into what exactly happened. This is because {quote} “WorkSafe’s investigation is not yet completed and its release (which could take up to a year) could prejudice the maintenance of the law.” Mmmmm are they hoping that we might all forget? Not likely!

So we will wait to see whether Worksafe will accurately report the poisoning incident, but looking at their track record, we won’t hold our breath. Neither will we expect any prosecutions as a result of breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, because seemingly that isn’t Worksafe’s remit: the poison cover-up and corruption continues – but we’re confident it’s NOT for much longer.

2 honeycomb samples tested LR Lab Tongariro National Park 0.009 ppm 1080 poison 2003 – 8 years after 1080 jam banned. No further 1080 tests despite this obvious threat to consumers. Other toxins found in bees from DOC “pest control” operations. 32 dead bees, washed prior to analysis 7.86 ug/g pindone 37 dead bees, washed prior to analysis 4.03 ug/g pindone 52 dead bees, washed prior to analysis 3.64 ug/g pindone 25 live bees, washed prior to analysis 0.74 ug/g pindone

1 of 2 bees found dead 90.3 ug/g pindone The highest concentration of 1080 detected in the honey was 15 ppb and subsequent tests showed a gradual decay down to 3 ppb after 59 days. The honey source that the samples were taken from would have eventually gone on sale after 16 weeks, hence there would not have been any detectable level of 1080 in the sale product, although under different circumstances, this time could be considerably shorter. Zero studies were done to see if the 1080 samples “lost” 1080 due to the toxin binding to the plastic sample pots – 1080 is well known for binding. What this could mean is the samples tested lower over time while the drums of honey remained high and were then sold. 1080 IN HONEY FROM POSSUM BAITS RAHOTU – TARANAKI Murray Lowe HEALTH PROTECTION OFFICER TARANAKI HEALTHCARE

FB Comment: "It's not just the environment getting poisioned ,our society is being poisoned the goodwill and friendly people of our country are increasingly threatened and marginalised by a minority .
I can't help but laugh when I hear the PM talk about social well being .
Our country is being torn apart by the lack of consensus and a few trying to dictate their ideals to the rest of us .
Our society's well being is at an all time low---totally correct".

The results are not good for birds! Did you know Possums need only consume 0.4 % of their daily food ration in 1080-poisoned food, yet a smaller tomtit-sized bird with normal to high tolerance need only consume 0.6 to 1.2 % of its daily food intake to reach a lethal dose. A larger kea-sized bird would require only 6 to 12.5% of their daily food ration in 1080-poisoned food to reach a lethal dose. Clearly, 1080-poisoned food, as used in New Zealand’s aerial poison drops, has the capacity to easily kill both mammals and birds if it’s ingested in quantities that are small relative to the normal
eating habits of these creatures.

Sad to be looking at this on such an absolutely beautiful day, in what must be one of the most beautiful places in the world, and knowing that the chaffinches, grey warblers, and harriers I heard today will be silent in a week's time.

Seems the place was crawling with security guards, and they were all taking photos of us and we were trying to take photos of them taking photos of us. I don't know what they were scared of ! Facebook I suppose, but I don't put recognisable photos of people up so they needn't have worried. (We just felt that if they were taking photos of us we should be taking photos of them !) Anyway they scurried behind cars and ducked and dived behind bushes, and hid their faces.

I was told the drop was by Way to Go Heli Services, Rangiora. The Eurocopter EC 130 B4 and the Hughes 500 are their own helicopters. The other two may have been leased for the purpose.

Please note the terrific dust clouds generated by ZK-HKW when loading, and imagine that dust coloured green, and toxic, in the actual 1080 poison drop in a week's time.

JJ Nolan Transport Ltd of Haast is the transporter pictured, and while we were there another 'JJ Nolan' truck, a double curtain sider came whizzing past us, ignoring the 30kmph sign. It was probably headed to Glenorchy with the prefeed baits for the Dart, Caples and Routeburn Valleys 1080 operation which starts tomorrow.

This email is to confirm that the aerial application of poison cereal baits containing Sodium Fluoroacetae (1080) in the Dart, Routeburn and Caples Valleys will occur on Friday 20th September.

