CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION OF TASMANIAN WATERWAYS CONTINUES
Contamination Detected at 10% of Sites Tested
Friday, 12 February 2010
www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today again called on the Bartlett Government to protect the community from chemical contamination, following revelations that pesticides including the endocrine-disrupting Atrazine have again been detected in Tasmanian waterways, this time in five northern Tasmanian rivers.
Greens Water spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that after more than 100 waterway contamination events in recent years it is well past time that the dangerous group of Triazines were banned, and Chemical Trespass laws are enacted to make chemical users accountable for any chemical contamination that occurs on neighbouring properties and waterways.
Mr Morris also said that chemicals are now regularly being detected at 10% of test sites, but the Bartlett Government never prosecutes the culprits, raising serious questions about whether the ongoing chemical contamination of Tasmanian waterways will ever cease while Labor is in power.
“The Bartlett Labor Government continues to report ongoing chemical contamination in our rivers and waterways, but does nothing to protect the community from these dangerous chemicals, or to prosecute those people who are responsible for poisoning neighbouring families, properties, and waterways,” said Mr Morris.
“Labor are discovering contamination at 10% of the sites being tested, and then abjectly failing to identify and prosecute the responsible parties.”
“In 1996 the Tasmanian Labor Party promised to ban the use of Triazines in any catchment where they had been detected in waterways. Fourteen years later and these dangerous endocrine-disrupting chemicals are still being used around Tasmania, and are still being detected in multiple waterways across the state.”
“The Tasmanians Greens are calling on the Bartlett Government and Liberal Opposition to support the Greens’ call to ban the dangerous Triazine group of chemicals, and implement Chemical Trespass laws that will regulate the use of dangerous chemicals, and will make the people who are applying these chemicals accountable for any contamination of neighbouring families, properties, and waterways,” said Mr Morris.
Reference: Baseline Monitoring Program results 14/1/2010, DPIPWE Website, available at: http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/CART-6GEVLA/$FILE/Baseline%20Monitoring%20Program.pdf
Tim Morris MP Greens Water spokesperson
