News, Views, Cartoons

They wouldn’t, would they ...

Chris
12.03.10 7:41 am

See, governments are benign, caring organisations, only there working away for the good of their citizens…they wouldn’t let peoples’ water be contaminated with poisons…would they?

CIA accused of poisoning French village with LSD in mind-control tests

March 12, 2010 - 3:00AM
To view the entire article, click on: HERE

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Politics | State | Environment | Health

My Brilliant Career

Tamar Devil
11.03.10 2:29 pm

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Cartoons | Satire

The Leader

Mark
10.03.10 8:25 pm

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Cartoons

T’was ever thus, in Van Diemen’s Land!

Henry Melville
10.03.10 2:17 pm

LAST WEEK was a rowdy one in public health echelons of Van Diemen’s Land.

Perhaps these protectors might take a leaf out of the risk assessment protocols of the Demonian Fire Service, for fire-fighters they just might turn out to be… extinguishing megafires created by vast acres of toxic plantation monocultures!
Our darling OBE, BreakO’Day councillor and long time GP at St Helens has been the focus of much scorn and derision of late, and if the coffee dregs and tea bags of bureaucrat meetings last week have anything to portend, our courageous Alison is in for more public pillorying and political scapegoating.
What’s new, I hear you say - T’was ever thus in Van Diemen’s Land!
But what is all this silliness! Of ‘declaring war’ on our good & fearless doctor? 
What ire would enter imp-ish hearts and minds to contemplate such mischief-making?
Be gone tired actors, enough of such shenanigans. Call her committed; call her unswerving; call her dedicated, but a ‘fruit loop’ she is NOT!
Her highly placed detractors would do well to heed her measured advice and quench the all-consuming fires in their hearts.

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Politics | State | Environment | Health

The power supply issue

Robert LePage
09.03.10 8:30 am

One notable absence from the increasing amount of pork barreling in Tasmania is about power supply.

The labor party has made some small noise about a feed in tariff but it is so far on the back burner that it will never even get luke warm. The liberals have not even mentioned it so far as I am aware.

It is on the radar of most of the mainland State Governments and NSW is banking on it to help them recover some of their lost credibility in their next election. The WA government is trying to forget that it promised to bring it in as one of their election pledges that helped them get elected.

The Tasmania labor party has trotted out the possibility of another Bass link, though the reasoning for that is not apparent. It could be because they know that Tasmania will possibly have to import even more power from the dirty Victorian power stations to survive and keep on selling power to big business at less than cost as is the current system.

The new wind farm is to be given a reprieve and might even survive after the election unless whoever wins can wriggle out of it.

But as far as looking forward to a reliable sustainable supply the only other option touted is to promote another horrendous option a wood fired power station. It would get all of the forest industry and Gunns on side of course and that has to be a vote winner for whoever gets it up.

The fact that it would further devastate the old growth forest and cause even more global warming would not matter to the interests involved.

A far seeing party that had a mandate could turn Tasmania into a model CO2 neutral powered state and save money in the long run.

First would be to put serious effort and finance into wind farms.

Next would be to promote localized power supply systems by bringing in a healthy feed in tariff for solar, wind or any other sustainable clean method.

It would be a feasible proposition to have a local wind turbine in each local area. To reduce the demand on the existing hydro supply.

One wind turbine mounted for instance on a hilltop near Cygnet, Huonville and even Hobart would make a big difference overall. It would not require a lot of extra infrastructure in the way of high-tension feeder lines but could be fed directly to the grid.

Tasmania has not encouraged any other form of sustainable supply such as wave power even though it would be a very suitable place to use it.

Apart from supplying clean energy it could also be the basis for new industry in the building and operation of the seagoing plant that would be required.

If the present ship building operations were to fall on hard times, as is the situation with our largest ship builder at the moment, they could perhaps diversify into this industry.

Storm bay is after all on the doorstep of Hobart and Bass Strait adjacent to three of the Northern cities where there is a constant demand for sustainable employment.

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Politics | State | Environment | What's On

Department of Health ‘snoop’ in St Helens?

Kym Philby
09.03.10 5:33 am

The bush telegraph is buzzing wildly from St Helens with the appearance around town of a DHHS ‘snoop’.

A number of sources have reported that a DHHS ‘snoop’ is lurking around town trying to find out if patients have above average ill health/diseases.