From late Thursday 19th September and all of Friday 20th September the road to Chinamans Bluff (Dart Track) will be closed from the forest edge at the top of Mill Flat.
All tracks in the Dart, Routeburn and Caples will be closed during the drop. Nearby tracks will also be shut including Fraser and Kay Creeks, the Rock and Beans Burn and the Routeburn North Branch. These closures will be up to 24 hours. Overnight trampers already within the area will be held at huts by DOC staff until operations are complete. People planning to visit these areas are advised to check with a DOC visitor centre prior to their trip.

Immediately after the drop the tracks will be inspected by DOC staff and swept for pellets before being reopened. Please note some pellets may still be found on the tracks, particularly if it is windy.

If we encounter difficult operating conditions the aerial work may continue into Saturday 21st September. If this occurs, both the road closures and track closures will continue for this extra day. .......

CONCERNS OF POISONS

“Reasons to be concerned about the widespread use of aerially distributed food baits containing 1080 poison (sodium monofluoroacetate) for pest control in New Zealand are evident in scientific publications and government reviews and reports. Many hazardous properties and a lack of scientific knowledge of the effects of 1080 were described in a comprehensive report by the Environmental Risk Management Authority in 2007. These findings are presented followed by examination of evidence of problems with aerial 1080 use: 
1) Increased pest impacts following poisoning due to competitive release of rats and mice, and prey-switching by predators; 
2) Reduced efficacy with repeated poisoning of rats; 
3) Deaths of native birds; and 
4) Lack of scientific justification and monitoring of aerial 1080 use.

As a former accredited agricultural pilot with more than 6000 hours of flight time I would consider dispensing 1080 in the hills to the south of Luggate during these times of the year to be a very high risk to all. The baits may fall in no wind, but when the wind increases, maybe days later, some baits will fall further in scrub and others are blown across exposed areas causing toxic dust to become airborne again. Sublethal amounts of a harmful poison would be distributed onto roofs that collect drinking water and onto gardens that grow food.
No one can guarantee such drift of 1080 dust will not cause future health risks to our generation, or to generations of the future.

No one can guarantee that people won’t suffer increased illnesses or deficiencies.
No one can guarantee that people's lives will not be shortened by 1080 toxic dust.
And worse still, no one can claim to detect acute 1080 poisoning in all instances, and sublethal poisoning is almost impossible to detect.
My past work has involved the application of many chemicals onto our land, including 1080 poison, and I still have a vested interest in aerial ag operations and wish to protect it. It is my view from the knowledge I have gained in industry, that sublethal 1080 poisoning is a very real and dangerous risk that should be avoided. Effects from sublethal 1080 poisoning can’t be detected or traced, symptoms mirror other serious illnesses, there is no known antidote, and again no one knows the extent of its real dangers.
John Sarginson, Thornbury, Southland, 28 May, 2019
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Statements from the Environmental Risk Management Authority ( ERMA ) Review ( 2007 ) outlined the threat from toxic 1080 dust . See note 2 at end.
Also the NZ Journal of Ag Research has an interesting article on dust contamination. See note 3 at end.
A scoping study was done by the Institute for Environmental Science and Research ( ESR ) which mentions the possibility of dust inhalation and dust deposition on food and crops and in drinking water. See note 4 at end.
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NO TB IN WILDLIFE:

In mid-May, 2019, I spoke to Eric Chagnon, operations manager OSPRI, Dunedin, who told me there has been no change in their information/justifications for the drop since last year. In other words the status quo remains the same as it was in June, 2018. Here are the findings at that time, as revealed in a response to an OIA request by Alan Galletly:
OSPRI’s findings:
260 possums tested – NONE with TB
130 ferrets tested ONE with TB in 2012
6 feral pigs tested – NONE with TB

