Yarram District cluster of birth abnormalities

Letter from APM to PRC to spray Hexazinone, Simazine and drop 1080 baits in Gippsland Region December 23 1981

1982

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission - Use of 2,4,5-T by the Commission May 7 1982

1983

Federal Government Announces A Royal Commission on the Effects of War on Australian's who served in Vietnam The Age 18 March 1983

Forests Commission Propose to spray 463ha in Yarram Region with Amitrole and Atrazine Letter to ADCRC June 27 1983

Beechworth Branch ALP concerned about aerial spraying of Chemicals by Forest Commission 23 September 1983

1984

1985

1986

APM to spray Hexazinone, Clopyralid & Triclopyr ADCRC Meeting 14 December 1986

1988

APM to spray hundreds of hectares with Glyphosate, Amitrole and 1080 baits December 12 1988

1989

2002

2003

2004

PAUL DAVIDSON, CHEMICAL FACTORY WORKER: I feel sort of responsible for thousands of people's deaths and suffering through making this stuff and spraying it. MICK O'DONNELL: Paul Davidson was once leading hand at the Brisbane plant of Farm Chemicals Limited. There he suffered the exposure to toxic herbicides which he believes has given him 30 years of health problems. PAUL DAVIDSON: You can see still on here and on my arms. MICK O'DONNELL: ..from rashes to thyroid trouble. And, he fears, the death of his daughter. PAUL DAVIDSON: She died... four years... after leukaemia. MICK O'DONNELL: The company which produced the chemical here in Brisbane's Eagle Farm no longer exists. But Paul Davidson remembers a careless attitude to where the chemicals wound up. PAUL DAVIDSON: So what they were actually doing was highly illegal. It was dumping the bloody chemicals into the creek and if it rained and everything - you can follow me down here - and you'll see that that creek runs directly into the Brisbane River. MICK O'DONNELL: Even at the levels of toxicity officially allowed in the 70s, the herbicide 245T was powerful stuff. A runny, honey-coloured liquid, it was mixed with diesel to spray on noxious weeds. SID ARMSTRONG, QLD FORESTRY WORKER: Oh, yeah, it would really make you sick as a dog and the headaches were shocking, you know. MICK O'DONNELL: Forestry workers in Queensland and agriculture department workers in Western Australia often sprayed the chemical without protective clothing or masks...MICK O'DONNELL: In Brisbane, sister company Farm Chemicals Limited was also importing herbicide according to the Tariff Board inquiry. Paul Davidson recalls a strange batch arriving in 44 gallon drums. PAUL DAVIDSON: And it was as black as the ace of spades and on the top it was a lot like white crystal growth on the top of the drums so I thought: "Well, this doesn't look right." MICK O'DONNELL: Despite his objections, the leading hand was ordered to melt down the hardened 245T in vats of boiling water. Though it's over 30 years ago, he remembers this because of the accident he suffered at the time. PAUL DAVIDSON: It flew out and went all over me and burnt me. Got a little bit on the arms but mainly went down and got inside - I know it sounds a bit funny but it wasn't funny at the time - but it burnt my penis and my testicles. We ended up making T80 out of it and T40, which most of our stuff we supplied to the Queensland State Government, to the Lands Department, and also the Forestry Department. MICK O'DONNELL: The Queensland Government says it has been unable to find any trace of the rogue import, despite concern from ex-forestry workers up and down the State. MICK O'DONNELL: Do you believe that other workers in other parts of the country may also have been using chemical that had much higher levels than accepted at the time? PROF BRUCE ARMSTRONG: Well, I think again all one can do is speculate on this because we don't know where it went. MICK O'DONNELL: In Victoria, workers and their families have been expressing their fears about the chemical since the late 70s. MAN (FILE FOOTAGE): And over the past five years, I suppose, we've used 250,000 gallons of the spray. ALBERT LITTLER, CFMEU: They've got kidney damage, some have got cancers - all have, or 99 per cent all have this breakout of skin. MICK O'DONNELL: Late last year, the CFMEU surveyed its workers in the Yarram district who believe they'd been affected. ALBERT LITTLER: I can't prove that they were exposed to the rogue batch but information that we have - that it was distributed to various government departments. MICK O'DONNELL: In Queensland and Victoria, workers hope the WA example will prompt their own governments to act. EDDIE BUGDEN: I think it's high time that a proper investigation was made and someone was brought to answer.

2008

2012

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2014

Toxic Legacy: Part One Ballarat Courier Sep 29 2014

Toxic Legacy: Part Two Ballarat Courier Sep29 2014

Victorian government will lead an inquiry into toxic chemical use by former Victorian Lands Department workers Sep 30, 2014

Bill Shorten calls for broader inquiry into toxic chemical use Oct 1 2014

Support for independent inquiry into toxic chemicals growing Oct 3 2014

Toxic Legacy Support For Independent Inquiry Growing Oct 3 2014

Toxic chemical use: daughter queries dad's death Oct 3 2014

History

Mr W T Parsons, officer in charge of the Keith Turnbull Research Station, Seaford and a member of the Pesticides Review Committee said the Victorian investigations was "only a normal follow-up to the reports."

"The situation isn't terribly frightening," he said, "because an extremely large dose of almost any poisonous chemical is sure to produce some deformities.

"The department has been using 2,4,5-T since 1948, and in that time would have sprayed it around. In all that time the only complaints we have had have been occasional dermatitis.

"The chemical is applied in an extremely dilute form and it is used principally in waste areas, along roadsides and river beds. It is seldom used in pasture areas.

"Our use of it is so reasonable that I doubt whether we would have to withdraw it."

Avon River Improvement Trust Recommendation By State Rivers and Water Supply Commission July 9 1958

Dear ... Thank you for your enquiry about tea tree control. I have had no direct experience with this problem, but Mr... our research Officer, now engaged on weed control experiments, has obtained the following information from various trade sources.

There are 3 species of plants generally referred to as tea tree; they are known botanically as Leptospermum, Melaleuca and Kunza species. They are all fairly resistant to hormone treatments, but 2,4,5-T is usually effective provided the treatment is persisted with.

As an overall spray for growth less than 6 feet in height, is it recommended that 4 lbs. of 2,4,5-T ester be applied per acre in at least 100 gallons of water per acre. This should be applied when the plants are growing vigorously.

A second treatment which can be used is to apply a solution containing 4 lbs. of 2,4,5-T ester per 10 gallons of diesel distillate either to frills around the base of the trees or to the freshly cut stumps. These basal treatments are only suitable for use on large trees.

On the basis of Mr... information, I suggest treatment with 2,4,5-T on a moderate scale would be warranted. It should be stressed however, that several resprays may be necessary to give effective control....

Vermin and Noxious Weed Destruction Board: Ragwoth Experimental Site 20-30 acres Allotment 1 Parish of Jumbuk. No longer required for aerial spraying 8/11/61. Forests Commission Yarram asked permission 26 June 1961 Secretary Forests Commission.

29 August 1961 Letter from senior forester (Yarram District) to Secretary Forests Commission of Victoria. Site for Ragwort Control Experiment - Lands Department. "... However, if any lease of Forests Commission land in the Middle Creek watershed to APM forests is envisaged, allotment 1 should, or would be included in the lease, along with all other Forests Commission land in this watershed. Pending Commission policy on experimental sites on Commission land which may be leased to APM Forests, I recommend that no objection be raised to this application, providing a plan of the actual experimental site is submitted by the Lands Department including a copy to this office".

In 1968 aerial application of 2,4,5-T approximately three years after planting was introduced to control silver wattle, followed by basal bark spraying or stem injection of the eucalypts with mixtures of 2,4,5-T and picloram (Flinn and Minko 1980. Advances in Control of Woody Weeds in Radiata Pine Plantations in Victoria). Application rate usually 1.1 kg 2,4,5-T in 50 litres of dieseline/ha.

U.S. Curbs Use Of Weed Killer That Produces Rat Deformities New York Times October 30 1969

Washington October 29 - The Federal Government is taking action to restrict the use of the weed killer 2,4,5-T as a result of laboratory tests that show it results in "a higher than expected number of deformities" in the offspring of mice and rats given relatively large oral doses of the chemical.

In a news release issued tonight, Dr Lee A DuBridge, science advisor to the President and executive secretary of the President's Environmental Quality Council, said "coordinated series of actions are being taken by the agency of "Government" to limit the use of 2,4,5-T.

The weed killer is effective in defoliating trees and shrubs. Dr. DuBridge said, and is used in South Vietnam. There, he said, its employment "is reducing greatly the number of ambushes, thus saving lives".

Dr DuBridge said "almost none" of the chemical is used by home gardeners in residential areas.

"2,4,5-T is highly effective in control of many species of broad-leaf weeds and woody plants" the science adviser said, "and is used on ditch banks, along roadsides, on rangelands and other places."

The actions to control the use of the chemical were taken as a result of a study conducted by Bionetics Research Laboratories, Dr DuBridge said, "which indicated that offspring of mice and rats were given relatively large doses of the herbicides during early stages of pregnancy showed a higher than expected number of deformities."

Dr DuBridge said that it seemed improbable that any person could received hamful amounts of this chemical from any of the existing uses.

The doctor said that the actions were being taken despite this to "assure the safety of the public while further evidence is being sought."

"The Department of Agriculture will cancel registration of 2,4,5-T for use on food crops effective Jan. 1 1970, unless by that time the Food and Drug Administration has found a basis for establishing a safe legal tolerance and on foods.

"The Department of Health Education and Welfare will complete action on the petition requesting a finile tolerance for 2,4,5-T residues on foods prior to Jan 1, 1970. (The petition referred to is a joint industry petition that safe levels for use be established. This requires joing action by Department of Agriculture and Health.

The Departments of Agriculture and Interior will stop use in their own programs of 2,4,5-T in populated areas or where residues from use could otherwise reach man.

"The Department of Defense will restrict use of 2,4,5-T to areas remote from the population.

"Other departments will take such actions as may be consistent with these announced plans.

"The Department of State will advise other countries of the actions being taken by the United States to protect the health of its citizens and will make available to such countries the technical data on which these decisions rest.

"Appropriate departments will immediately undertake to verify and extend the experimental evidence so as to provide the best technical basis possible for such further actions as the Government might wish to undertake with respect to 2,4,5-T and similar compounds."

"The chemical 2,4,5-T is scientific shorthand for the longer name, which is 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxacetic acid.

A group of scientists reported in the magazine Science a year ago that 2,4,5-T had been found to cause widespread chromosomal defects in plants. The scientists pointed out that it was impossible to state the chemical was safe since the damage it might cause would take generations to determine.

On October 29, 1969, the White House released a statement on restrictions placed on the use of the weed-killing chemical 2,4,5-T.

The Consulate General has been requested by the Department of State to forward the text of the statement to host governments for their information. It reads as follows:

"Dr Lee A. Dubridge, Science Adviser to The President and Executive Secretary of The President's Environmental Quality Council, announced today a coordinated series of actions that are being taken by the agencies of government to restrict the use of the weed-killing chemical 2,4,5-T.

The actions to control the use of the chemical were taken as a result of findings from laboratory study conducted by Bionetic Research Laboratories which indicated that offspring of mice and rats given relatively large oral doses of the herbicide during early stages of pregnancy showed a higher than expected number of deformities.

Although it seems improbable that any person could receive harmful amounts of this chemical from any of the existing uses of 2,4,5-T, and while the relationships of these effects in laboratory animals to effects in man are not entirely clear at this time, the actions taken will assure safety of the public while further evidence is being sought.

The study involved relatively small numbers of laboratory rats and mice. More extensive studies are needed and will be undertaken. At best it is difficult to extrapolate results obtained with laboratory animals to man--sensitivity to a given compound may be different in man than in animal species; matabolic pathways may be different.