The ‘snoop’ also appears to want to know if a counseling service would be useful given the ‘panic, distress and agitation” allegedly caused by Dr Bleaney after the airing of the Australian Story program.

If the DHHS had dealt with the issues appropriately back in 2005 as they claim, there would be no need for a ‘snoop’ to be slinking around St Helens today!

 

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Politics | Local | State | Environment | Health

Read!

Anne
04.03.10 8:23 pm

This puts a whole new spin on taking time to smell the flowers . . .
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/pyrethroids-raise-concerns

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No surprise to learn that one of the nine life-supports includes land use.
And er, that’s right, we’d do well to stop chopping down the forests, or dosing land with chemicals . . .
http://www.newscientist.com/special/ocean-to-ozone-earths-nine-life-support-systems

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Do we think Titanic . . . ?
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mammoth_iceberg_could_alter_ocean_circulation_study_999.html

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Chinese-grown fruit & veg may not be so viable after all . . . .
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-02/26/content_9506216.htm

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This GM might be worthwhile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8528417.stm

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Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. -Martin Luther King Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)

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Society

Defining Pork Barrelling

Stuart Lenthall
04.03.10 10:25 am

Definition of “pork barrelling” - English version - An appropriation for some local enterprise/community that will favourably impress a representative’s constituents.  Asian definition - Institutionalised corruption.  Tasmanian definition - more debt.

Stuart Lenthall

Glenorchy   Tas   7010

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Politics | State

I’m a lumberjack and ...

Mark
04.03.10 5:20 am

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Cartoons | Satire

Libs’ 2037 vision

Dave Groves. Costumes: Jake Sully
02.03.10 1:38 pm

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Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Cartoons | Economy | Environment | Health | Satire

Thalassa, Thalassa

Mark
02.03.10 6:38 am

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Cartoons

Where’s Mike?

Peter
01.03.10 8:32 pm

Tasmania’s Premier is using a National Broadband Network announcement as part of his re-election campaign

ABC political reporter Simon Fraser reports that the Federal Broadband Minister, Stephen Conroy, and Premier David Bartett chose an Aurora training centre on Hobart’s Eastern shore to announce funds to connect more than 50 suburbs in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport to the national broadband network.

The timing of the federal government’s money couldn’t be better for David Bartlett, less than three weeks from polling day.

“I am thrilled that $100 million will keep the momentum going in our economy.”

But Senator Conroy made sure that Mr Bartlett got some credit for the money ...

“(It was) his vision for being part of the federal government’s national broadband network.”

Connections for the first towns announced last year are expected by July.

All about Mike, HERE

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Politics | State

Ethics Party ‘a total failure’

via Peter
01.03.10 8:24 pm

Bit like the ALP…

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/01/2833319.htm

Ethics Party ‘a total failure’

Updated 25 minutes ago

The Supreme Court in Hobart has dashed plans by a northern Tasmanian environmental group to register as a political party.

Acting secretary of the Ethics and Sustainability Party, Sven Wiener, challenged the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s dismissal of his party’s application.

Mr Wiener lodged an appeal with the supreme court alleging a pattern of ‘sloppines’ on the part of the electoral commission.

But the court heard Mr Wiener’s initial application to the electoral commission was made under a false name.

Mr Wiener was also accused of recruiting party members under the pretence of signing a petition against the Gunns Pulp Mill.

In his closing statment, Associate Justice Stephen Holt said Mr Wiener’s appeal had no standing and told Mr Wiener the way he had gone about starting the party was a total failure.

The electoral commission will not be able to accept another application from the Ethics and Sustainablity party until May.

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Politics | State

The spraying

via Dr Alison Bleaney
01.03.10 8:01 am

Forestry Tas website http://www.forestrytas.com.au/science/research-stories/forest-health-surveillance

In 2007/2008 alone timber plantations in Tasmanian water catchments - 6612 HA were aerially sprayed with insecticide – 6299 HA with alpha-cypermethrin (toxic in the water at 2 parts per trillion – DPIW detection limit in pesticide monitoring water catchments is 100 pptrillion ) and 313 HA with Spinosad ( another endocrine disrupting chemical)

See below for an article on pyrethroids and water……

Dr Alison Bleaney

Info

Derived from flowers, but not benign: Pyrethroids raise new concerns
Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide. For at least a decade, pyrethroids have been the insecticide of choice for consumers, replacing organophosphate pesticides, which are far more toxic to people and wildlife. But evidence is mounting that the switch to pyrethroids has brought its own set of new ecological and human health concerns.