See complete OIA response below. Note 1.
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THAT 2012 FERRET:
When Mt Roy, Wanaka, was due to be aerially 1080-poisoned, in early 2015, one of the justifications for it, received via OIA request, was that same ferret found at Luggate, 20 km away, in 2012.
Mt Roy never happened. The Alice Burn East drop at Luggate should not be happening either!
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WATERWAYS:
This drop is less than 1 km from the nearest homes in Luggate Village and the baits will be going directly into the Alice Burn and Luggate Creek, which flows through Luggate Village and through the Luggate Campground. Poisoned carcasses will also end up in the two waterways. ( Both the end of Atkins Rd and end of Kingan Rd, including the Camp Ground, are less than 1km away from the drop boundary.)
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ACCESSIBILITY:
The land is NOT inaccessible for trapping... see photo... and this is borne out by the fact they trapped possums there for TB testing! There is no need to arerially and indiscriminately drop poison from helicopters onto this land. See photos.
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END NOTES:
Note 1: Alan Galletly’s OIA request and OSPRI responses... 2018
Question: How close to the drop zone is the nearest infected herd?
Answer: Adjacent to the aerial control
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Q :What monitoring of possums has been done in the drop zone? If so when was this done?
A: None
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Not guilty!
Q : Have possums been caught in the drop zone. If so when
A: Yes: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016
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Q: Were any possums tested for TB from the drop zone? What number were tested for TB? What was the results of those tests?
A: Yes: 260 tested , 0 positive for TB
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Q: Have any ferrets been caught in the drop zone ? If so when.
A: Yes: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018
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Q: Were any ferrets tested for TB from the drop zone? What number were tested for TB? What was the results of those tests?
A: Yes: 130: 1 positive for TB (2012)
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Q: Have any feral pigs been caught in the drop zone? If so when?
A: Yes: 2014 and 2015
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Q: Were any feral pigs tested for TB from the drop zone? What number of feral pigs were tested for TB? What were the results of those tests?
A: Yes; 6 tested; 0 positive for TB
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Q: What percentage of the drop zone is Department Of Conservation estate. What is the total hectares of DOC estate in the drop zone if any?
A: Out of total consented area of 1,973 hectares:
292 ha DOC
1,681 ha private land
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Q: Spending taxpayers money to solve a non-existent problem – bovine TB
What is the total OSPRI budget for the Luggate aerial drop and is it expected to exceed that budget ?
A: The Alice Burn East Aerial is not expected to exceed the budgeted amount of $194,640
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Q: How close to the drop zone is the nearest infected herd?
A: Adjacent to the aerial control
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Q: Finally I must remind you of your obligation to consult with the local community. To date you have failed dismally and the behaviour of OSPRI staff at the Wanaka event can best be described as childish and completely unacceptable for such an government appointed organization. You are obliged to address public concerns and you have failed to do so to date. I ask when are you going to do this in a public forum?
A: OSPRI considers that all statutory obligations for the operations concerned have been met. No further public forum is planned
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Note 2: DUST
Statements from the Environmental Risk Management Authority ( ERMA ) Review ( 2007 ).
475 5 Agency App. E “The main conclusion that can be drawn..is that dust drift can occur over a considerable distance off-site (at least 1 km)”
475 3 Agency App. E “Three aerial operations using cereal baits were monitored for dust drift in 1997 and 1998..The maximum deposition of 1080 falling in dust [from cereal bait] was 25.2 μg/m²..residues in dust inside all treatment areas were significantly greater than outside at day 1, but not at day 5”
477 1 Agency App. E “[1080 concentration in dust, μg/m², inside treatment area] Day 1 3.81 , Day 5 0.1..outside treatment area (day 1) 0.2 at 200m, 0.06 at 1 km”
475 6 Agency App. E “The Agency is not aware of any other studies reporting on dust drift from aerial application of 1080..there is insufficient information to know whether other bait types or delivery buckets would create more or less dust”
476 2 Agency App. E “Trace levels (of 1080) were found in 11 plant samples [after 1080 cereal operations at Whitecliffs and Titirangi]..the maximum measured was 0.014 mg/kg..on day 1..it is unknown whether the residues in plants resulted from dust deposition or uptake from the soil, the authors attributed them to dust.”
13 1 Submitter 9143 “Observation on the day of the poison operation showed that the fine particles and dust were blown across the forest canopy from the helicopter bait bucket” (Meads report)
3 2 Submitter 9143 “181 mm of rain fell in the second fortnight after the poison operation. Thus an influx of 1080 may have washed from the tree tops to the ground” (Meads Report)
Note 3: DUST CONTAMINATION
"The risk of drift of 1080 dust:
While the 1080 concentration found in the bait dust
was much greater inside than outside the treatment
areas, results were less clear for the soil, leaf litter,
and plant samples. In some of these cases, similar
concentrations of 1080 were found outside as inside
the treatment areas. These results indicate that bait
dust can drift outside the boundaries of a treated
area up to and possibly more than 1000 m. "

"DOC Dept of conservation bright ideas are destroying our wildlife slowly but surely even though they say they are not. But with such big funding If the government stopped many would be out of a job -- join us to stop this poison from killing NZ & believe us it will as mans greed continues"