Your "registered" Residual POISONS Endanger Health

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Subject:  Your "registered" Residual POISONS Endanger Health
Date:     Sat, 24 May 2002 13:19:53 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

TUESDAY, 28 MAY 2002

Managing secret sites an issue

25 MAY 2002
By CATHY WITHIEL

The issue of secret contaminated soil sites will be tackled by North Shore City councillors at a special workshop in June.

Secret sites, contaminated with enough poisonous chemicals to endanger health, have been identified in a joint survey by the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) and the Auckland District Health Board.

Research was done on the understanding that individual sites would not be identified.

But some horticultural sites in Auckland have dangerously high levels of lead, DDT, or arsenic.

The council's finance and strategy committee has received an invitation from the ARC asking two city councillors to a workshop about contaminated sites on Wednesday, June 19. Two North Shore City Council officers will also attend.

The ARC workshop is to summarise the findings from the soil sampling study, and discuss the implications for councils.

Local authorities are responsible for controlling adverse effects associated with development, as well as controlling the subdivision of land.

The councils will need to decide how to manage potentially contaminated sites.

Up to 48 sites in the Auckland region have been tested for chemical residues following horticultural use.

The survey is part of a paper entitled "Pesticides in horticultural soils in the Auckland Region", from research by a Waikato University student, studying for her PhD. Sally Gaw surveyed 43 existing or former horticultural properties.

Her research found that:

• Some sites used for intensive horticulture more than 10 years ago still contain chemical residues.

• Levels of copper, arsenic, lead and dieldrin "exceeding conservative guidelines for the protection of human health" were found on some sites.

• Dieldrin and DDT were detected only on properties developed before 1975.

• About 70 per cent of properties developed before 1975 tested positive for at least one chemical.

• Soil from glasshouses, market gardens, orchards and vineyard sites were used for the research.

• Some soil sites were used recently for horticulture, others were used more than 20 years ago.

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