By Ferris Jabr

Environmental Health News

February 26, 2010


kaunokainen/flickr.
Pyrethroids are found in more than 3,500 products used inside homes and on crops, yards, and gardens. Although human health risks are unknown, animal studies have found evidence of damage to neurological, immune and reproductive systems.
Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide.

For at least a decade, pyrethroids have been the insecticide of choice for consumers, replacing organophosphate pesticides, which are far more toxic to people and wildlife. But evidence is mounting that the switch to pyrethroids has brought its own set of new ecological and human health risks.

About 70 percent of people in the United States have been exposed to pyrethroids, with children facing the highest exposure, according to a study published this month. Although the human health threats are unknown, animal studies have found evidence of damage to neurological, immune and reproductive systems.

In addition, pyrethroids are flowing off yards and gardens, contaminating some streams and rivers at concentrations that can kill small creatures vital to the survival of fish and other aquatic life. Both California and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are reevaluating the chemicals because of safety concerns.

“Pyrethroids are obviously a safer alternative to organophosphates, but just because they are safer doesn’t mean they are safe,” said Dana Boyd Barr, a research professor of environmental health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia. Barr authored a study that for the first time has measured pyrethroid exposure in the U.S. population.

Pyrethroids are found in more than 3,500 products used inside homes and on crops, yards, and gardens - including lice shampoos, indoor foggers, flea sprays for pets and pesticides to fight ants, wasps, mosquitoes, aphids and spiders. Consumers can identify pyrethroids in products by checking labels for compounds that end in “thrin,” such as bifenthrin, permethrin and cypermethrin.

The compounds are synthetic versions of naturally occurring insecticides called pyrethrins harvested from chrysanthemum flowers. Chemists alter the structure of the pyrethrin molecule to make it more stable in sunlight and to increase its toxicity. The chemicals kill insects by interfering with basic nerve cell functioning. Insects and other invertebrates are highly susceptible to them, while birds and mammals are better able to counteract their effects.

In the new study, 5,046 urine samples collected from U.S. adults and children between 1999 and 2002 were tested for five metabolites of pyrethroid insecticides. Metabolites are the result of the body breaking down a chemical.

Traces of at least one pyrethroid metabolite were found in 75 percent of the people tested in 2001-2002, up from 66 percent in 1999-2000. Children’s concentrations were more than 50 percent higher than the amounts found in adolescents and adults, according to the study by Barr and colleagues published online in Environmental Health Perspectives on Feb. 3.

Children are more highly exposed to pyrethroids because “they spend a lot more time on the floor and have much more hand to mouth activity,” Barr said. “Pyrethroids tend to accumulate in dust or on surface areas in homes because they don’t evaporate easily into the air.” A 2008 study found pyrethroids and their metabolites in vacuum cleaner dust collected from homes and daycare centers in North Carolina and Ohio.

In addition to inhaling or absorbing pyrethroids that linger in households, people ingest traces of pyrethroids in their food, since the chemicals are used on some vegetable, fruit and grain crops.

A 2006 EPA review found that the risk of exposure through diet was at or below the agency’s level of concern for most people. But the study also found that infants and toddlers are highly exposed in some foods, especially bananas, pineapple and dried-oat baby food.

“Pyrethroids are obviously a safer alternative to organophosphates, but just because they are safer doesn’t mean they are safe.” -Dana Boyd Barr, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health“Now that we know people are exposed to pyrethroids widely, we need to determine what the exact health effects are,” said Barr.

So far, there is little scientific data evaluating the potential threat to human health.

Studies with lab animals have linked pyrethroid exposure to damage of the thyroid, liver and nervous system, as well as impairment of behavioral development, changes in the immune system and disruption of reproductive hormones, according to the 2006 EPA review. These animal studies are relevant to human health because pyrethroids act on functions of the nervous system common to all animals, according to the EPA.