2,4,5-T is highly effective in control of many species of broad-leaf weeds and woody plants, and is used on ditch banks, along roadsides, on rangelands, and other places. Almost none is used by home gardeners or in residential areas. The chemical is effective in defoliating trees and shrubs and its use in South Vietnam has resulted in reducing greatly the number of ambushes, thus saving lives.

--The Department of Agriculture will cancel registrations of 2,4,5-T for use on food crops effective January 1, 1970, unless by that time the Food and Drug Administration has found a basis for establishing a safe legal tolerance in and on foods.

--The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare will complete action on the petition requesting a finite tolerance for 2,4,5-T residues on foods prior to January 1, 1970.

--The Departments of Agriculture and Interior will stop use in their own programs of 2,4,5-T in populated areas or where residues from use could otherwise reach man.

--The Department of Defense will restrict the use of 2,4,5-T to areas remote from the population.

--Other departments of the Government will take such actions in their own programs as may be consistent with these announced plans.

--The Department of State will advise other countries of the actions being taken by the United States to protect the health of its citizens and will make available to such countries the technical data on which these decisions are made.

--Appropriate departments of government will undertake immediately to verify and extend the available experimental evidence so as to provide the best technical basis possible for such future actions as the government might wich to undertake with respect to 2,4,5-T and similar compounds."

It is the opinion of knowledgeable persons in the United States that it is considered improbable that any individual could receive harmful amounts of this weed-killing chemical. The restrictions placed on the use of this chemical will assure safety of the public while additional studies are being conducted.

Mr B said he would obtain the report on 2,4,5-T for the information of the Committee. Mr S said that injections of 2,4,5-T into mice had not shown gross deformities. He said that the recent meeting in Rome had not accepted the results as published by the United States of America. Mr S added that the only use of 2,4,5-T in food crops in Australia was on the sugar cane fields in Queensland. The sugar industry conduct strict tests for pesticide residues. Neither they nor the Department of Primary Industry was able to detect 2,4,5-T in sugar samples.

He said that WHO tests had shown that no tumours or deformitiesn resulted from 2,4,5-T...

A plant hormone which American scientists believe is causing deformities in Vietnamese babies is commonly used in Australia.

But a member of the Victorian Land's Department's Pesticide Review Committee charged with investigating the American reports, believes the findings are unlikely to affect Australian use of the hormone - even if harmful side effects are proved.

The hormone 2,4,5-T (trichloro phenoxy acetic acid) causes uncontrolled cell division in plants. The plants grow actively for a short time, then "burn out" and die because of the high growth rate.

The American forces in Vietman used the hormone as a defoliant to destroy trees and crops in Viet Cong held territory.

In Victoria 2,4,5-T is used to destroy blackberries and in Queensland it is used "sparingly" in sugar cane crops.

The United States banned the use of 2,4,5-T on food crops from January 1, 1970, and restricted its use by the Defence Department to areas away from population.

Scientists in Vietnam found a marked increase in deformed babies born in areas down-wind of those sprayed with the hormone.

"The situation isn't terribly frightening," he said, "because an extremely large dose of almost any poisonous chemical is sure to produce some deformities.

"The department has been using 2,4,5-T since 1948, and in that time would have sprayed it around. In all that time the only complaints we have had have been occasional dermatitis.

"The chemical is applied in an extremely dilute form and it is used principally in waste areas, along roadsides and river beds. It is seldom used in pasture areas.

"Our use of it is so reasonable that I doubt whether we would have to withdraw it."

Mr Bruce Smith of Nufarm Rural Products, Fawkner, said his firm sold only one or two gallons of the hormone in the metropolitan area each year.

"The spray vaporises extensively, and any home gardener using it on a blackberry bush would find that plants and shrubs for yards around would be killed as well."

Pesticides Review Committee 32nd Meeting PRC Disputes US Findings on Dangers of 2,4,5-T 6th February 1970

"Mr Belcher said he would obtain the report in 2,4,5-T for the information of the Committee. Mr Snelson said that the injections of 2,4,5-T into mice had not shown gross deformities. He said that the recent meeting in Rome had disputed the results as published in the United States. Mr Snelson added that the only use of 2,4,5-T in Australia on food crops was on sugar cane fields in Queensland. The sugar industry conduct strict tests for pesticide residues. He said the WHO tests had shown that no tumours or deformities resulted from 2,4,5-T..."

Consul-General of USA Letter to Secretary, Premiers Department about dangers of 2,4,5-T forwarded to PRC

Dangers of 2,4,5-T - A letter to the Secretary, Premiers Department, from the Consul-General of the USA, underlining the dangers of the weed killing chemical 2,4,5-T was forwarded to this committee. (Also mentioned in 36th and 37th meeting). MINUTES OF THE THIRTY FIFTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 15/5/70.

Letter from PRC to Premier Bolte concerning Study conducted by Bionetics Research Laboratories. 15 May 1970

Dear Henry, I refer to the letter of November 5th which you received from the US Consul-General, advising of the US Government motion ... to restrict the use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T.

The restriction followed as the result of an experimental study by the Bionetics Research Laboratories. The Pesticide Review Committee has been able to obtain a report of the study, and the reported results, it has reached the following conclusions.

The study made by the Bionetics Research Laboratories was commissioned by the National Cancer Institute as part of an overall programme of testing a large number of pesticides and industrial chemicals to see whether any of them were likely to cause cancer initiation, foetal abnormalities or genetic changes. In fact it was a screening test to sort out those chemicals which should be further investigated.

In such a test the dose levels are close to the maximum which can be used on the test animals without causing deaths, and they are only carried on through a few litters of mice. This kind of test wa not designed as a basis for any immediate legislation or administrative action to restrict the use of the compounds, but for indicating chemicals or classes of chemicals which should be studied to determine if there are any potential hazards when they are used in the recommended way.

The release of the results of such a test without clarifying its aims or properly interpreting their significance has caused unwarranted political action on insufficient scientific information. One might expect that many substances, given at doses close to that which will cause mortality could produce some of these ill effects. Furthermore, the official pronouncement from the US merely announced government action without stating that it was on the recommendation of a particular scientific committee.

The Pesticide Review Committee has agreed that you be advised that there is at present no evidence to suggest that any control of the use of 2,4,5-T, beyond that which normally occurs in Victoria, is warranted at present.

"The experimental study by the Bionetic Research Laboratories which led to the restrictions on the use of 2,4,5-T in the USA were commissioned by the National Cancer Institute as a part of a programme aimed at the evaluation of a large number of selected pesticides and industrial chemicals.

Unfortunately there is no record available of how it was envisaged that these studies were to be interpreted at the time of their commission.

The conclusion of the Bionetic Research Laboratories in respect to 2,4,5-T is as follows:

"Two compounds produced sufficiently prominent effects of seriously hazardous nature to lead us to categorise them as probably dangerous. These were PC?B and 2,4,5-T".

The Biometry Branch of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in its statistical analysis of the study makes the comment that the Bionetics study was a screening study. Unfortunately the exact meaning of "screening" is not clarified. It seems that the only way of assessing the original purpose of the study is to consider the basic structure of its plan.

Forty-eight different compounds were studied and in general an attempt was made to obtain a minimum of six litters of the same strain per compound, all receiving the compound at the same dose level, in the same solvent and by the same roots.

With many of the compounds the study was confined to such a minimum involving only six or so litters.

With some of the compounds this was repeated sometimes a few times using different strains of mice, different dose levels or different routes so that with some of these compounds the number of litters involved were small submultiples of six or thereabouts.

The doses used were based on the maximum tolerated doses derived from toxicity studies on adult mice and for many of the compounds these proved to be too toxic over the 14-day period and had to be lowered.

The doses were therefore close to the largest that could possibly be used without causing mortality in the adult animals themselves.

In view of the fact that the plan of the study involved such a small number of litters per compound and such a large dose per compound, it is clear that the study was intended only as a screening to decide which of these compounds warranted further study in respect to teratogenity.

It was clearly not designed to be used as a basis for any immediate legislative action restricting the use of any of these compounds.

It is apparent that the release of the results of these screening tests to the general public without a clarification of the aims of the screening procedure has meant that the issue has got out of the hands of science and into the hands of politcians.

It may be significant that the official pronouncement from the USA merely announces government action and does not state that it was recommended by any scientific committee.

The results of the study by the Bionetic Research laboratory should be ignored except to indicate that further investigation of the teratogenicity of certain compounds may be worthwhile."

Warrenbayne Plantation (Benalla Forest District) 1500 acres, Delatite Plantation (Mansfield Forest District) 550 acres, Burning Creek Plantation (Myrtleford Forest District) 420 acres, One Mile Creek & Braithwaite Plantations (Bright Forest District) 360 acres, Jinjellic Plantation (Tallangatta Forest District) 700 acres. Active ingredient: Technical Buytl Ester of 2,4,5-T. Carrier: No 2 Fuel Oil. Application Rate: One Pound Active Ingredient TBE per acre. Carrier: 5 gallons per acre.

Pesticides Review Committee Minutes 38th Meeting MRAK Commission 21st August 1970

Dangers of Weed Killing Chemical 2,4,5-T; "...The Chair was circulated copies of his draft reply to the Premier. Mr... said that the NHMRC was still studying the original report from the US. He added that the report of the MRAK Commission, due to be released shortly by the US Department of Health, might be examined for any further information on 2,4,5-T. Members were referred to an article to Nature Magazine 24/4/70 concerning 2,4,5-T."

ITEM 3: (a) Letter received from Forests Commission, Victoria, dated 29th October, advising the proposed desication of scrub land preparatory to the rehabilitation of former forested land back to productive forest. The chemical to be used is 2,4,5-T

Manufacturers of 2,4,5-T in Australia and the dioxin strength compared with overseas manufacture. Information was tabled which indicated that only two companies now make the compound in Australia. On the information supplied the dioxin content was shown to be less than 1ppm. and the committee felt that no further problem from this angle existing with the use of 2,4,5-T. MINUTES OF THE FORTY THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 5/3/71.

Pesticides Review Committee Minutes 46th Meeting Surplus United States Stocks Being Imported 18 June 1971

General Business: The Chairman said that the policy adopted by AVCA (Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Association of Australia) was that the compound 2,4,5-T should not contain more than 1ppm dioxin and that registration authorities should require manufacturers to produce certification of their source of raw materials mmets this specification. He also said that he had received information that surplus United States stocks of 2,4,5-T were being imported into the country..."

Decision 14.5.71. To advise the Forests Commission that the submission will be considered at the next meeting. A further letter dated 3rd June, concerning an area near Gellibrand, was received. This was added to the area already notified. Mr O’Brien advised that the Agriculture Department laboratories would be doing some collaboration analytical work on the scheme. Mr Dunk advised that the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission would prefer some form of control on the Tarra Valley area as the Yarram Water Supply comes from this area. 18.6.71

(a) To advise the Forests Commission that the Committee has no objection to the conduct of the spraying operation with the exception of the Tarra Valley from which the Yarram town water supply is drawn.

(b) The Committee would need to be convinced that spraying the Tarra Valley would be safe. Evidence of this point should be available from analytical data in other areas.

(c) To point out that because the compound concerned has been given adverse publicity recently more than usual attention should be taken to ensure that spray drift does not contaminate any waterways or storages.

(d) To suggest to the Commission that the applicator must have a permit from the Agriculture Department to use hormone sprays from the air.

(d) APM Forests Pty Ltd Letter received from APM dated 11th June outlining a spraying program similar to that proposed by the Forests Commission and also using 2,4,5-T. During discussions it was agreed that no catchment area or water supply would be affected.

