Compliance: Tricky Business

Dust, fragments and baits spilling from a hopper during the Waitutu drop..
Photo courtesy of the Southland Times.

One of the roles of local government is to ensure compliance with all resource consent decisions and to do so without partiality. In Environment Southland’s (ES) Waitutu Decision notes it is stated that “bait would be covered in transit to the operational area”. One would think that this would refer to the covering of 1080 bait placed in hoppers under helicopters on their way to the place of application while flying over areas for which consent was not granted. It is clear, however, from the photograph shown above that hoppers were not fitted with covers.

While to our knowledge 1080 baits were covered on their way to the loading zone, which was the Thicket Burn picnic area, once they entered the hoppers they were not covered at all during the flight over native bush on the eastern side of Lake Hauroko and over Lake Hauroko itself.

So how did DoC get away with this and where was ES when it came to ensuring that DoC complied with the conditions of the resource consent?  ES did, in fact, have a representative on site at the loading area, so why did he not insist that covers be fitted to the hoppers? Did someone just forget to bring them and he was kind enough to say, “that’s OK boys. Look, we’re all here now and for the sake of a couple of covers it’s unreasonable to make you wait. Go ahead and do it anyway”? We don’t know, and who really would like to try to stand up to DoC anyway, but the fact remains that they were not fitted on the way to the operational area, which allowed dust, particles and baits to spill from the hoppers onto bush and into the lake on the way to the “operational area”.

So how did they get away with this? Apparently DoC arranged for a HSNO Officer to designate the loading zone as part of the operational area and allow the helicopters to fly to and from the drop zone over nonoperational areas via a designated corridor. Nice... but to our way of thinking this does not comply with the condition that the bait be “covered in transit to the operational area” and is typical of the irresponsible attitude that DoC and other government agencies have with regard to this lethal Class A poison. It’s starting to look like some laws don’t apply if you have a Get Out of Jail Free card.

As if that wasn’t enough, when DoC received the first set of conditions from the HSNO Officer they included a stipulation that 1080 should not be applied within 20 metres of waterways. This would make complete sense in terms of protecting aquatic life — not to mention whitebaiters or anyone drinking water downstream — but would unfortunately have made it impossible for DoC to do the drop in the Waitutu because in this the “ultimate forest”, as referred to by David Bellamy, there are so many waterways. The ultimate poison in the ultimate forest. Nice touch.

So, instead of going through what we would consider to be the proper procedures and legal channels,  we are reliably informed that DoC simply phoned the HSNO Officer to have the condition deleted.  Thank you HSNO Officer for cutting through all the red tape and saving time and money, but we think this kind of behaviour is highly irregular and undermines the democratic processes that we all pride our country for.

It is also our understanding that the HSNO Officer allowed DoC to apply an “average of 3kg per hectare” rather than the 2kg per hectare stipulated in the resource consent by ES because of “heavy forest canopy”, even though the HSNO Officer was not the consenting body who gave resource consent. When we checked before the drop, the relevant department in ES knew nothing of this or any other changed conditions. It appeared to be news to them but they were of the opinion that the original conditions would still apply. Did anyone check?

We know from observers on the ground that DoC then appeared to apply 1080 heavily on the ridges  and lightly if at all in other areas. It begs the question as to how much they applied in the areas where they did the subsequent bird monitoring. As we see it, there are monitoring and compliance related issues concerning these drops that we think require a national standard overseen by a truly independent entity without any conflicts of interest i.e. no money changing hands. The only way we can see for this to work is to adopt the juror system and select people at random with no conflicts of interest and to then train them to monitor what they are seeing, with the applying entity footing the bill.

What do you think?

Business Dead After 1080 Drop

South Coast Jet operator Vaughan Reynolds.

South Coast Jet operator Vaughan Reynolds has decided to leave Tuatapere following the aerial 1080 operation in the Waitutu Forest carried out last October by the Department of Conservation (DoC).

After the drop business dropped right off and hunters are no longer booking to go into the area. “I can no longer make a living out of it”, said Mr. Reynolds, who has been forced to resort to cherry picking in Central Otago for little more than the minimum wage. “Once people hear that there has been a 1080 drop in the area they just don’t want to go.”

Born in Invercargill, Mr. Reynolds spent time possum hunting and working at the aluminium smelter at Tiwai before starting South Coast Jet in 2001. The business specialises in guided hunting and fishing in the area bordering the Waitutu Forest.

