Tag Archives: greymouth
1080, DOC, News, Poison
DoC raining down 1080 pellets on people and waterways – in spite of safety assurances
Here are two articles by Carol Sawyer reporting on DoC bungles that involved health risks to people, in spite of the Department's assurances of safety. In spite also of the results reported health-wise, still the Department continues to drop the deadly poison by the tonne, every year, like a 'veritable lolly scramble' as one expert in the field has described it. These mishaps are not rare isolated incidents either. EWR
Further to this post, I received this message in 2017 from the late Lloyd Hanson, to post on my page :
"John Sinclair the Investigator was one of the original owners of Marlborough Helicopters and I believe sold out to Owen Dodson, who conducted this operation. I am not saying that Mr Sinclair's summation was incorrect but surely considering his conflict of Interest it would seem prudent to declare this and step away – NOT SO!
I went in to the scene of the bucket loss a few days later and observed dozens of broken 1080 pellets amongst the smashed foliage – a poor cleanup !"
I do note that both the pilots received aviation safety awards, four years prior to this dropped bucket episode :
https://www.stuff.co.nz/…/Safety-key-to-chopper-firm…
I did this post at the time too:
https://www.facebook.com/carol.sawyer.3511/posts/1723060241307628
Fiona Stonehouse, one of the trampers who was rained on with 1080 poison by pilot Simon Moar, commented on the article:
"What the article does not say is that we were assured by a DoC worker that we would be fine walking the track that day before we even started the tramp. There was supposed to be a buffer zone of 20metres on both sides of the track which was a condition of our withdrawing our legal opposition submission. We went through the lengthy and time consuming legal process and made terms that we had no alternative but to accept and DoC failed to deliver to those agreed terms because of the bucket malfunction and their decision to continue with the drop despite the fact that they knew they could not comply with the terms of the agreement. It makes no difference what our political opinions on the subject are, we were told we would be safe and that we were allowed to be there and it turned out that we weren't safe. No body is around this poison and that is what the knuckle heads who use and endorse 1080 fail to acknowledge,"
and when asked why she didn't find a lawyer she wrote:
"We did find a lawyer who isn't afraid to take on the government but she costs money and we have been opposing this bs for a long time now.
"Later she wrote:
" Elliot (Graeme Elliott, Principal Advisory Scientist, Dept of Conservation) admitted that our 2013 drop was an experiment at our hearing; there was a control area not being dropped on and Mt Stanley, which was aerially dusted with 1080. We haven't seen the data from those experiments despite an initial request for them. How dare they experiment with deadly poisons on such a massive scale on a publicly accessible reserve ! We were also assured that 1080 would not be dropped in the waterways because they had a new trick(le) feeder that could accurately direct the flow of the pellets and the gps accuracy would keep the pellets out of the waterways. Well that was a farce from start to finish. Not only did they make sure 1080 was in every waterway but they also dusted people with 1080 – they had a malfunction with a clip holding the bucket on and dropped a bucket of 1080, people were injured and public were dusted with 1080 because of DoC's ineptitude, and now while we are trying to get some acknowledgement of what went on nobody wants to know. Civil Aviation who should investigate all traffic accidents don't want to know, the Medical Officer doesn't want to know and I think DoC are hoping we will just quietly go away. Some of our group have relocated overseas because they became so disheartened with the bullshit but they weren't natives to start with."
Fiona's parents, Doug and Phemie Stonehouse, were waiting in their boat for their daughter and her friends to finish walking the Nydia Bay Track. One of these helicopters flew straight towards and over them. They tried to duck under cover in the boat but say they were sprayed with dust. They have suffered ill health since.
I was reminded of this just the other day when I read a new article (Greymouth Star, 14 November, 2020) entitled '1080 Dust Tests "Inconclusive" ', which is about ESR's experiments to see if 1080 dust travels . It mentions the two women picnicking near Greymouth, who were showered with 1080 fragments, and the article concluded with this short paragraph:
"Retired fisherman Doug Stonehouse also claimed he and his wife have suffered ill health after they were accidentally caught in dust from an aerial 1080 operation in the Marlborough Sounds."
RELATED: THREE years on, two women alleging 1080 poisoning while picnicking STILL waiting for answers from NZ Health
Photo : The barge in Tennyson Inlet, with 1080 poison being loaded into the hopper. 2 November, 2013
Carol Sawyer
FIRST A 1080 POISON BUCKET IS DROPPED, AND NEXT PELLETS ARE RAINED ON TRAMPERS, IN A 'MARLBOROUGH HELICOPTERS LTD' DOUBLE-WHAMMY COCKUP!
This bungled 1080 drop on Mt Stanley/ Tennyson Inlet, Marlborough Sounds on 2 November 2013, may only be six and a half years ago, but how many people know about it ?