Decision 18.6.71 (a) To advise APM that the Committee has no objection to the spraying operation as outlined. (b) To bring to the notice of APM that the applicator will require a permit from the Agriculture Department to use hormone spray from the air. (c) To point out that because this compound has been given adverse publicity recently, more than usual attention should be taken to ensure that spray drift does not contaminate any waterways or storage.MINUTES OF THE FORTY SIXTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 18/6/71.

Forests Commission Proposal MINUTES OF THE FIFTIETH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 15/10/71.

Letter dated 13th October received from Forests Commission advising the proposed desication of scrubland preparntory to the rehabilitation of former forested land back to productive forest. The chemical to be used is 2,4,5-T. Decision 15.10.71

(1) To advise the commission that the committee has no objection to the spraying of the areas designated.

(2) To request that on future occasions directions in the contractor not to spray adjacent to streams for at least one chain, be included in the specifications to the contract.

(3) To request that water samples be taken before and after spraying and then after the first rain for analysis by the Department of Agriculture Laboratories.

(4) To ask if the commission has obtained data from previous operations and if so the committee would be pleased to have a look at the results.

During the 1971 aerial spraying program for wattle control in pine plantations with 2,4,5-T as approved by your committee, a program of water sampling was effected by this Commission.

This sampling was based on three districts, Myrtleford, Mansfield and Beaufort with sampling carried out immediately before spraying, within 24 hours of starting spraying and during or immediately after the first heavy fall of rain over the area. The reason for the choice of these three periods were:-

(2) To establish what direct contamination of water occurred during the spraying.

(3) To establish whether heavy rain washed or leached the chemical into the streams.

In addition barriers consisting of terylene mesh bags filled with granulated polyurethane foam were placed across all running streams immediately outside the spraying zone in all areas.

The water samples and the foam barriers from the three nominated districts were delivered to the State Laboratories, Division of Agricultural Chemistry, where analysis for quantities of 2,4,5-T have been carried out.

Up to date only the results of water samples have been received as it is understood that techniques to extract the 2,4,5-T from the poly-urethane foam are still being developed.

Attached for your Committee's information is a copy of the report received from the Division of Agricultural Chemistry on the analysis of the samples and comments on the results...

During the 1971 aerial spraying of wattle with 2,4,5-T certain control measures were required. These included the use of polyurethane foam barriers on streams and in some districts, collection of water samples before, during and after spraying.

Arrangement had been made with the State Laboratories, Division of Agricultural Chemistry, to analyse the water samples for residues of 2,4,5-T and also to test the barriers to see how much material these had gathered.

Attached for your information is a copy of the report from the State Laboratories giving the results of tests carried out on the water samples supplied. The chemists in the Laboratories have not as yet developed a method of extracting the 2,4,5-T from the foam barriers so no results are yet available for this section.

It will be noted that only three areas were examined in detail due to the intensive nature of the tests and the experimentation with the foam. It is anticipated that all areas will be tested at least once during each spraying program in the future.

The successes of the control measures is very gratifying but it should be pointed out that unless we can keep repeating this level of control we may have to discontinue the use of 2,4,5-T in the future.

16th November 1971 Memorandum for Secretary Forests Commission from Department of Agricultural Chemistry.

References: Your letter dated 18th June 1971. Sample Nos. 17798-04/71, 18266/71, 19771-73/71.

Submitted: 11 water samples from near forest areas sprayed with 2,4,5-T for wattle control by aerial spraying in July 1971.

Pesticide used - 2,4,5-T Butyl Ester in No 2 Fuel Oil at the rate of 1lb a.i/5 gall. oil/acre.

A calculation based on 1 lb/acre application of 2,4,5-T shows that water a foot deep directly sprayed could have an initial concentration of about 400 parts per thousand million. The figures above suggest that little direct contamination of the water courses occurred in these operations.

An advisory standard of the US Public Health Advisory Committee on Water Standards (Mrak Report 1969) sets a limit of 100 parts per thousand million for a combined total of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. Further, calculations based on no effect levels with laboratory animals, using a safety factor of 2000, and assuming a 60 kg man consumed 2 litres of water per day, gave a "Negiligible Level" limit of 20 ppm. Even the highest figures here are well below these levels.

One other major environmental hazard with aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T is the contamination of runoff water from the target area. In 1972 the Forests Commission of Victoria continuously monitored 2,4,5-T levels in a small stream draining a spray site in a pine plantation at Myrtleford. McKimm (1972) reported that immediately following spraying low and quite acceptable concentrations of 2,4,5-T were found, and this condition obtained until the first rain after spraying, when the concentration in the stream rose rapidly. No figures were given but the report implied that after rain the levels obtained were unacceptable i.e above the standard of 20 ug.litre (20 ppb.) set by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

MINUTES OF THE FIFTY THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 18/2/72.

Item 31 (c) Forests Commission - Reports dated 17/12/71 and 7/1/72 received on results of spraying programs carried out during the 1971 spraying season.

Decision - 18.2.72 To thank the Forests Commission for the reports on testing programs.

Forests Commission Proposal 8000 acres MINUTES OF THE FIFTY EIGHTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 1/9/72.

31 (c) Forest Commission Spraying Programme Letter dated 12th July received from Forest Commission advising the intention to carry out aerial spraying of various plantations of approximately 8000 acres located on enclosed schedule.

Decision: 21/7/72: (a) If the Committee has not already received a report from the Forests Commission about the efficiency of foam barriers, one should be asked for.

58th Meeting of Pesticides Review Committee: Item No 31(c). Forest Commission Spraying Program. Letter dated 12th July received from Forests Commission advising intention to carry out aerial spraying on various plantations of approximately 8000 acres located as indicated on enclosed schedule.

Letter to Pesticides Review Committee concerning dioxin produced by burning 2,4,5-T

No 31 (c) APM Letter dated 22 Sep received from APM concerning Dioxin produced by burning 2,4,5-T and including an article by Jane Cameron, University of British Columbia. MINUTES OF THE EIGHTY NINTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 24/11/72.

Item No 31(a) Aerial Spraying: Letter of 16th March 1973, received from Forest Commission Victoria advising that it was proposed to spray a defoliant on scrub and blackberries of Turtons Creek, Mirboo Forest District so that the area of approximately 100 acres could be reforested.

Forests Commission Turtons Creek MINUTES OF THE NINETY SECOND MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 23/3/73.

31 (a) Letter of 16th March 73, received from the Forests Commission advising that it was proposed to spray a defoliant on scrub and blackberries at Turtons Creek, Mirboo Forest District so that the area of approximately 100 acres could be reforested.

31 (c) APM Forests Pty Ltd. Letter dated 22nd September received from APM concerning Dioxin produced by burning 2,4,5-T and including an article by Jane Cameron, Uni of British Columbia.

Decision: 20/10/72: To reply to APM Forests Pty Ltd advising that this committee is not the body to organise a symposium but that we would be very happy to see the results of such a gathering. Letter dated 13th Nov received from Mr Parsons commenting on paper by Jane Cameron student in Political Science.

Decision: 24/11/72. Mr Parsons to draft reply to APM on this matter. Secretary to provide Mr Parsons with a copy of the information involved. Letter Dated 29th Nov 72, and 11th Dec 72 received from Mr J Hall referring to the matters listed above.

Forests Commission 9000 acres Proposal MINUTES OF THE NINETY FOURTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 1/6/73.

31 (c) APM Forest Pty Ltd. (a) letter dated 14th May, received from APM concerning the use of Propazine and 2,4,5-T in various areas in Gippsland, and enclosing a map of the area.

(b) Forests Commission - Letter dated 18th May received from the Forests Commission enclosing maps of the areas in which it is proposed to aerial spray 9000 acres of pine plantation with 2,4,5-T. Decision: To approve of the proposal subject to:- (a) That sampling of the stream be carried out.

(b) That they advise any town authority where the water supply might be affected and also to advise the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission similarly.

In June 1973 the F.C.V. carried out a larger study in 1 335 hectare section of a pine plantation in a catchment of Clear Creek near Myrtleford. Four stream sample points were established at varying distances from the spray area and a total of 1,000 samples were collected over a ten day period. Major peaks in 2,4,5-T concentration occurred after rain, and lesser, relatively insignificant, peaks also occurred during spraying (McKimm, 1974). McKimm stated that 2,4,5-T concentrations were in excess of the upper limit of 20 ug/litre set by the N.H. & M.R.C. but he did not list values. In fact, at the sampling point immediately below the spray zone values of 75 ug/l were obtained during spraying and peaks up to 690ug/l were obtained after rain. Three kilometers downstream values of 135 ug/l were obtained during spraying and peaks up to 500ug/l were obtained after rain. Worse, for the sampling point immediately below the spray zone, of 83 readings made during the seven days after spraying, 48% (40) exceeded 20 ug/l.; 14% (12) exceeded 50 ug/l.; and 7% (6) exceeded 100 ug/l. These measurements indicated that there was a significant threat to streams in aerially sprayed areas, but nothing was done. Rather, two new monitoring programs were organised, one at Carboor near Myrtleford and another at Narbethong in the Central Highlands.

APM Propazine and 2,4,5-T MINUTES OF THE NINETY FIFTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 29/6/73.

31 (1) Letter dated 14th May received from APM concerning the use of Propazine and 2,4,5-T in various areas in Gippsland, and enclosing a map showing the area involved.

Decision: 1/6/73 To write and advise that more information is needed and that the committee would be prepared to meet them on a subcommittee basis if approval is required quickly. Advise that they have not advised what is intended to control - what amount of residue would be involved - the proximity to streams - how material will be applied and when.

Letter dated 15th June received from APM Forests Pty Ltd setting out the programme and specification to be used in this exercise.

APM Simazine, Amitrole & 2,4,5-T MINUTES OF THE NINETY SIXTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 3/8/73.

31C Letter dated 25th July 73, received from APM advising of the proposed use of Simazine, Amitrol and 2,4,5-T on 220 acres of recently planted pines in the Flynn Creek Tree Farm at Rosedale.

APM Simazine MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND SECOND MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 10/5/74.

(1) Letter dated 29th March received from APM Forests Pty Ltd advising the firms intension to spray 890 hectares of new ploughed ground with 80% w/w Simazine to prevent germination of grasses, cape weed and silver wattle. No Objection.

Forests Commission 7,600 acres Proposal MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 21/6/74.

(1) Letter dated 5th June, 1974 received from the Forests Commission advising that the Commission intends to aerial spray about 7,600 acres in various areas, with the defoliant 2,4,5-T. Mr McKimm advised that this was a tentative application and the spraying would depend on the receipt of an order for 1000 gallons of 2,4,5-T in July and must be done by the first week in August or not at all. He also said that further tests were being made concerning at what stage peaks of run-off into rivers from the forests occurs. Peaks occur at two different times, (a) at time of spraying (peaks last for 2-3 hours), (b) following rain in the sprayed area (peaks last for 8-10 hours). The Chairman said that the committee would be interested to see the results of the report to be made in conjunction with Agriculture Dept Laboratories.

Decision. To advise the Forests Commission that the committee has no objection to the spraying as set out.

APM Ragwort MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND SEVENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 25/10/74.

(1) (a) Letter dated 24th September received from APM Forests Pty Ltd advising the intension to spray 275 hectares of farmland to control ragwort. (b) Forests Commission - letter received dated 17th October advising of proposed spraying of areas, 1. Upper Yarra district, 2. Nowa Nowa district.

2,4,5-T spraying Tarra Valley National Park in Yarram Water Supply Catchment

Tarra Valley National Park - Blackberry Spraying. Letter received from Mr O’Brien from the Department of National Parks requesting authority to spray blackberries along the Tarra River a portion of the area to be sprayed being a proclaimed water catchment area. It was stated that various restrictions would be enforced against spraying close to the stream and the cleaning of equipment used to spray. 2,4,5-T is the material to be used at a dilution of 1:600. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND NINTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 21/2/75.

Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board Letter regarding destruction of Blackberry on private lands (March 1975)

Above: Typical letter sent to landholders in 1975 from the Vermin Noxious Weeds Destruction Board (Department of Crown Lands and Survey) to force landholders to control Blackberry on their land.

Hiawatha: Forests Commission spraying of forest to remove undergrowth. 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D were used. Complaint by neighbour. Children sick - vomiting. Dead fish in Albert River. Horses had irregular breeding cycles.

APM Blackberry & Brambles MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND TENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 11/4/75.

(1) APM FORESTS Pty Ltd (a) a letter dated 5th March 1975, received from APM advising that the company would be spraying specific areas with 2,4,5-T to control Blackberry and Brambles.

Decision 11.4.75 (i) To note receipt of the letter and the action taken (ii) To advise APM that the Committee regrets that the spraying was done prior to it receiving notification and would request that this be done in future.

Use of "Tordon" in Blackberry Control In Water Supply Catchments - Soil Conservation Authority May 5 1975

"... The Authority is aware of the potential dangers of spraying herbicides in water supply catchments, and from time to time enquiries along these lines are received.

Some time ago, the advice of the Keith Turnbull Research Station was sought, and the advice now given to enquirers is to recommend the use of 2,4,5-T" (Chairman Soil Conservation Authority).

Letter to Macedon Range Conservation Society from W.A. Borthwick Minister for Conservation June 17 1975

"...Research, both here and overseas, has shown that low levels of herbicides (usually much lower than 1 part per million) may appear in run-off water from treated areas. Highest levels occur following the first heavy rains after treatment. With 2,4,5-T and amitrole residues occur in the run-off water only during the first few days after treatment, while with picloram the level decreases rapidly over a period of two to three months until the chemical can no longer be detected.

In flowing water rapid dilution with downstream movement soon reduces the concentrations of any herbicide to a non-detectable level. In static water amitrole and 2,4,5-T are reduced to non-detectable levels within a few days to a few weeks. Picloram is degraded somewhat more slowly, two to three months being required to reduce the concentration to a very low level.

If these herbicides are used in the recommended way for blackberry control any residues which may occur in streams will be extremely low and will not be toxic to man or wild life...

Providing due care is exercised when spraying in catchment areas, the Pesticides Review Committee considers that the current use of the herbicides recommended for the control of blackberry does not constitute a hazard to the environment...

(A) (1) Letter dated 21st and 23rd April received from APM Forests Pty Ltd, advising plans for the use of 2,4,5-T to control noxious weeds in various areas of Budgeree, Bulga and Callignee. The Secretary advised Mr Pollock that approval could not be given until all information had been considered.

Mr Pollock has contacted the Secretary by telephone and said that in these instances the Coy. Had no option but to spray because a direction from the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board had been received which required the spraying of blackberries and brambles by a certain time. Mr Jack said that this was a regular operation which was carried out each year and could conceivably be planned ahead and the committee notified.

Dr Christophers said what should happen now was for APM to make a general application for control of noxious weeds and having regard to the hazards which might be entailed, notify the committee when the project will be carried out.

Decision - To accept offer from Mr Jack that he would discuss the matter, along these lines, with Mr Hall of APM. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND TWELFTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 27/6/75.

Letter from Macedon Range Conservation Society to Minister Borthwick - Minster for Conservation July 19 1975

... Thankyou for letters dated 16th April and 17th June, referring to the use of herbicides in the eradication of blackberries... We very much appreciated the opportunity of discussing our specific problems with one of the departmental experts and the local man on the spot, and we were able to show them the type of catchment area and feeder streams which we considered unsuited for normal eradication techniques. In the course of discussion we established:-

(a) that there would be little or no risk to health, or undesirable environmental effects from using the recommended sprays at approved concentration in most catchments...

(b) in the upper reaches of the Range from where most the stream flows are lower, the gullies very steeply sided and water retention times can be as low as minuted. Even in the smaller reservoirs (a few hundred to a thousand gallons) only an hour or two. Under these conditions normal spraying procedures could give rise to health risks.

(c) Tordon was unacceptable as a herbicide in the upper reaches, both becuase it is a root poison and would kill too many native trees and plants, and because it breaks down very slowly...

(iv) that no data exists on the run-off concentration of herbicide likely to be found in water supplies in areas similar to those shown to the departmental officers...

Item 1 APM Forests Pty Ltd Mr Jack reported that he had spoken to the manager of APM and Mr Pollock had not included in his notification, the precautions to be observed by spraying teams, although there has been a verbal acceptance of the suggestions made. Information was handed in at the meeting from APM Pty Ltd, inclcuding maps, appropriate areas, broad locations and the chemicals and rates of use.

Decision (1) That Mr Jack, Mr Pearce and Mr Bill form a sub-committee to consider the information provided. (2) To agree that the program as set out by APM be accepted. Mr Jack advised that in his opinion APM’s submission is a bit weak on the ‘precautions’ aspect. He suggests that the ‘specification for Aerial Spraying’ should be expanded to require:- 1) Notification, of neighbours and water users, of the intended operation. 2) Avoidance of spraying over running streams or dams. 3) That the chemical meets a specified tolerance and perhaps in the case of 2,4,5-T a purity level eg dioxin 0.5ppm.

In regard to the purity level of 2,4,5-T, Mr Jack said he had recommended a safe tolerance because dioxin could be present in this material especially in old stocks which could be unstable. It was advised that it was a general requirement for 2,4,5-T, produced in Australia, to be free from dioxin. Mr O’Brien offered to check this out with Mr Snelson in Canberra. Water Sampling, it was agreed, did very little good because it took only a short time to dissipate the chemical and in any case it was considered that the material prevented no great hazard at its registered strength . . .

Decision (a) To advise APM Forests and Lands that precautions should be observed as follows:- (1) Neighbours and water users should be notified of the intended operation. (2) Spraying over running streams and dams must be avoided. (b) That the Fisheries and Wildlife Branch check on the use of 1080 for the control of Black Faced Wallabies in pine plantations. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND THIRTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 25/7/75.

Blackberry Spraying, Mt Macedon Area (Lands Department Letter) Admission that small water supplies could be contaminated with 2,4,5-T September 2 1975

Following consideration of the report by ... on his inspection of the blackberry problem at Mt. Macedon and on the use of 2,4,5-T in catchment areas, the Board has agreed that the following procedure will be adopted for the control of Blackberry in the Mt. Macdeon area.

1. Picloram, either alone of in mixtures with 2,4,5-T, will not be used on blackberry in the Mt Macedon area because of its likely detrimental effect on native species. All spraying will be with either 2,4,5-T or amintrole.

2. In situations where streams are used directly, or through small dams, for domestic water supplies no spraying of blackberry, with any herbicides will take place in the stream bed, on the steep banks of the stream, or within 10 metres of the water.

1. Most of the blackberries in the Mt Macedon area are growing in bushland in amongst native vegetation and, because of its residual effect in the soil, picloram is likely to have a greater detrimental effect on the native species than either 2,4,5-T or amitrole.

2. In the small catchments at Mt Macedon where streams are used directly for domestic water supplies, spraying of blackberry in or adjacent to these streams could result in contamination of the water. There would be little dilution of contaminated water with uncontaminated water and, in the case of 2,4,5-T and amitrole, residues exceeding the levels of 0.02ppm (2,4,5-T) and 0.01 ppm (Amitrole) set by the National Health and Medical Research Council could occur in the domestic water supplies. Experimental evidence suggests that there is little movement of 2,4,5-T from treated areas into streams in run-off water and, therefore, any spraying outside of 10 metres from catchment streams should not result in contamination.

Would you please see that the policy of the Board, as outlined above, is implemented in the Mt Macdeon Area... Secretary Lands Department.

APM Gippsland MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND FOURTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 19/9/75.

(1) APM Forests Pty Ltd, letter dated 6th August 1975, received, advising further areas in the Gippsland area proposed for spraying with 2,4,5-T. Letter dated 12th Sep, 1975 received in reply to ours of 4th September advising of the action taken by APM when spraying or baiting is to be carried out. Mr Bill advised members that the matter of aerial spraying and baiting by APM was discussed by the Water Commission and that the Commission was in favour of the Latrobe Valley Water and Sewerage Board and Waters Trust concerned, being notified when these were to take place Although it was considered that there was no great hazard involved it would be a good Public Relations exercise. It could be assumed that APM would be aware of the Public Relations angle.

APM Neighbours MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND FIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 31/10/75.

(1) APM Forests Pty Ltd - Applications from approval to spray pine plantations have been received from APM from time to time and now a yearly program has been presented and agreed to by the Committee. The matter of notification of neighbours etc has been considered and Mr Bill has drafted a circular letter which could be used to warn those interested when spraying has to take place. It was pointed out that it would be better if the organization doing the spraying was to notify water authorities and diverters rather than have the water commission do this.

(3) Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board sprayingh of ragwort on Mt. Tassie area. Letter received from V&NWDB advising of the intention to spray 100 acres of ragwort in the Mt.Tassie area. Sparying to be carried out by aircraft.

MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND SIXTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 28/11/75.

(1) APM Forests Pty Ltd, Forests Commission . . . Pine plantation spraying for the control of unwanted growths of wattle etc and attack by wildlife has been discussed at a number of meetings. A yearly program has been put forward by APM for its requirements so that delay in operations, will be reduced to a minimum . . .

10 cases in the Latrobe Valley involving overspray, but no legal action followed. 10 other cases heard of but not pursued.

APM Callignee & Budgeree MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND SEVENTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 20/2/76.

APM letter received from APM dated 28th Jan advising their intention to spray with 2,4,5-T noxious weeds in parts of the Parished of Callignee and Budgeree which were not advised in the letter of 26th June 1975 (Received and Approved).

Letter dated 13th Feb 76 was received from their Gippsland Manager of APM Forests advising of their proposal to spray certain areas in the Parishes of Allambee, Narrang, Nindoo, Glencoe South, Coolunggoolun and Holey Plains.

APM Allambee MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND EIGHTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 9/4/76.

(4) Letters dated 13th and 20th Feb, 10th and 22nd and 31st March from APM Forests advising of their intention to spray certain areas in the Parishes of Allambee, Narrang, Nindoo, Glencoe South, Coolungoolum, Holey Plains, Yinnar, Jeeralang, Callignee, Jumbuk and Budgeree.

(5) Forests Commission - Letter dated 4 March received from Forests Commission advising its intention to spray land recently purchased in the Ryans Creek domestic water supply catchment for the planting of Pinus Radiata to reduce competition from grasses it is proposed to spray with Vorox A.A.

APM Stradbroke Stream Runoff MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND NINETEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 21/5/76.

2. APM Forests: Letter dated 30th April received from APM indicating that the firm intends to spray, two new areas in the Parish of Stradbroke, for pre-emergent weed control with the chemical Simazine. P2 To ascertain what effect a spray of 1.51 b per hectare with 2,4,5-T has on a stream . . . Run off will not occur until good rains have fallen, at which time the peak levels of chemicals getting into streams and reservoirs can be calculated. It was thought that because of the method of measuring the effect on streams it was not necessary to monitor every operation. It may be more beneficial if samples were taken from reservoirs instead of streams. . . This aspect brings about a concern that very heavy criticism could be leveled at an organization if it was thought that the communities health is being endangered . . . It was considered that spraying should go on for a considerable time because peaks are short but they are there. A thought must be given to what people will end up with in their drinking water . . . 2,4,5-T has been detected well downstream in the Ovens River and when it was traced it was learned that it came from Buffalo Park. Decision: a) To ask the Forests Commission to prepare a program of spraying and monitoring which would be able to show effects of chemicals consistent with distances away from point of application.