Some pyrethroids imitate the hormone estrogen and can increase levels of estrogen in breast cancer cells, and some are suspected carcinogens. Other data suggest that people using the chemicals are at risk of aggravated allergies or asthma, although the EPA concluded last year that there is no clear link.

Pesticide manufacturers say that pyrethroids are safe and that they are vital to agriculture and to combating mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus and other diseases.

“Pyrethroids are an extremely important class of insecticidal compounds with major public health and agricultural uses,” Rex Runyon, a vice president at CropLife America, a trade group that represents pesticide companies, said in an email. Runyon added that pyrethroids “do not pose unreasonable effects to human health or the environment” when used according to the directions on the label.


Donald Weston/UC Berkeley
Toxic concentrations of pyrethroids from urban runoff were found in the American River in Folsom, Calif.
Although little data exist about human health concerns, evidence is growing that pyrethroids might be harming aquatic ecosystems. Studies of streams and rivers in California, Texas and Illinois suggest that the pesticides might be wiping out small organisms that live in the waterways and form the base of the food chain.

In addition, some studies have shown that pyrethroids can have effects on the growth and reproduction of freshwater fish.

A 2009 study found the pesticides in urban stream sediments in central Texas, where they are widely used to control fire ant and grub worm infestations. The concentrations are lethal to a small, shrimp-like crustacean called Hyalella azteca - a species commonly used in laboratories to investigate the effects of pesticides on invertebrates necessary for healthy rivers.

“All of our sampling sites were very close to neighborhoods with manicured lawns,” said Jason Belden, an Oklahoma State University zoologist and author of the study published in the journal Environmental Pollution. “Some people are not following the best management practices. They’re not being careful enough with pesticides. We all need to make an effort to only use pesticides when we need them.”

Pyrethroids are showing up not only in sediments, but also in the currents of California rivers, at levels toxic to insects and aquatic invertebrates that fish and other animals feed on.

Biologist Donald Weston of the University of California, Berkeley, looked for the insecticides in urban runoff, sewage treatment plant effluent, and agricultural drains in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. In the laboratory, Weston tested the toxicity of these samples on the shrimp-like Hyalella azteca.

“Virtually every drop of runoff from urban communities was toxic to Hyalella because of pyrethroids,” Weston said.

For the first time ever, Weston and his team documented pyrethroids in the outflow of sewage treatment plants, which was surprising.

“About half of the waste water treatment plants we sampled were toxic,” Weston said. “Most people wouldn’t have expected pyrethroids to get through the system. People figured they would be captured by the slush at the bottom - and probably many of them are - but there is enough getting through the system to make the runoff toxic.”

Agricultural drains, on the other hand, were only an occasional source of pyrethroids, according to the study, published this month in Environmental Science and Technology.

“When you say ‘pesticides,’ I think the average person on the street tends to think of agriculture,” Weston said. “They don’t tend to think of the suburban homes, whereas it turns out the suburban home was a constant source of pyrethroid toxicity.”

“Some people are not following the best management practices. They’re not being careful enough with pesticides. We all need to make an effort to only use pesticides when we need them.” -Jason Belden, Oklahoma State University     The study demonstrated toxicity in two urban creeks and in a 30-kilometer stretch of the American River, considered one of the cleanest rivers in the Delta region.

“The water is totally clear - as clear as the water that comes out of your bathroom faucet,” said Weston. “But the last 30 or 40 miles of the river, once you start getting into Sacramento, are very heavily urbanized. All these communities are dumping their storm water into the American River and it’s enough to cause toxicity.”

Weston said that finding the chemical in the water itself - not just in the sediments - is cause for concern.

“Pyrethroids are very sticky and they don’t like to be dissolved in the water, so most of them are in the sediments,” Weston said. “But it takes so little in the water to be toxic - only two parts per trillion. The state of California now knows not only do they have to worry about the sediment particles, they have to worry about the water as well. And the water travels much farther downstream.”

The levels of toxicity Weston recorded were more than enough to kill a whole host of insects and other invertebrates necessary for healthy river ecology. The researchers have not documented that creatures in the streams have died. But if the water and sediment samples are toxic to the crustacean in the lab, it is a sign they will be toxic to similar creatures in the waterways.