Story here : http://www.stuff.co.nz/…/Trampers-want-apology-after…
I was sent two reports in the post that give a bit more background.
1 )"Investigation into uncommanded bucket release" by John Sinclair, NZ AAA and NZ Helicopter Assn, Occurrence Investigator
2 ) "Notes on Aerial 1080 drop 2/11/2013, Mt Stanley, Tennyson Inlet" by Phil Clerke, senior biodiversity ranger, Dept of Conservation, Picton.
These two reports make for fascinating reading.
This drop was conducted by Marlborough Heliopters Ltd for the Dept of Conservation. Two pilots were involved, Owen Dodson and Simon Moar, flying two Bell Jetrangers, ZK-HJI and ZK-HZE. The senior of the two pilots, Dodson, was a director of the helicopter company. Simon Moar was completing only his second poison drop, "but he had considerable experience in other aerial agricultural operations and is a competent pilot with sufficient experience to undertake poison drops", Occurrence Investigator, John Sinclair said.
According to the report by DoC's Phil Clerke, Owen Dodson left the barge to commence his baiting, but arrived back "somewhat shaken" and minus his bucket. He had " visibly received an impact above the eye ( I was later to learn it was from the breaking airline leading to the bucket ). I was unsure of the exact details but picked up that the bucket's airline then struck the rotors as well. I later learned that (Owen Dodson) also lost partial sight in this eye.
"This report differs slightly from the Occurrence Investigator, John Sinclair's, report which says " …….Owen Dodson was carrying out a trickle feed of sensitive boundaries when the bucket and its load of 1080 suffered an uncommanded release from the helicopter. In the departure sequence a pneumatic control line severed and flicked up cutting the pilot's eye". Also the "pneumatic control line had connected with the OAT and cracked the windscreen".
Despite this injury, Dodson flew himself to Blenheim and came back in an R22 with a long lifting chain, after which Moar went off ( with the chain presumably ) to recover the dropped bucket ! Once this was done, Dodson returned to Blenheim in the R22.
John Sinclair's report has a great deal of detail about the bucket release, But he says " I believe that the most likely cause of the uncommanded release of the cargo hook was the helicopter's manual cargo hook release being activated, then not properly returned to the safe position before it was next used" ( Human error, in other words ).
Because of all this dropped bucket palavah, this meant that the less experienced pilot, Simon Moar, had to complete the sensitive boundaries – instead of now-injured Owen Dodson, who had been the one supposed to be doing it, being the more experienced pilot. John Sinclair's report reads : " In the course of doing this (Simon Moar) misjudged conditions and allowed the wind to carry a small amount of bait onto the Nydia Bay Track. (Moar was under considerable pressure because of the need to do another drop the next day in Golden Bay. While DoC had offered to postpone the operation there would be the logistics of barging all the bait back to Picton if the operation was curtailed. These pressures may have impacted on his subconscious, especially given that the weather windows this spring have been very few and far between."
The bait falling "onto the Nydia Bay Track" unfortunately appears to have fallen on the trampers mentioned in the article below. In the Occurrence Investigator, John Sinclair's, report he just refers to it thus: "The dropping of the bucket did however impact on an adverse environmental effect later in the day". ( The adverse environmental effect presumably being dropping 1080 pellets on trampers.) In the DoC report, Phil Clerke says a DoC worker, Wendy, "radioed in to pass on that she had met trampers that claimed they were rained on, on the track, at the saddle".
The trampers, incidentally, knew of the 1080 drop but had been told the track itself was SAFE as it had an exclusion zone of 20 metres.
Some questions I have are these :
1 ) Why did Owen Dodson fly a helicopter back to Blenheim and collect another one, when it had a cracked windscreen and he had a cut on his eye ! Not only that but he returned with another helicopter !
2 ) Why was a pilot who had only done one 1080 drop before, allowed to fly the sensitive boundaries, when as well as this the wind had got up – Phil Clerke says " the wind was noted to increase in velocity, (Simon Moar) and I had a discussion about this. It was still considered workable." So pellets land on trampers !
3 ) This question should be asked of DoC : Why on earth was 1080 poison loaded onto helicopters off a barge in pristine Tennyson Inlet ? The DoC report says " A vacuum cleaner, dust brushes/ pans were to be used with the initial barge clean up to reduce wash down contamination. Wash down would only be used when no further bait fragments could be recovered." ( Meaning 1080 dust would be washed into Tennyson Inlet, presumably ! )
Postscript:
John Sinclair used to own Marlborough Helicopters Ltd, by the way. Oh, and Marlborough Helicopters Ltd got a safety award !!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/…/Safety-key-to-chopper-firm…
COMMENT AT FB:
"Tony Orman The Tennyson Inlet drop was a shambles. Toxic carcasses floating in the tide. No animal problem until DOC interfered. All it achieved was a rat population explosion followed by a stoat boom in numbers as proven by research, e.g Ruscoe 2007. And disruption of the ecosystem's food chain. What is it that these fools in DOC who were responsible, don't understand?"