Forests Commission Letter dated 12/8/76 concerning aerial spraying of two areas of pine plantations, with herbicides, totaling approx 600 ha of very steep rough country in the Yarram district. The herbicides to be used are Weedagol T.L. Plus (Amitrole, a carcinogen, potential groundwater contaminant and suspected endocrine disruptor - ed) and Gesaprim 500 FW (atrazine, a carcinogen, potential groundwater contaminant and suspected endocrine disruptor -ed) mixed together in water to which the surfactant Plus 50 has been added.

Decision: To advise the Forests Commission that the Committee has no objection to the conduct of the spraying as set out. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND TWENTY THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE

12/8/76. File No's 76/1524. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram Forest District. Commission Decision 76/32/23. Recommend to Acting Minister purchase ex Ciba-Geigy Aust Ltd of 156 x 20 Litres Weedazol TL Plus at $1.90 per litre (less 6%), 163 x 20 L Gesaprim 500 FW at $3.22 per litre as per State Tender Board contract and 65 litres of Plus 50 Surfactant at $1.04 per litre. Total Cost $16,137.12.

APM To Use 1080 and Proposal to Spray 2,4,5-T in Various Areas in Gippsland November 26 1976

1/1 Letter dated 30th September 1976 received from APM advising the intention to use "1080" for vermin control in various areas of pine plantations...

2/1 Letter dated 4th November 1976 received from APM advising the intention to use 2,4,5-T early in December 1976, in various areas of pine plantations. Although there was no objection to the conduct of the work as indicated, it was considered that it was very doubtful if it was possible for the sprayer to achieve the objective of leaving natural drainage lines...It was generally agreed that APM was not researching 2,4,5-T after spraying.

"The major use of 2,4,5-T in Victoria is in forest operations such as those carried out by APM and the Forests Commission and on present indications this chemical could not be replaced by Krenite (ammoniumethyl carbamoylphosphate)for Forest Management.." Fisheries and Wildlife Letter "Field and Game Association and Conservation Council of Victoria strenuously opposed the use of 2,4,5-T by the Lands Department and others for blackberries and brush control. They believe that 2,4,5-T had had side effects and that krenite is a superior product for this and other reasons..." 18/11/76

Letter from Fisheries and Wildlife Division 8/12/76... "The major use of 2,4,5-T in Victoria is in forest operations such as those carried out by APM and the Forests Commission and on present indications this chemical could not be replaced by Krenite forest management" (Krenite - ammoniumethyl carbamoylphos-phoate)

1/1 Letter dated 26th January received from APM requesting consideration of a spraying program with 2,4,5-T in a young plantation of pines in the parish of Loy Yang. "This company plans to use 2,4,5-T - 80% for weed control in a 50ha P. radiata plantation planted in 1974, to kill undesirable wattle species that have grown up since the area was planted. Allotment 8W6N - Parish of Loy Yang.

APM Not Researching 2,4,5-T After Spraying - Proposal To Spray Blackberries Morwell River East Branch 1 April, 1977

1/1 Letter dated 4th November received from APM which was discussed at 126th meeting. As a result of the discussion it was generally agreed that APM was not researching 2,4,5-T after spraying.

Letter dated 18 March from APM advising a proposal to use 2,4,5-T 80% on blackberries south of the Morwell River East Branch. During discussion it was expressed that actual indicationof how much area to be sprayed either from air or ground was not mentioned.

To recommend to the Director of Agriculture that registration be made as requested. (2) (A) Vorox AA - for control of weeds in pine seedlings. (B) Vorox AS. (C) Vorox M2

Foetal Abnormalities: Dr Christophers advised Dr Goodwood of Yarram had now contacted him and said that these had come about as a result of 2,4-D use by Lands Department V & NWDB, but he was now pleased to say that there are none now. Apparently there had been a problem with the supervisor who has now gone elsewhere...

5/7/77: File No's 76/1524. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram Forest District. Commission Decision 77/27/8. Recommend to Acting Minister purchase ex Ciba-Geigy Aust Ltd of 201 x 20L Weedazol TL Plus at $1.50 per litre, 320 x 20 L Gesaprim Flowable at $3.40 per litre and 3 x 20 litres plus at $1.27 litre as per Company's quotation dated 17/6/77. Total cost $27,866.20

The study at Carboor wa carried out in 1977 on a spray site of 162 hectares in the Scrubby Creek catchment. After the pine plantation was sprayed concentrations of up to 4.2ug/l were measured in a culvert draining the target area, but in Scrubby Creek concentrations remained below 0.3ug/l. (McKimm and Hopmans, 1977). The Narbethong study was carried out in July 1977 on a spray site of 108 hectares in the Old Mill Stream catchment. After the pines were sprayed concentrations in the Old Mill Stream were all below 4.4 ug/l except for one value of 10ug/l measured on the seventh day after spraying (McKimm and Hopmans, 1977; 1978).These two studies convinced the Forests Commission that aerial spraying presents no real threat to water quality (Flinn and Hopmans, 1977).

Forests Commission Seeks Approval From Pesticides Review Committee to Spray 2,4,5-T Throughout Victoria and Yarram July 22 1977

(b) Letter dated 26th May 1977, received from Forests Commission requesting approval for the spraying of 2275ha to control wattle growth in various plantations in the state. The herbicide to be used Butyl Ester of 2,4,5-T containing less than 0.1ppm dioxin. Approved

(c) Letter dated 6th July 1977, received from Forests Commission Victoria advising a requet for approval to spray two areas in the Yarram Forest District, totalling 914 hectares approximately, in steep country, from the air, to control grass growth in newly planted plantations of P.radiata. The areas involved are Biralee Block 720 hectares and Thornton Block 194ha.

Two recent incidents in South Gippsland illustrate the deficiencies of legal controls over aerial spraying. The first relates to the spraying of a property known as Brigadoon Park at Seaview with 2,4-D and possibly some 2,4,5-T on the 7th of October, 1977. Although the farmhouse, water storages, garden and residents were saturated with spray and the garden was destroyed, the spray pilot and spray firm could not be charged with any breach of the Aerial Spraying Control Act or Regulations. Eventually the company, Skyfarmers Pty Ltd, were taken to court on twelve charges relating to breaches of the Environment Protection Act, 1970. They were found guilty on four of the charges in a written decision on 6th February, 1979 and fined $1000 with $3,130.80 costs.

After reports about a relationship between birth defects and spraying with 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in Vietnam were publicized, stories of “clusters” of birth defects in Australia and New Zealand started to emerge and an association with herbicide spraying was suggested for some. Two such “clusters” received heavy publicity and were investigated by government committees. The first was in the North Island of New Zealand (N.Z. Department of Health, 1977) and the second was at Yarram in South Gippsland (Consultative Council, Victoria, 1978).

The New Zealand enquiry actually covered three groups of clusters from 1974 to 1977, all in the North Island. The first group was from the Northland area where there were seven cases of neural tube defects, one in 1975 and six in 1976. The second group was from the Taranaki area where there were five cases of neural tube defects from 1974 to 1977 - four were from the town of Opunake, including three from one street. The third group was from the Waikato area where there were eight cases of neural tube defects in the four week period from 27th December, 1975 to 26th January, 1976.

If publicity had not been given to these clusters they would have passed unrecorded. In New Zealand the Department of Health has the responsibility for collecting full statistics on birth deformities. New Zealand Television revealed in March, 1977, that for Northland only one of the seven cases was recorded; and for Waikato none of the eight cases was recorded. This emphasizes why epidemiological studies on birth deformities have not yet yielded conclusive evidence on the risks associated with exposure to 2,4,5-T, even in developed nations the basic statistical data is unreliable. It also illustrates why reliable studies could not be carried out in Vietnam after the war ended.

The New Zealand Department of Health checked each individual case of a neural tube defect in the clusters, did some rough checks on spraying activities (mainly anecdotal) and exposure pathways and concluded in their report (June, 1977):

“In short, the data permit the conclusion that there is no evidence to implicate 2,4,5-T as a causal factor in human birth defects.”

Thus, although the clusters were real enough, epidemiological data was inadequate, no controls were used, and no causal factors were established; 2,4,5-T was positively rejected as a possible causal factor.

Seaview Spray Incident (Ethylester of 2,4-D - Ciba Geigy Ester 80. South of Grand Ridge Road, Seaview Gippsland. "... several other people have complained of damage, including a National Park several hundred yards along the road...The EPA has expressed an interest in the area and delegated to the Latrobe Valley Water and Sewerage Trust who were looking at the possible prosecution of APM and Skyfarmers for damage to Nolan's property... Mr Pearce said about 1960, 2,4,5-T (ester) had been used to kill willows in State Rivers Channel and damage to a house garden about 200 yards downwind and the damage was quite severe."

"Dr Aldred then spoke on the recent press interest in 14 alleged congenital abnormalities at Yarram, 3 of which with significant neural tube abnormalities. The allegation was that they might have been caused by chemical sprays, perhaps dioxin. This matter, it appeared, had been triggered politically and so far there was no evidence that any of the women had been exposed to sprays. Dr Aldred's recommendation was that a committee should be set up to investigate the claims and should be supported by a field team. He asked members suggestions of people to be on the committee...Mr O'Brien believed that the committee's purpose would be to investigate the abnromalities, rather than investigate the complaints.

Dr Aldred said that the neural tube abnormalities stood out as a factor of 30 and their investigation would require alot of work...Dr Aldred said that the committee would be looking at all possible factors and even Dr Woodward has said he could not link 2,4,5-T with the abnormalities..."

Yarram’s unspoilt country hit the headlines last week with world-wide coverage on possible effects the use of pesticide sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T may have on babies born in this area.

The news broke after a Yarram doctor claimed that the number of abnormalities in young babies is several times the national level. The matter has been taken up by the State Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, but no conclusive proof is available that the sprays are connected with the abnormal births recorded in this area in the past two years.

Reports have been received from New Zealand that the same sort of problems have arisen and the sprays are being blamed by a number of organisations and doctors.

Two Yarram doctors, Dr B Woodward and Dr R Guy have commented publicly on this issue. Dr Woodward highlighted the possible problem and Dr Guy called on the responsible authority to cease spraying with the pesticides until a thorough investigation was undertaken.

The debate so far has revealed that there have been abnormalities in young cattle and sheep. This too has been attributed to the use of the two sprays. However this has been countered in some sections as possibly due to a virus.

Mr Houghton has stated that the sprays are not being used at present but will be used again when conditions are suitable. He said that this would not be for several months and that by that time a full investigation could be concluded.

Since the news broke last week reports have been received at the ‘Standard News’ office that two families on adjacent farms in the hill areas around Yarram have two very young children born in the last couple of years with abnormalities.

In the past couple of days the television media has been carrying with their reports "shots" of tourist brochures featuring the title "Yarram and its unspoilt country:. As one person said, "It takes years to build up a theme and the media shoots it down in a few seconds.

Council won’t hold a public debate on sprays Yarram Standard News March 15 1978 p1

The Alberton Shire Council has rejected a request from a conservation group to hold a "Monday Conference" style meeting in Yarram to discuss the use of certain weed control sprays in the area. However, the Council decided to write to the State Minister for Health expressing concern in relation to public statements made recently about the use of the sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T and asking for the Minister’s comment.

Mr M Mosig attended the Council meeting to represent the Yarram and District Conservation Group. He said he would like to see a meeting organised in Yarram to discuss the use of sprays and the possible effects on unborn babies. Mr Mosig suggested the Minister and Shadow Minister for Health should be invited to the meeting.

