Tragedy is – Could Have Been for the Last Time…
www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today revealed that only two days after both Labor and Liberal joined forces to vote down a Greens’ motion to ban the use of Triazine herbicides the latest round of water tests reveal two more occurrences of the Triazine Hexazinone in the Coal Valley.
Greens Water spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that the latest round of water test results show that the serious problem of chemical contamination continues in several South Eastern rivers, with the herbicides Hexazinone, 2,4D and MCPA being confirmed in four locations in the Carlton, Coal, Jordon Rivers and the White Kangaroo Rivulet and a further one in the Liffey river.
“Barely two days after voting to defeat the Greens’ call to have the Triazine family of chemicals banned, the Bartlett government has quietly snuck up onto their website the latest round of water test results which show that once again our rivers are contaminated with triazines,” Mr Morris said.
“The tragedy here is, it could have been for the last time that triazines were to be listed on this chemical list of shame, had Labor stood up for the health of our waterways and our communities and voted for the ban, just as it had pledged to do in its own 1996 election policy.”
“Sadly, it is clear that Labor is far more interested in protecting the profits of the multinational chemical companies, and the interests of the industries using those chemicals, than it is about looking after Tasmanians.”
“The latest round of the regular testing done in September and October reveals that the Carlton and Liffey Rivers tested positive for MCPA and the upper Coal River and White Kangaroo rivulet tested positive for Hexazinone and the Jordan River was contaminated with 2,4D.”
“Follow up testing of the Coal three weeks later showed still higher levels of Hexazinone in three samples and in the White Kangaroo Rivulet it was still being detected, but this time at a slightly lower level, whilst the Liffey River was still contaminated with MCPA at similar levels in tests taken four weeks after the initial one.”
“It is time this Labor Government got serious and put an end to the ongoing chronic poisoning of our waterways given that in the 18 months that they have been reporting the outcomes of twenty investigations of contamination events across nine rivers there has not been a single case where they have managed to identify and prosecute the perpetrator of any contamination event.”
“The Coal River can now be categorised as the river with the worst contamination having some six separate pesticides detected in just over 12 months, some having more than one occurrence; if this valley represents Bartlett’s vision for the Food Bowl in Tasmania then our brand is in serious trouble.”
“I am going to meet with the TFGA and see if they are prepared to assist in cleaning up this appalling situation, because Labor is clearly not willing to lift a finger,” Mr Morris said.
Tim Morris MP, Greens water spokesman