RELATED: The Possible Health Risks of 1080 Exposure: Two NZ Women blame a 1080 drop for their lingering illness
Nydia Track Trampers hit by falling 1080 pellets
Accidentsbucket lossbunglesgreymouthMarlboroughMarlborough HelicoptersNydia BaypelletspicnickingTennyson Inlettrampers
Corruption, disaster, News, Pike River
Pike River families claim 'vital' evidence from mine explosion has been lost
Are we surprised at this? Hardly. A must read for info mainstream will never be telling you is Murder-at-Pike-River-Mine (2nd edition) by Dr Jacob Cohen. The update below is from stuff.co.nz
A group representing some of the families of men who died in the Pike River Mine say critical evidence disappeared during the initial investigation.
The cover of an electrical cabinet was blown to the surface in one of the explosions that rocked the West Coast mine, north of Greymouth, in 2010, killing 29 men.
After it was photographed, Tony Forster, a former mines chief inspector now advising the Pike River families, told TVNZ he understood it was flown by helicopter to the Pike River office. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
KIRK HARGREAVES/STUFF
Families of the Pike River miners say critical evidence has been lost during the initial investigation into the disaster.
"It blows my mind that something as significant as that, in an area that the Royal Commission centred on, has gone missing," he said.
* Pike River re-entry: Police will not be among first into mine drift
* 'We're going in' – Government unveils decision to re-enter Pike River Mine
* Pike River re-entry plan to be revealed
Sonya Rockhouse, who lost her son Ben in the disaster, said a lot of electrical equipment in the mine was not designed for mine conditions, and was unsafe. It was outrageous the cabinet piece had gone missing, she said.
"I don't think any New Zealander wants to live in a country where 29 men die like this and then critical evidence disappears."
Hi all. Here is the picture of the evidence that disappeared. It's the cover from a switch cabinet that was in the mine and was not intrinsically safe. It was photographed on the 28th of November 2010 after it was blown up the vent shaft and landed on the ground above the mine.
We have been told that it was put on a helicopter contracted by Pike River Coal and taken to the mine office. However nobody can tell us what happened to it after that.
If we find this evidence it could determine what caused the explosion that killed 29 men. There are so many questions and there is so much to uncover. This is why we must go back into Pike River and why there needs to be a full and transparent inquiry.
Efforts are ramping up to re-enter the mine. Police said last week they would not accompany the first re-entry team due to safety concerns, but would reconsider if there was a critical find, such as human remains.
A post on the 'Stand with Pike' Facebook page about the missing cabinet piece said finding it could determine the cause of the explosion that killed the miners.
"There are so many questions and there is so much to uncover," the post said.
Police Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said she first became aware of the matter last week, and police were making enquiries.
"Police would like to hear from anyone with information which could assist us on this, or any other issue which may be relevant to the original investigation."
Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton died at Pike, said she wanted to know why the company responsible for the mine had their hands on evidence like the missing cabinet piece.
"All I can say is it's a good thing we fought so hard for re-entry and re-investigation, because with each day it's clear there's more that New Zealand needs to know."
Police still planned to complete a full forensic examination once the drift was fully recovered.
They decided in 2013 to leave the criminal investigation open until the scene could be examined. Any new evidence would be used to determine whether charges could be laid.
WATCH VIDEO AT THE SOURCE
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/110658993/pike-river-families-claim-vital-evidence-from-mine-explosion-has-been-lost
Cover upelectrical equipmentgreymouthlost evidenceminemissingNZUpdate
News, Pike River
NZ Police prepare to re-open Pike River investigation
NOTE: see our Pike River pages for further information on the background to this disaster, particularly read the investigative report written … read the downloadable pdf 'Murder at Pike River MIne?' file by Dr Jacob Cohen.
From newshub.co.nz
Police are preparing to open a new investigation into the Pike River explosion – and are open to laying criminal charges.
Newshub has learned the country's highest-ranking investigator, Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers, was in Greymouth last week.
'Start of something huge': Families re-enter Pike River with Andrew Little
Pike River footage must be made public – families
In addition, Police Commissioner Mike Bush has secretly met with families for the first time since NZ Police closed the case in 2013.
The new investigation is reliant on access being gained to the mine's access tunnel or drift.
Asst Cmmr Chambers, who is responsible for investigations, and Det Supt Peter Read attended the meeting with the Pike River Recovery Agency at the New Zealand Mines Rescue at Rapahoe, just outside Greymouth last week.
The pair with Pike River families representatives Bernie Monk and Anna Osborne.
Asst Cmmr Chambers also visited the Pike River Memorial, but not the mine itself.