“I think it’s a good idea to minimize pesticide exposure of any sort, not only because of what we know, but because of what we don’t know.” -Donald Weston, University of California-Berkeley   “Bottom dwelling invertebrates and things like stoneflies and mayflies are basically the bottom of the food chain. The concern is whether these insecticides are cutting out this lower rung that the fish depend upon,” Weston said. “This would have not only ecological consequences, but recreational and commercial consequences.” Weston added that the levels in the streams “are not enough to be toxic to a fish, but the fish obviously have to eat.”

In response to the toxicity concerns, California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation began reevaluating regulation of pyrethroids in 2006. The state has requested additional data from manufacturers on the safety of pyrethroids and is analyzing at least 700 products used in households and on farms.

When mounting the review, Mary-Ann Warmerdam, director of the state’s pesticide agency, told the Los Angeles Times that the state’s evaluation “is a shot across the bow to the manufacturers that we found a reason for concern and you need to provide us with data to either eliminate the concern, reformulate your products or consider taking them off the market.”

California, Weston said, doesn’t want to return to using organophosphates such as chlorpyrifos, which was banned from household use because of human health concerns, “but they want to control the use of pyrethroids to minimize the environmental effects we document.”

“The state of California has the power to ban a product based on the outcome of the reevaluation,” Weston said, “but I don’t think anyone is expecting that to occur. More likely there will be further regulations pertaining to the use of pyrethroids.”

Also, the EPA this year is reevaluating pyrethroids as part of its 2010 pesticide review. The EPA systematically evaluates all registered pesticides every 15 years. Potential outcomes include banning pyrethroids in certain areas, tightening policies or no change to the regulations. However, the EPA process will take another six to eight years.


Mr.Mac2009/flickr
Consumers have alternatives to synthetic pyrethroids—such as planting chrysanthemums, which contain natural pyrethroids.
Also, an insecticide called fipronil has partially replaced pyrethroids for controlling termite and ant infestations in some areas. Like pyrethroids, fipronil is far less toxic to birds and mammals than other insecticides, but can still kill small aquatic life. In the meantime, there are some alternatives for consumers. Barr suggests products extracted from vegetables and herbs or planting chrysanthemums around the garden. Natural pyrethrins found in chrysanthemum plants do not persist in the environment like the synthetic versions do. Another option for killing some pests is boric acid.

Weston says switching to another chemical is not the solution: he believes people need to fundamentally change how they use pesticides. Many people apply so much to their yards and gardens that the chemicals flow into waterways.

“I think it’s a good idea to minimize pesticide exposure of any sort, not only because of what we know, but because of what we don’t know,” Weston said. “I don’t think a lot of those products are needed. The less you can use them, the better.”

Copyright © 2003 Environmental Health Sciences. All rights reserved.

And,

DPIW – Pesticide Monitoring in Water Catchments

http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/CART-69STWK?open

Chlorpyrifos is one of the 19 pesticides thought to be a) most likely or b) one of the most toxic to be in our raw drinking water.

See the comments given in the article below; the most salient points being:

“Children are especially vulnerable to pesticides because, pound for pound, they drink 2.5 times more water, eat 3-4 times more food, and breathe twice as much air. They also face particular harms from exposure during critical developmental periods in the womb and via breast milk. In recognition of these increased risks, EPA began phasing out non-agricultural uses of the insecticide chlorpyrifos 10 years ago because it can wreak havoc on developing brains and bodies. Chlorpyrifos (PDF) is an acute neurotoxin…”

Why are we still using this pesticide in drinking our water catchments ..why are we using it at all?

The potential for harmful chemical cocktails in our raw drinking water is a national major public health issue, and should be firmly on the agenda of all political parties; this issue is not going to go away until it is properly addressed.

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Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | Health

