The Scammell Report
by Keith Loveridge
This is a report, released on the 16th July 2004, into the causes of a massive oyster kill in Georges Bay Tasmania. The findings of the report concludes that aerial spraying of pesticides appears to be responsible. A link has also been made to facial tumours in Tasmanian Devils, and human health risk as a result of possible contamination of drinking water supplies. Below are the specific findings of the report and conclusions.
The ramifications are of course profound, as many other species of fauna are affected by the indiscriminate nature of aerial spraying. The initial response to the Tasmanian Devil tumours when they were first noticed back in 1997 was…. ‘a disease caused by a virus’. The ‘virus’ explanation is often used by vested interests to mask pesticide damage – but not this time!
This is what happens when we allow greed to take control. Old growth destruction, pesticides, human health damage, 1080 poison, out-of-control plantation expansion, huge fish kills, long-term damage to aquatic ecosystems, and the shocking facial tumours in the Tasmanian Devil. The list, and the suffering, is endless. And we need to ask ourselves for what?So what can we as ordinary people do?
There is a Federal election due, it is time we wrote to our politicians, newspapers, talk-back, and anyone else who will listen, and expressed outrage at the ecological damage being wrought in Tasmania and anywhere else where these plantations are being unsustainably managed. Sustainable development is about protecting the life form of ALL forms of life, not systematically destroying it.
Please pass on to others, so we can stop this insane, disgusting, greed -inspired assault on our beautiful country and leave something for us, and those who would follow. After all, aren’t we supposed to be caretakers of the land?
So let’s start taking some care.
Specific Findings of the Report
The aerial spraying (using helicopters) of plantation timbers appears to be responsible for large-scale losses of commercial oyster following heavy rainfall events. The normal environmental protection methods do not appear to be in place and no policing of the State’s own Forestry Code of Practice appears to be occurring. More disturbingly, the problems associated with oysters also correlate with tumours and mortality in Tasmanian Devils. Further there appears to be a risk to human health as contamination of local drinking water supplies is also possible.
Thus, there is an ongoing economic impact on the St Helen’s Marine Farmers, that they cannot sustain. There is an ongoing environmental impact on both marine and terrestrial organisms, and there is a possible impact on the local human community.”
Conclusion and Recommendations
The St Helens Marine Farmers have been sustaining ongoing losses of oysters following heavy rainfall events since 1997. The size of the losses have been progressively increasing with the largest commercial loss in 2004. The situation for them cannot be sustained from a commercial point of view and as a consequence this report has been prepared.
Based on the information in this report the group believes that the most probable cause of oyster mortality is the aerial application of biocides in the upper catchment on hardwood plantations. The group also believes that there are other non-target organisms suffering as a result of the aerial spraying, these include other marine organisms, Tasmanian Devils and possibly the local human community.
To take the next step in the gathering of scientific information would require extensive scientific resources and take a considerable length of time prior to addressing the actual problem. The steps involved would be a combination of toxicity assessment following aerial spraying and subsequent rainfall events, and biological monitoring of non-target organisms. This process would take several years during which time the situation would remain unchanged.
The other alternative is to act in accordance with the Precautionary Principle and the recommendations of two Federal government committees.
The precautionary principle and its application have been defined as follows (http://www.biotech-info.net/rachels_586.html);When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives including no action.
We believe that there is sufficient information in this report to identify hazard and sufficient information to identify impacts. Of the explanations that have been examined over the last four years only one is consistent with the evidence that is currently available.
In accordance with the precautionary principle it is our recommendation that the practice of aerial spraying of biocides on Tasmanian plantations cease immediately until such practices can be shown to be safe.
Demonstration of a causal relationship will still be possible if aerial spraying stops now, via the use of a BACI experimental design (Before / After / Control / Impact). Under such a design it would be expected that oyster mortality would reduce following rainfall and eventually return to rates of mortality observed in non-affected areas. http://www.tfic.com.au/scammell_report_07.04.htmEnvironmental Problems
Georges Bay, Tasmania
Collated by Dr Marcus Scammell from information gathered, in particular, between February 2004 to June 2004.
Information gathered by:
St Helen’s Marine Farmers;
Dr Alison Bleaney (Area Medical Officer);
Dr Marcus Scammell (Marine Ecologist)
Synopsis
Specific Findings
The aerial spraying (using helicopters) of plantation timbers appears to be responsible for large-scale losses of commercial oyster following heavy rainfall events. The normal environmental protection methods do not appear to be in place and no policing of the State’s own Forestry Code of Practice appears to be occurring. More disturbingly, the problems associated with oysters also correlate with tumours and mortality in Tasmanian Devils. Further there appears to be a risk to human health as contamination of local drinking water supplies is also possible.
Thus, there is an ongoing economic impact on the St Helen’s Marine Farmers, that they cannot sustain. There is an ongoing environmental impact on both marine and terrestrial organisms, and there is a possible impact on the local human community.
The practice of aerial spraying was identified as hazardous by a Federal House of Representatives Committee in 1982. It was further identified as hazardous, particularly when using helicopters, by a Federal Senate Committee in 1990. The Senate Committee noted that no notice appeared to have been taken of the previous findings. The 1990 Senate Committee recommended that if their recommendations were not adopted in full then the practice should be phased out or banned.
It appears that no notice was taken of their recommendations either. It is therefore suggested that the Senate Committee’s alternative recommendation should be adopted in accordance with the precautionary principle. That is, that aerial spraying of Tasmanian plantations cease immediately until a thorough investigation can be conducted.
General Findings
The Tasmanian issue appears to be a symptom of a general breakdown in environmental protection and human health protection processes at every level of government. The practices that appear to be causing the problems should have been addressed at a Federal level in 1982 and were again identified in 1990. The failure to implement the Senate Committee’s findings and the subsequent failure to implement the State Governments own code of practice has allowed the continuation of a practice that was clearly identified as hazardous in 1982.