Early in the Council debate, Cr M Gay said he would be against such a meeting as he didn’t want the matter to develop into a political slanging match. Cr G Gooding asked Mr Mosig if he could see such a meeting providing the answers. Cr Gooding said he was concerned on any matter associated with public health but he would like to see the correct investigations made. Mr Mosig said the sprays may have to be banned.

Cr Harvey said there was no proof the sprays contributed to malformations in young babies. He said at the present it was the ‘opinion’ of a number of doctors that the sprays were suspect. "I have been using the spray for over 20 years on my property with no ill effects" said Cr Harvey. He said the bad publicity given to the area over the matter in recent weeks had been most damaging.

Cr Harvey said the Minister for Health had given an assurance that the sprays were not harmful when used under departmental regulations.

Cr B Walpole was most irate about the whole matter. He said the district was being given many forms of bad publicity. He said a common theme seemed to be that "many unusual things occurred in the Yarram district". He produced a report which had appeared in a Melbourne suburban paper wherein a doctor indicated there appeared to be no conclusive proof of human damage from the sprays.

However, abnormalities in the Yarram area could come from other aspects. He said that living close together in smaller towns could be the answer. "I take great exception to these remarks which insinuate that we are inbred, which of course isn’t the case," said a ruffled Mr Walpole.

Cr G Gooding said the Council should express its concern to the Minister for Health and ask that an investigation be made and findings forwarded to the Council. He said the findings should be made public. Council accepted and passed Cr Gooding’s motion.

The State Government is expected to appoint a top-level committee today to probe a sharp increase in child abnormalities in the Yarram region of Gippsland.

The six-member committee is likely to comprise Health Department doctors and officials and private specialists. It is expected to be approved at today's meeting of the Public Health Commission.

It will investigate the abnormalities and their possible link with the use of two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.

2,4-D and 2,4,5-T are the most widely used herbicides in the State and are sold at hardware and gardening outlets.

The only control on their use by the State Government is when they are sprayed from the air.

The use of the herbicides is an emotional issue in some countries. There is conflicting evidence that they can cause abnormalities.

Mr Houghton said yesterday: "I'm not saying we won't find anything, but the likelihood is extremely remote.

"Families will claim anything when they have an abnormal child. They fell guilty. They's like to be able to blame something."

Mr Houghton agreed to invesigate the Yarram abnormalities after "The Age" first made inquiries about them on February 15.

Complaints by two Yarram doctors, Dr Brian Woodward and Dr Rod Guy, to the Health Department about 18 months ago were not investigated.

The department's chief industrial hygiene officer, Dr Allen Christophers, received complaint from Dr Woodward, a former consultant pathologist to the Melbourne Coroner.

Dr Christophers told INSIGHT he did not investigate the claims because he considered the herbicides, particularly 2,4-D could not be related to abnormalities.

A report just prepared by the defence, science and technology group of the Legislative Research Service of Federal Parliament strongly warns of the dangers of the two herbicides and recommends bans or severe restrictions on their use.

In the meantime no bans apply. And while the Health Department is slowly investigating the two herbicides, tens of thousands of kilograms are being used.

The State Government, which subsidises farmers to use the herbicides has launched a campaign to increase their use, particularly against blackberries.

The Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board has hired about 80 men and bought seven crawler tractors to increase spraying.

Mr Houghton tried to allay fears about the herbicides by saying repeatedly at a Press Conference on February 20 that he would never order any ban while they were being investigated because: "Spraying won't really start again until spring and I hope to have the further report by then".

A Blight From The Sky - Death Rate Of Babies Leaps After the Area Is Sprayed With Defoliants The Age March 21 1978

Mrs Margaret Cummings gave birth to a boy on November 5, 1975. Seven days later, the boy died in the Royal Children's Hospital from an acute case of spina bifida, a major deformity of the spine.

He was one of four children from the Yarram area in South Gippsland who died at birth - or soon after - between June 1975 and May 1976.

Two-year old Ben Holman bounced around the lounge room floor of his parent's rented farmhouse near Port Welshpool.

Ben was one of four children born with major abnormalities in the Yarram district in the same period.

At a State level there are on average 20 deaths in every 1000 births. The four deaths gave Yarram a death rate in the 10 month period that was more than double the average.

But in three of the four deaths, babies died from neural tube complications, more commonly referred to as nervous defects.

According to the World Health Organisation a survey in 24 countries revealed that the average number of children born with neural tube disorders was 2.7 children per 1000 births.

At a national level the number of birth abnormalities in children that survive is about three in 100. But 50 per cent of these might not be discovered until the child is five.

The Yarram abnormality rate in living children is at least twice the national average - and could be even higher because doctors do not have to record the number.

Local doctors say there is a strong possibility the abnormality rate was far higher than that recorded.

These tragic statistics emerged after two local doctors, Dr Brian Woodward and Dr Rod Guy, lunched at the Yarram club in mid-1976.

Dr Guy, now acting head of the casualty department at the Royal Children's Hospital, recalls: "We were talking over a beer. I said what a bad year I had. We then went off and compiled a disaster list."

Neither doctor then had any reason or reasons for the glut of birth defects and stillbirths.

They still do not know the cause. But while the women were pregnant, the Yarram area was "blitzed" with the heaviest concentration of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in its history.

The Lands Department organised the extra spraying of ragwort, and blackberries which had grown profusely because many farmers were away from their farms on drought-relief projects.

Botyh doctors now believe a thorough investigation is needed into the use of the herbicides and their possible link with the Yarram increase in defects and stillbirths.

There has not been any detailed examination of the use in Australia of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, even though they are herbicides most commonly used by farmers to rid their properties of the yellow-flowering ragwort and blackberry.

The Victorian Government subsidises the use of herbicides to clear properties of ragwort and blackberry. There are at lease 25 brands of the two products available over the counter in most hardware and gardening shops.

But in some countries their use is a highly emotional issue involving doctors, environmentalists and manufacturers.

Both herbicides are poisonous, 2,4,5-T contains a contaminant called Dioxin which Dutch scientists have described as the most poisonous substance in existence.

According to the Melbourne Poisons Bureau between 20 and 40 grams - a large tablespoonful - of either products is sufficient to seriously sicken, and perhaps kill, a 70 kilogram man.

While the use of the two herbicides is under attack overseas, Government control in Victoria is confined to aerial spraying of the herbicides.

They are open to misuse: there is no control on a person buying any quantity or on the use or storage of them.

An unpublished report by the defence, science and technology group of the Legislative Research Service of Federal Parliament argues some forms of 2,4-D should be sold only be special permit or should be more strictly controlled.

Air, dustfall, rain, surface water and drinking supplies should be monitored for the herbicides the report says.

The report adds: "Consideration should be given to restricting or banning use of volatile 2,4-D esters and 2,4,5-T around homes, recreational areas, and in lakes, ponds and ditch banks and of all 2,4-D compounds near coastal waters".

The chairman of the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Board, Mr Geoff Douglas, estimates that 80 per cent of the 2,4-D used in the State is in ester form.

A mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T was used as a defoliant spray by the United States in the Vietnam War in the early 1970s.

After claims that Vietnamese children were born with abnormalities the US National Academy of Science reported there was no positive proof the mixture caused defects.

But it stated "... reports of illness following spraying are so striking it is difficult to dismiss them as simply the effects of propaganda, high normal death rates, or faulty understanding of cause and effect."

In Seveso, northern Italy, in 1976 about 2.3 kilograms of dioxin was released into the atmosphere when a vat of 2,4,5-T exploded.

Seventy women had miscarriages and 15 babies were deformed. The Italian Government allowed at least 36 - and a reported estimate of another 80 - abortions. More than 1000 people were treated for various illnesses and a further 400 children for major skin complaints.

And in the US and Scandanavian countries there are running battles between environmentalists and manufacturers over the use of the herbicides, particularly 2,4-D which, when aerially sprayed, is open to massive spray drift as it is mixed with fuels.

When Dr Guy and Dr Woodward compiled their "disaster" report, a copy was sent to the chief hygiene officer at the State Health Department, Dr Allen Christophers.

The report alleged that spraying of the herbicides in the Yarram district could be related to the glut of child defects and stillbirths.

In an INSIGHT interview, Dr Christophers said he did not believe the report's allegation that the herbicides, particularly 2,4-D, could be linked with the abnormalities.

Effectively, the report was left to gather dust in the Health Department, and it was only be accident that Yarram story can be told.

Last October a light plane was spraying 2,4-D in the rolling hills of Seaview, about 15 kilometres south-east of Warragul.

The plane accidently dropped part of its load on a one-hectare property owned by gardener-conservationist Mr Bill Nolan.

His botanic garden of plants, shrubs and trees was slowly strangled by the spray. As Mr Nolan describes it, the plants grew in all directions, eventually strangling themselves.

Bill Nolan started his own investiagtions. Within weeks he had contacted Dr Guy. Letters started flooding local newspapers, petitions were launched and environmentalists began objecting.

In mid-February, the use of the herbicides - and the possible link to child defects and stillbirths - hit the metropolitan newspapers.

The Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, sent a medical team to Yarram to investigate.

Dr. Christophers: "I think I should probably have done something, in retrospect."

The team quizzed Dr Woodward, a former consultant pathologist to the Melbourne Coroner, for 90 minutes.

As to Dr Guy? "I bumped into one of them at the Yarram Club. I got asked one question and then they left."

In an interview Mr Houghton said pregnant women "had been alarmed" through unscientific examination by the media of the herbicides.

Mr Houghton, a farmer who has used the herbicides, said any possible link between the herbicides and abnormalities was "extremely remote".

"Families will claim anything when they have an abnormal child. They feel guilty. They'd like to be able to blame something." Mr Houghton said.

In Australia the National Health and Medical Research Centre has set a limit of one part per million dioxin level in 2,4,5-T.

Policing of this is carried out by the State Department of Agriculture. It employs three inspectors to police the hundreds of weedicides, insecticides and herbicides selling throughout the State.

The only company manufacturing 2,4,5-T in Australia is Chemical Industries (Kwinana) Pty Ltd in Western Australia.

When contacted to answer questions on reported staff illnesses and to discuss 2,4,5-T, the company's manager, Mr R.J. Telford, refused to speak to "The Age".

State Government officials, and even some manufacturers, argue that used properly both herbicides are not dangerous to the environment or health.

Maxine Holman said that at about the time Ben was conceived her husband had been spraying blackberries.

"It went on for eight hours one day, I've got no idea of the possible effects. How do you know?"

Mrs Holman: "Everything has been hushed over, pushed aside. You never think that something like this can happen to you. Then it happens. You don't believe it.

"You know the hardest thing is the struggle with society. People are cruel. They think I'm odd. I go to the supermarket and people just stare at me because of Ben."

Mrs Holman took Ben to a friend's home in Alberton - a rare outing because the family was financially ruined in the rural collapse.

"There were children running through the house. Ben kept shying away, coming over to me. I think he's starting to realise he can't do things." Mrs Holman said.

"I'd love to find out why. I guess its self-satisfaction. Surely, there must be an answer."

Mrs Cummings who lives just outside Alberton said: "I remember a lot of spraying going on about the time my sone was conceived.

"During the pregancy I always felt something was wrong. I became terribly depressed. Tired all the time.

Bad Publicity Will Hurt Yarram’s Image Yarram Standard News May 10 1978 p1

Noone will win a Nobel prize in connection with the treatment the town of Yarram is receiving at present in relation to possible effects resulting from the use of the sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

Even though exhaustive investigations have indicated that the herbicide cannot be connected with malformations and deaths in babies in this area two years ago, the press and TV reports hold Yarram up in a very poor light. If the sprays are injurious in any way to human life, get rid of them and not only from Yarram.

The case has been made from medical men and the press that a danger does exist. However, they have no exact proof. The case has been refuted by even more eminent people and committees of enquiry and still the rubbishing of Yarram persists.