Honeybee Blues - Documentary Screening and Talk

Grace Pundyk
28.02.10 4:13 pm

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Honeybee Blues - Documentary Screening and Talk
Grace Pundyk, author of The Honey Spinner: on the trail of ancient honey, vanishing bees and the politics of liquid gold.
Around the world, bee populations are facing annihilation. Yet so far, Australia has been immune: the only country not to host the deadly parasitic mite, Varroa Destructor, which has been responsible for the death of literally billions of bees around the world.
For this reason, Australia has gained a reputation for clean and green bees and honey. But how safe are we? And just how much is being done to prevent a varroa incursion, both on the mainland and here in Tasmania?
Honeybee Blues, produced in Australia and also featuring Tasmania’s forests and leatherwood honey producer, Julian Wolfhagen, tells the story of the world’s disappearing European honeybees and the efforts of Australian scientist Denis Anderson to save them from annihilation. From the old growth forests and orchards of Tasmania and mainland Australia to the industrial farmlands of the United States and the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Honeybee Blues is a scientific detective story that tells a 21st century cautionary tale.
Honeybee Blues takes an up-close look at the problems associated with the disappearing bees, the importance of these incredible insects in pollinating our food, and how things like deforestation, gm crops, pesticides and global industries are threatening the world’s bee population.
A special screening of this important documentary is on at the State Cinema on March 14 at 6pm.
After the screening there will be a talk given by Julian Wolfhagen, Grace Pundyk (author of The Honey Spinner), and Susan MacKinnon, the film’s producer.

TICKETS $10 at the State Cinema Box Office
Telephone: 62346318
http://www.statecinema.com.au/ 

http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/showcases/honeybeeblues/
HONEYBEE BLUES
Director – Stefan Moore, Producers – Susan MacKinnon & Anna Cater
© Mitra Films Pty Ltd 2009

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What's On

Smokewatch

Anji
28.02.10 11:55 am

Dear Friends of the Air,
There were 14 exceedences of PM 2.5 in Launceston in 2009, most associated with forestry logging burns(not to be mistaken for fuel reduction burns) Government endorsed additional forestry burning during times of expected poor air quality, exceedence and when wind was blowing directly onto civilisation. Statewide fumigation was also endorsed between 21-24 April.
See one entry from Smokewatch 2009 below(with photographs in attachment), a combined community smoke diary with known forestry, Parks and TFS burns listed.


Quality Air Tasmania


EVENT/EPISODE 5 FROM SMOKEWATCH 2009
WEEK OF 3 MAY / BREAK O DAY BURNS
A patient of mine rang this morning …
Dr ALISON BLEANEY, St Helen’s
To add to the story from Ella…. A patient of mine came this morning( may
7) and
told me about the awful night she had on Sunday(may 3)- could hardly breath and her asthma has been really bad ever since. Not only did the foul smelling pesticide spray (delivered by a boomspray tractor getting rid of weeds across the road from her house) flood her house, but now the acrid smoke from forestry burns east of here (seemingly not fuel load burns, but after
clearfelling) is invading St Helens with westerly winds and temperature inversions. She has gone home feeling ill, despondent and apprehensive. I am appalled at the lack of support that ordinary folk actually receive to prevent unwilling and unwitting exposure to known toxins; our preventative health strategy must do better than this.  Letters to the media, to Ministers, to anyone that cares are needed; we need to support those most vulnerable in our communities, especially those already sick!

Tasmanian Times

5 May
1. Launceston & Patersonia
2. Smoky afternoon(SA) in L
3. Headaches in Launceston
4. Observations: Hazy in N in afternoon, smoke smell in L , FPA Website:2-12
logging burns, winds W, 10H,2 L,1 FR, 1 lit NW by 1 pm + 1 still alight NE


              0170 KS Above: Launceston thick smoke haze despite warm day.
Forestry Burn Offs and Public Health   On May 14th, 2009 Anonymous says:
5th May 2009
Break O Day Region St Helens
Fire and smoke continued for 8 days SM SA SE SN Fires were listed on Forestry Planned Burns website.

 

I have witnessed the recent terrible Forestry Tasmania burnoffs that have occurred in the week of the 5th May 2009 from my property which overlooks the coast line from Falmouth through to Flinders Island; I have not been able to see past Beaumaris due to the smoke haze from FT’s burnoffs.
Peter Power ( http://www.tapvision.info  Smokewatch)

Download:
EVENT_5_SMOKEWATCH_2009.doc

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Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | Health

Don’t miss the Mad Hatter’s Ball


28.02.10 7:23 am

Details, HERE

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What's On

Pump, Spray, Pulp - Heritage Fund turns to Slush.

Tonguengroove
28.02.10 6:33 am

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Cartoons

Bluechip advice


27.02.10 2:46 pm

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Cartoons | Satire

Now ya see it ...

Dave Groves
27.02.10 9:42 am

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HERE: Woodchip deal looking like illusion

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Politics | State | Cartoons | Satire