| GE
Free New Zealand in Food & Environment, 28th
November 2004
Refusal to Monitor Soil Health Puts NZ at Risk
The refusal by ERMA to undertake monitoring of soil at the largest
GM-animal trial site in the country reflects a long-term cavalier
attitude to soil which puts New Zealand's health and economy at
risk.
Recent events in Auckland - where past agricultural use has come
back to haunt residents, and similar contamination issues around
the country, are a wake-up call to regulatory authorities that they
have been negligent in protecting our greatest asset: the soil beneath
our feet.
The NZ Herald and Weekend Herald have run a series of feature articles
exposing the "ticking time bomb" of soil contamination
and degradation. Yet government authorities have continued to turn
a blind eye to threats to soil health and soil-integrity. One example
of failure by officials to take "dirt" seriously is the
refusal by ERMA- the Environmental Risk Management Authority to
monitor the soil at New Zealand's largest-ever GE-animal research
site.
A High Court hearing is due to take place this week to review what
measures are legally required to meet New Zealand's biosecurity
legislation in relation to the former PPL-site at Whakamaru where
thousands of transgenic sheep were run before the company collapsed
and the sheep destroyed.
"It is frightening that ERMA have been refusing to test and
monitor this site, preferring to sell it off immediately for conventional
farming," says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.
" We cannot allow GE-soil contamination to become a problem
for the next generation. Public confidence in ERMA can only be further
undermined by their attitude to regulation," Mr Carapiet says.
It is outrageous that the High Court case is having to be taken
by an individual citizen instead of authorities taking their duties,
scientific learning, and the precautionary principle seriously.
At the time of PPL's collapse former Prime Minister Jim Bolger backed
calls by independent scientists and GE-free NZ for scientific samples
to be taken form the sheep for research. However inadequate funding
and lack of agreement to do so meant thousands of transgenic sheep
were destroyed without any such research being undertaken. In the
same vein, authorities have refused to take soil samples and there
is no intention to do anything about monitoring of the test-site.
" By burying their head in the sand authorities like ERMA are
risking our soil and clean-green credentials, instead of protecting
them," says Mr Carapiet.
As well as ERMA itself, papers raising public concern about the
PPL site have been presented to The Minister for the Environment,
MAF, Taupo DC, Waikato Environment, and Whakamaru Farms.
" We know genetic material can and does survive for many years,
and that the novel processes of GE present new risks of HGT and
contamination. It's time the government woke up to the need to protect
our soil and support sustainable agricultural practices," says
Mr Carapiet.
Instead, government policy to allow GE-release puts our organic
producers at risk, and will undermine improvements to conventional
agriculture by allowing GM contamination that threatens exports,
soil integrity, and human health.
ENDS
Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681
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