This paper does not enter the debate in anyway whatsoever on medical or technical grounds but it speaks because of the untold damage being done to the area and to the innocent people who live in it.

Yarram couldn‘t get a "par" on its "unspoilt territory" until the news of the use of herbicides in this area broke about three months ago. Now the world is being told in print and on TV and radio that Yarram could constitute a danger to the unborn.

"Yarram doctors confirmed that at least ten pregnant women had sought their advice about continuing with their pregnancies in the past two months" (Sunday Press May 7).

Of course it is going to worry pregnant women in this area AND beyond - those who may have been thinking of coming here.

The point hasn’t been made clear that as yet NO PROOF EXISTS that the herbicides were the cause of the abnormally large proportions of malformed babies in 1975.

There have been two State inspired investigations into the matter and both would seem to indicate that there is no connection. The initial one was certainly negative. The second has yet to be released but the committee’s chairman has indicated he believes there is no connection. . .

If the sprays are bad, they are bad for locals everywhere. Let’s hear of the amount of the sprays used all over the state and the effects, if any, on local people. In the meantime stop using the sprays until a final considered medical and scientific opinion is given.

AT THE SAME TIME SHUT OFF THIS DAMAGING PUBLICITY WHICH WILL KILL OFF A GOOD TOWN AND THE JOBS THAT GO WITH IT".

"Investigations at Yarram. Mr Parsons reported that the committee chaired by Dr Aldred and set up to investigate the Yarram situation had met for a second time. He said that the committee which had not found any real evidence of birth abnormalities at Yarram were connected with the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, would be interviewing people at its meeting next week to find out what aspects should be specifically looked at ... Mr Newman said that a paper had been prepared on the use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D in forests and he would submit this to the Pesticide Review Commitee at its next meeting.

He added a number of internal reports had been published within forests on this. A companion of two reports, dated 1972 and 1977, showed the difference eith stringent safety precautions made in the amount of residue after spraying..."

24-D and 245-T and Births No link say enquiry Chairman Yarram Standard News May 24 1978 p1

The State enquiry into the possible effects of the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T on births in the Yarram area, particularly between 1975 and 1976, is drawing to a close.

Even before the final report has been presented, assurances have been given that the herbicides are not connected with the abnormalities noted in 17 babies born in Yarram.

The chairman of the Health Department’s Committee of Enquiry, Dr J.E. Aldred, has been most specific in his news releases on the matter. He said in all the cases studied in Yarram there was no evidence at all linking cases with spraying. He said a final report would be made for further methods of surveillance of congenital abnormalities.

Mr G Douglas, head of the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Department, told the Alberton Shire Council at its May meeting that much had been written on the possible harmful effects of the sprays. He said that to date no connection could be established between the use of 24-D and 2,4,5-T and abnormal births in the Yarram district. He said much of the publicity on a national level had been emotional rather than factual.

He said the public outcry was similar to the one experienced when myxamatosis was first introduced and the chemical was related to deaths in certain parts of Victoria. The inquiry instituted by the government proved there was no connection. He said workmen using 24-D and 2,4,5-T were quite happy with the facts given to them. He said the list under consideration had been reduced to four.

As stated earlier in the article, Dr J E Aldred indicated he was satisfied that the Yarram situation doesn’t tie up with accusations against the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

The committee of enquiry under Dr Aldred comprises 12 members - six from the Health Department and six from outside. All are highly qualified and highly respected members of the community. The commission of Public Health is open to the media and their report will be tabled later - possibly in a week.

Mr Douglas also told the Alberton Council that reports the US were in stages of banning the herbicide wasn’t true. The authorities in America were carrying out investigations and any future action would depend on findings. A similar course was being followed in Australia.

I would like to comment on your article "Bad Publicity Will Hurt Yarram’s Image", dated May 10.

Perhaps I have read meanings into your article which are not there, but to me it implied that protecting Yarram’s image is more important than pushing for a public investigation into the indiscriminate use of products containing Dioxin and in particular herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

To contradict your articles, I think there is indeed much evidence to support this investigation that Yarram is the catalyst to some extent for this inquiry is perhaps unfortunate but very necessary.

The media is fulfilling its vital role of supplying information to the public. How else will investigations into the connection between Dioxin and birth defects affecting the central nervous system, in particular Spina Bifida and Anencephaly, be carried out without enough public outcry to push the issue along.

Forests Commission Seeks Approval To Conduct 2,4,5-T Aerial Spraying Across Victoria May 29, 1978

Letter to Pesticides Review Committee 29/5/78 - Source PRC Minutes 137th Meeting 19/5/78

Approval sought by Forests Commission of Victoria to conduct a program of aerial spraying for the control of wattle throughout softwood plantations throughout the state during the winter of 1978... It is proposed that spraying take place over 1607ha of plantations. Details relevent to the 1978 program are as follows: Butyle ester of 2,4,5-T containing less than 0.1ppm "Dioxin". Rate of application 1.1kg per hectare 2,4,5-T (Bright, Beechworth, Myrtleford and Mansfield)

Hunt orders study of scare weedkiller. Protests force Govt action by Greg Hartung (p3 Australian June 9 1978).

The Federal Minister for Health, Mr Hunt, intervened dramatically in the controversy involving a possible link between a common weed-killer and human birth deformities.

Mr Hunt yesterday ordered a full-scale investigation into the herbicide 2,4,5-T by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The move follows an outcry by parents and medical experts in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

It has been alleged that the use of the chemical may cause gross abnormalities in babies including anencephaly (absence of brain) and spina bifida (an abnormality of the spine).

Mr Hunt met the director-general of the Department of Health, Dr Gwynn Howells, in his Canberra office early yesterday and later made his announcement of investigation to Parliament during Question Time.

The NHMRC inquiry will be chaired by the head of the public health division of the department, Dr W.A. Langsford, who is also a senior member of the council. He will report to a full meeting of the NHMRC in Adelaide next Thursday and Friday.

The inquiry will draw together all available evidence on 2,4,5-T, especially the latest claims from Cairns in north Queensland and Yarram in Victoria.

Doctors in Cairns raised the alarm last week when they suggested that deformities occurring in about 6 per cent of births in the district might be linked to the use of 2,4,5-T on cane crops in the same area.

The controversy surrounding 2,4,5-T centres on the highly poisonous chemical dioxin. Dioxin is a by-product in the manufacture of 2,4,5-T and traces of it remain in the finished product.

The Victorian Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, announced this week that the use of 2,4,5-T and an associated chemical 2,4-D - would be suspended in all Victorian government departments.

Allegations have also been made in NSW linking 2,4,5-T with major birth defects in the Murrumbidgee area.

It has been the combined weight of protests from three States which has forced the Federal Government to take this urgent action.

Mr Hunt told the House of Representatives yesterday that concern over the suggested link between the herbicide and birth defects had been conveyed to him from the Queensland, Victorian and South Australian governments.

"I might say that top scientists in this country and in other parts of the world have for some time been investigating the link between congenital defects in humans from 2,4,5-T," he said. "But none of those investigations has, to the present time, established any link between the chemicals involved and congenital defects."

Nevertheless, Mr Hunt said he was sufficiently concerned to respond to the wishes to ask the NHMRC to undertake a re-examination of all the evidence.

Meanwhile, a Senate standing committee has recommended an examination by Mr Hunt into the procedures for reporting and investigating possible effects of the use of agricultural chemicals.

The report of the standing committee on science and the environment into herbicides, pesticides and human health was tabled in the Senate yesterday.

It said the procedures for reporting and investigating possible long-term or obscure effects of the use of agricultural chemicals appeared to be weak.

Restrictions on 2,4-D Lifted June 19, 1978 (Minister Houghton Media Release)

Houghton Lifts Recents Recommendation to Restrict Use of herbicidee 2,4-D. With regard to the herbicide 2,4,5-T, I have decided that my recommendation that it should not be used until the report of the Victorian Working Party on Congenital Abnormalities is released, will remain in force.

Forests Commission Letters to Pesticides Review Committee 23/6/78. "The principle herbicides used by the Forests Commission are 2,4,5-T as the butyl ester and Tordon 50D. Smaller quantities of Tordon 255 and Tordon 250 are also used. 2,4,5-T is mixed with distillate for aerial spraying 1500 to 2000ha of softwood plantations per year for wattle control and basal bark spraying of woody weeds such as eucalypts and broad leaved wattles in about 1000ha of plantations... A very small quantity of 2,4,5-T is used for spraying blackberries in the Central and North East areas of Victoria, but the Victorian Noxious Weed Destruction Board is primarily reponsible for such operations in State Forest. Tordon 50D and Tordon 105... approximately 3000ha are treated annually throughout the state with the major use being in western and eastern Victoria..."

Pesticide Review Committee Defers Statewide Aerial Forest Spraying/Health Checks/Water Monitoring June 23, 1978

Two letters from Forests Commission 1/6/78 aerial spraying of grass at Heywood - 29/5/78 Aerial spraying to control wattle in softwood plantations throughout the state. The committee agreed that as the spraying would include the use of 2,4,5-T, the request should be deferred.

Item 121: Media statements on pesticides. Mr Van Baer said that recent media statements on the working party and the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T had reaffirmed his view put forward at the last meeting. after some discussion the committee agreed that the chairman should approach the Premier on the question of ground rules being laid down to allow statements to be made to the media on the subject of pesticides.

Item 122: Safety Aspects of Weed Control Program. (i) The Committee was of the opinion that it was not necessary for spray operators to undergo regular health checks if they were using protective clothing. (ii) On the question of monitoring water supplies for residues of weedicides the Committee believed that as sufficient facilities are not available for this work to be carried out, any monitoring undertaken for other Departments should be made available to all interested Departments.

26/7/78: File No's 76/1524-76/143. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram District. Commission Decision 78/29/25. Approved purchase 26/7/78. (a) ex Nufarm Chemicals Pty Ltd of 87 x 20 litres of Amitrole T at $1.59 per litre as per State Tender Board contract and 2 x 20 litres surfactant at $1.24 per litre. (b) Ex Ciba-Geigy Australia Ltd of 152 x 20 litres of Flowable Gesaprim (Atrazine) at $2.45 per litre as per company's quotation of 6/7/78.

Keith Turnball Institute letter 30 June 1978 requesting experimental trials using Triclopyr to control blackberries

Forests Commission Request to Aerially Spray 434ha of Plantations near Yarram with Atrazine and Amitrole August 25, 1978

Letter from Forests Commission to conduct aerially spraying for control of competing grass in softwood plantations in Yarram district in late July or early August 1978 using Weedazol TL Plus at 4 litres a hectare and Gesaprim 500FW at 7 litres a hectare in 49 litres of water per hectare. 434 ha in 3 blocks known as Biralee West, Nicols & Lombardis. Biralee West, 222ha drained by Jack River. Water for domestic and stock use pumped from Jack River 1 km below spray area. Nichols, 163 ha drained by Little Albert River... Water for domestic use is pumped from river 8km below sprayed area. Lomardis, 49ha drained by Albert River, water for domestic and stock is pumped from river 2 km below spray area...

The State Government inquiry into the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T and its possible effects on unborn babies in the Yarram area, has found no evidence of any connection.

The report, tabled in parliament last week, stated that the cluster of babies with birth defects born in Yarram in 1975-1976 did not suggest a specific local cause.

It further stated that normal use of the sprays has not been shown to cause human or animal birth defects. The State’s Health Minister, Mr V.Houghton has withdrawn his ban on the sprays.