“I’ve hunted this area for 37 years,” said Mr. Reynolds, “and I, like a lot of other people with a history in the area, know that it just didn’t need to be done. It’s a complete waste of money and bird numbers are just the same as they were in the 1970s. It’s time DoC stopped using 1080 and started to help local communities such as Tuatapere to manage the incredible resources that we have on our back door steps.”

Mr. Reynolds plans to leave his two brothers behind in Invercargill and move to Australia to look for work in the mines. “It’s almost impossible to get ahead in this area”, he said. If it’s not DoC, then it’s the councils.”

Southern Earth Environmental Coalition (SEEC)

Who are we?
 We are normal people with day jobs who object to poisons being used indiscriminately and irresponsibly by unaccountable bureaucrats who are poisoning our beautiful country. Accused by the media and the government of being activists and terrorists, in actual fact we never threaten anyone, while those involved in the 1080 industry get away with murder — literally.
 
What do we want?
• Guaranteed Safe Access to wild sources of food for all New Zealanders — period.
• Development of permanent environmentally-friendly systems of Pest Eradication that Simultaneously target multiple species.
• National Standards for hand laying of all toxins.
• Regional Maps showing past and present usage of ALL toxins, including DDT, 245T. Brodifacoum and 1080.
• Mandatory Public Notification of ALL 1080 use by ALL parties, including all branches and forms of government.
• A greater degree of Local Control and Community Benefit from pest control operations.
• Training Programs for young people to help them acquire bush and trapping skills.
• Development of Possum-Related Products and related export markets.
We have also made a formal request to Clutha-Southland MP Hon. Bill English for 300 self-resetting traps to be deployed throughout Southland for the trapping of stoats and rats.
 
Want to Donate or Work Together? 
If you want to help raise awareness of what is going on with regard to the indiscriminate use
of 1080 that endangers our environment, our international markets and our tourism, OR if you would like to be a part of the solution, we would welcome your assistance.
 
If you are a business or individual who would like to sponsor these efforts and/or traps then please feel free to donate to the following account or contact us at the e-mail address shown below:
Account Name: SEEC
Account Number: 03 1355 0646024 00
 
If you have more information regarding bird and animal deaths from 1080 on Stewart Island and elsewhere please write to us at the following address.
SEECNZ@gmail.com
 

Recommendations

Stop aerial 1080 operations until a properly designed and executed study independent of DoC and AHB can be completed showing the benignity and benefits of aerial 1080 to our native forests and their inhabitants. Such a study should include aspects that test alternatives to aerial 1080 and ensure the effective and simultaneous decline of pests.
 
Comprehensive inquiries independent of all political control should be initiated to investigate the following:
1. Aerial 1080 application and the way it is funded by the NZ government. This should be undertaken by a one-time independent commission at least half constituted of respected international scientists. 
2. Potential conflicts of interest, fraud and financial impropriety regarding all aspects of the 1080 industry, from research and purchase through to post-drop cleanup (what cleanup?).
 
Environmental research funding should be reorganized to remove it from the control of agencies and individuals with a potential financial stake in the outcomes.

All licenses for aerial 1080 application should be put on hold until further notice and the focus shifted to eradication of bovine Tb around farms to protect our livestock (which simply do not live in places such as the Waitutu).

We, the people of New Zealand, should pay any additional cost for ground-based possum control, if any, until sound research can be completed regarding permanent environmentally-friendly systems of pest eradication that simultaneously target multiple species of pests.

Note: DoC advised the Southland Conservation Board on 7/10/09 that the Waitutu project would take 30 trappers 6 months for $35.52/ha. Independent research produced quotes of 10 trappers 3 months for $25~30/ha. DoC estimate 2 days and $21.54/ha for aerial 1080, however associated costs were not included and DoC did not release final costs when requested.) Comparable 1080 drops on the West Coast & Hokonuis were $50+/ha.

If ground-based control is the safest, most cost effective method, then current funding for existing aerial 1080 operations should cease immediately and the funding be used for ground-based operations. Excess funding could be used for local initiatives. 

We are VERY happy to work with DoC or anyone else towards achieving positive outcomes for our environment, communities and agriculture, but the present system is clearly an international embarrassment and poses great dangers, meaning that we need to develop better and smarter ways of doing this.