"Police would have a dual role should re-entry to the drift be achieved," a statement issued to Newshub read.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/06/exclusive-police-prepare-to-re-open-pike-river-investigation.html
access tunnelclosed casedriftenquiryFamiliesgreymouthmeeting with PolicenewNZ Mines RescuePoliceRecovery Agencyreopen mine
1080, Health, News, NZ, Poison
THREE years on, two women alleging 1080 poisoning while picnicking STILL waiting for answers from NZ Health
November 12, 2017 Pam Vernon	1 Comment
Be sure to listen to the audio in the radionz article. A reader has pointed out that the National Poisons Center Director (towards the end of the audio) says there is no test he knows of for 1080 poisoning. The toxicologist says it should not be used anywhere where humans could come into contact with it. Remember the recent images of the children near 1080 on the walking track in a Timaru drop zone?
From radionz
Two women who believe they were poisoned by 1080 more than three years ago say it's ridiculous they are still waiting for answers from health officials. Gwen Gardner and her sister were having a picnic inland from Greymouth when a helicopter flew over them. A while later they began to feel sick, and when they returned to their car they noticed 1080 pellets nearby. The West Coast Medical Officer of Health gave the women a draft report in 2015 but they have not heard from her since.
LISTEN AT THE LINK HERE:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018619835/two-alleging-1080-poisoning-still-waiting-for-answers
greymouthno answerspellets droppedpicnicthree years ontwo womenwarning signsWest Coast
Corruption, News, NZ Government, Pike River
Pike families have been given control of mine road
Pike families take control of mine road
© REUTERS/The Press/Iain McGregor/Pool A flame burns from the end of a ventilation shaft of the Pike River coal mine near Greymouth on November 30, 2010. The families of the men who died in the Pike River coal mine say the owner of the road accessing the mine has given control of it to them.
The families of the 29 men who died in the mine in November 2010 have been fighting the sealing of the mine, saying the drift, a tunnel leading to the mine proper, is safe to enter.
The mine was privately owned at the time of the explosions but is now owned by state-owner coal miner Solid Energy, which says the mine is not safe to enter.
The families have been protesting on the road to the mine, and on Sunday posted on social media "there's been a wee development".
"Turns out, Solid Energy don't own a big slice of the road to the Pike River access road, and don't have any legal right to access it."
It's the only way to get to the mine in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island.
"Oh, and the lovely local farmer who does own it, being a top bloke and loyal Coaster, has given control to us.
"So, you know, we'll try hard to be reasonable landlords. We'll allow access for genuine emergencies, if they ask nicely. But, well, that'll be it for now.
"The town bully just went down."
The Pike River families plan to go to parliament in Wellington on Tuesday to present the new prime minister with a new legal and technical plan to allow for re-entry of the drift "to retrieve evidence of what happened to our boys, and any remains which may lie there".
Last week, Solid Energy published an open letter in newspapers explaining its position.
It rejected claims a "quick" inspection of the 2.3km drift, or entry shaft, is safe, that it is not listening to families' experts, talking to the families and acting with indecent haste.
It also labelled the idea the mine was being sealed because it had something to hide or was colluding with the government in a cover-up plot as "incorrect and farcical".
SOURCE thecontrail.com
This is excellent news! Share this info & go to our Pike River page also. Share using the buttons at bottom of pages. Support the families at Pike River to get justice done for their loved ones!
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1080, Chemicals, Environment, News, NZ, Pollution
This Weekend Saw a Huge Turnout NZ Wide of People Protesting Against the Govt's Extensive Use of 1080 – Go Kiwis! (updated photos)
October 9, 2016 Pam Vernon	6 Comments
For over 15 years the New Zealand Government has been systematically dropping massive amounts of food, laced with a cruel and universally toxic poison into its forest ecosystems. Enough poison every year to kill the entire population of NZ four times over. No other country is doing, or ever has done, anything remotely similar on such a scale.
1080 is an alias for Monofluoroacetate, a chemical. Monofluoroacetate was originally developed and marketed as an insecticide. READ MORE
This weekend peaceful protesters NZ wide took to the streets to let the Government know they are not impressed with this slathering of our paradise with toxic poison. They want it to STOP.
Note: If you have any instances of 1080 poisoning of livestock or of being required to cover up details, contact me at the contact page and I will direct you to a person who is considering taking legal action. Or simply go to 1080 Eyewitness on FB for the post. You would need to join.
[These images are from the FB page 1080 Eyewitness. If your photo is on here & you do not want it to be please contact me & I will take it down.]
From Queenstown
ban 1080ChristchurchDunedingreymouthmonofluoroacetatenapierNelsonNew PlymouthNZPeacefulprotests against 1080reeftontaupote anauthameswainuiomatawestportWhanganui