The members of the committee enquiring into the herbicides were Dr J.E. Aldred, Chairman, Mr R.S. Belcher, Dr A.J. Christophers, Dr A.Clements, Professor D.M.Danks, Dr E.L.French, Dr D.B. Galloway, Dr O.M. Garson, Dr W. Parsons, Professor C.Raper, Dr G Rouch, Dr H.J.Sinn, Mr E.J.O’Brien (co-opted), Dr S.B.Fish, support staff Dr J.L.Cooper, Dr M.A.Morsy and Dr N.C.Powers.

The report said that detailed records of all eight cases of deformed births in the Yarram area revealed "that none of the eight women were specifically exposed to herbicides during pregnancy".

The committee kept the names of the eight families involved secret but the case histories and findings are filed away with the reports. It was also stated that the higher rates of abnormal births could have "happened by chance" in any one area in the State and the figures overall would have remained normal.

It also made this comparison of the amounts of food and drink would would have to be taken daily by a 60kg pregnant woman to reach the "no effects" level of 2,4,5-T.

"She would have to drink 1.5 litres of spray mix or eat 24kg of freshly sprayed blackberries or drink 100 litres of water collected in a 10,000 litre tank from a roof sprayed at a rate of 4 kg per hectare, or drink 12,000 litres of milk or eat 6,000 kg of meat, assuming the animals were deliberately fed 2,4,5-T at much higher levels than would be expected to occur through the ingestion of treated pasture".

Although isolated reports of ill effects have been noted in connection with agricultural use of the herbicides, broad based experience over the 30 years in which the compounds have been used suggests the dangers are minimal.

It is noteworthy that substantiated ill effects in the general population potentially exposed to residues of the compounds have not been observed. This is not unexpected in view of the lack of herbicide residues in foodstuffs after normal agricultural usage.

In Victoria, certain sections of the community were exposed to much greater levels of the herbicides than those that would be applicable in agricultural practice. Despite reported adverse effects, investigations by committees failed to substantiate cause-effect relationships in terms of the use of the materials.

However, it could also be argued that no valid analysis of the situation was possible because of poor reporting and lack of basic data.

The report refuted the press reports that "massive" aerial applications were made in 1975. It stated that there was nothing unusual about the period 1975 and 1976 as compared to other periods.

"In fact only 12% of 24-D and 3% of 2,4,5-T were applied by aircraft in the Yarram area in 1975".

The report stated that "Victoria lacks organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects and lacks an adequate system of surveillance of these birth defects which are not rapidly lethal".

The Health Minister, Mr Houghton, said the report had been most comprehensive and already many requests had been received for copies. He expected the report to take its place on the world scene as an invaluable reference on the subject under review.

One of the cases put forward in Yarram related to a woman who had conceived and spent the pregnancy period and birth outside the Alberton Shire. Another birth occurred in 1978, well after the period in question. However, both cases were investigated but no relationship could be made between malformed births and herbicide sprays.

(a) Investigation at Yarram. The Report of the Consultative Committee on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District was distributed to members...Dr Parsons said as a result of these investigations at Yarram and other publicity, a working party should be formed to be well informed on Amitrole...

Item 121 Media Statements on Pesticides. The Chairman stated that he was concerned with the unblanced comment in the media on the subject of the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and the Consultative Council's report. he said he would seek the advice of Mr Richard Thomas, the Premier's Principal Press Secretary on the approach that should be made to reply to this comment.

Thank you for your letter dated 13th May 1978, drawing attention to the matter of pesticide residues in streams.

You asked if the weedicide 2,4,5-T should be used when there is some doubt about its safety. In reply it is pointed out that it is routine practice for all effiicacy and toxicological data about a pesticide to be examined by the registration authority and Pesticides Review Committee before approval for use is granted. You are assured that a pesticide is registered for use only if it is not a danger to people or the environment when used in the correct way.

The Minister of Health in Victoria some time ago initiated an enquiry into the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and I have delayed replying to you pending the completion of this inquiry. The Consultative Council established to conduct this inquiry has now completed its report and I forward for your information a copy of the statement made by the Minister when the report was released last week.

The Chairman said that the meeting had been called to enable the Committee to prepare for the Premier and other Ministers, an evaluation of the Consultative Committee on congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram district.

Pesticide Review Committee Endorses Continued Use of 2,4,5-T in Victoria October 10 1978

"...The Committee agrees with the Council in concluding that continued use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T for agricultural purposes under current statutory controls of the Poisons Act and Pesticide Act presents no hazard to pregnant women or unborn children in Victoria." - E.J. O'Brien Chair.

The State Health Minister, Mr. Houghton, said last night the Government was considering a ban on the use of the herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in urban areas.

It is understood Mr. Houghton has been asked by the Premier, Mr Hamer, to examine introduction of the limited ban to quell community unease.

Mr Houghton said: "This is one of the options open to us and it is now being considered very carefully."

But he warned the Government would not rush into a limited ban as it did not want to create an "on-again-off-again" situation.

Mr Houghton said consideration of the ban did not in any way reflect a change in the Government's belief that there was no link between herbicides and birth abnormalities.

The ban would be considered only for "psychological reasons". Ten members of the State Government's consultative council on congenital abnormalities have said they see no need for further scientific investigation into the weedkillers.

Mr. Houghton set up the council last March to investigate still-births and abnormalities at Yarram in 1975-76. He said yesterday he would make a decision on any future bans only after all additional considerations had been taken into account by his advisors.

An agricultural engineer who has been investigating 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T said the credibility of the State Health Department would remain in question until there was an open inquiry into their use.

Dr. John Russell told Mr Houghton this at a meeting yesterday. Dr Russell said after the meeting he had told the Minister that the investigation into birth defects at Yarram had been "like a feasibility study". "It showed up all the problems and these can only be fully resolved in an open inquiry," he said.

Dr. Russell said Mr. Houghton had rejected his calls for the open inquiry and for the suspension of the use of the herbicides.

However, he said the Minister had undertaken to give him and a fellow researcher assess to members of the Yarram inquiry who would consider any evidence submitted.

Dr Russell said the public could send any information on the subject to him at Box 15 Ivanhoe.

And one of the two doctors who first reported an apparently unusual group of birth defects at Yarram, Dr. Rod Guy, called on the public to send information on birth defects to the Health Department.

The Latrobe Valley Water and Sewerage Authority will prosecute an aerial spraying firm over an incident allegedly involving 2,4-D at Seaview last October. The authority will prosecute Skyfarmers Pty Ltd on behalf of the Environment Protection Authority.

The Premier, Mr Hamer, yesterday instructed the Health Minister, Mr Houghton, to take a fresh look at allegations surrounding the controversial herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.

Mr Hamer asked for a full review of the recent Government commissioned report that gave the herbicides the all-clear.

The State Opposition claimed his intervention amounted to a "vote of no confidence" in Mr Houghton.

Opposition spokesperson said Mr Houghton no longer possessed Mr Hamer's confidence because of his "pig-headed" refusal to re-examine the herbicides.

The opposition spokesman on conservation, Mr Cathie, called for the transfer of Mr. Houghton to a less sensitive portfolio.

"The Premier has no confidence in the ability of Mr Houghton to be responsible for the herbicides. Mr Cathie said.

The Opposition spokesman on health, Mr Roper, said there had been a disturbing lack of urgency about compiling a register of birth deformities.

He was referring to reports of birth abnormalities at Sale, after the use of the spray, 2,4-D.

"If there had been such a register the latest problems could have been identified last December," he said.

The question is, how many more cases will occur while the Minister bumbles along?"

The latest Government moves follow claims at the weekend by an agricultural engineer that the State Government was out of step with other Western countries in its regulation of herbicides.

Dr John Russell said the US had banned the use of 2,4,5-T in residential and recreational areas becasuse of suspected hazards to women of child-bearing age.

Health authorities are still investgating the latest spate of birth abnormalities at Sale.

Mr Hamer told Mr Houghton before cabinet yesterday that a further examination was needed of a report into herbicides.

Mr Houghton had previously resisted moves for a fresh departmental inquiry and used the Government report to repudiate claims of links between the herbicides and birth defects.

The report, tabled in Parliament several weeks ago, concluded there was no relationship between the sprays and a cluster of birth abnormalities at Yarram in Gippsland.

Mr Hamer said yesterday the Government was not prepared to ignore the claims of highly-qualified people who had spoken out on the issue over the past few days.

Sale city council will consider taking action against the herbicides at its meeting tonight.

A move is expected to halt the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T pending Government assurances that the herbicides pose no threat.

"The Age reported exclusively on Friday that four women living within 200 metres of a sports oval in Sale gave birth to seriously deformed babies after the oval was sprayed with 2,4-D early in 1977.

The State Government yesterday assembled a team of 10 scientists to reject claims that the herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T cause birth defects.

The 10, members of the State Government's Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities, said there was no need for further inquiries into the pesticides.

"If we go forward and we erect more inquiries I feel we're going to be like a dog chasing its tail," said the council chairman, Dr Ern Aldred.

"You could well ask where do you stop and who do you believe. We've got to stop somewhere."

The State Health Minister, Mr Houghton, set up the council last March to investigate still births and abnormalities at Yarram in 1975-76.

In Parliament last night, Mr Houghton said it would be a waste of money to review the council's findings on herbicides because it had been a well thought through scientific document.

He said the spraying of a herbicide at Sale had been too early to have affected four of the five reported cases of birth abnormalities there.

Mr Houghton said a medical officer of the Health Department collected data at Sale on the case histories of all birth abnormalities in 1977.

The case histories were analysed taking into account the possible exposure to sprayed herbicide.

Mr Houghton said the spraying took place three weeks to five months too early to have affected the development of four of the five babies born.

Earlier, outside Parliament, he said there would be an immediate review of any fresh evidence or submissions to the Government.

Mr Houghton said there were two sides to the herbicides controversy - the scientific one and the emotional and political one.

"I find the scientific aspects easier to deal with because they are nore exact than the emotive and political aspects," he said.

"I'm talking about the responses one ought to make to community pressures irrespective of whether they are scientifically based or not."

He said community feeling had not reached a point where the Government should make a political instead of scientific decision on herbicides.

Pressure for restrictions on the herbicides was coming from the media, not the community.

Chairman Dr Aldred said the council had studied research from all over the world before concluding that the pesticides were safe.

"You will find some controversial work. You find this through all scientific work.

"But the secret of skilled scientists is to be able to extrapolate and interpret the work that's being done."

Dr Aldred quoted research by Dr William McBride, the Sydney man who discovered the link between the drug thalidomide and birth defects.

Dr McBride firmly believed the pesticides did not cause defects after exhaustive tests on mice.

Dr Aldrew said emotional and political pressures were involved in bans on 2,4,5-T in Italy, Sweden and Holland.

The professor or paediatrics at Melbourne University, Professor David Danks, said 3 per cent of all children were born with birth defects.

The dean of pharmacology at the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Professor Colin Raper, dismissed media reports on the herbicides.

"None of the things that have been brought up by the Press as new horror stories are in fact new to us. They have been taken into account," he said.

Sale - Sale city council last night banned council use of all herbicides containing 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.

The council's action - supported unanimously by its eight members - is the first such ban by any council in Victoria.

The decision followed a new disclosure that three Sale women living near a sports oval had miscarriaged after the oval was sprayed with 2,4-D.

This brought to seven the number of miscarriages or abnormal births reported among mothers living near the oval.

Last week it was revealed in "The Age" that four mothers gave birth to children with major abnormalities after the oval, in Lion's Park, was sprayed with 2,4,-D in January 1977.

Three of the children dies at birth. A fifth mother had a miscarriage three months after the spraying.

Councillor Lindsay Taylor told the council last night he had heard only recently of the three additional miscarriages.

The motion passed last night said the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T would be discontinued until the State Health Department "can prove beyond doubt that the herbicides have no link with congenital abnormalities".

Sale council called on all other municipalities in Victoria, and the State and Federal Governments, to consider similar action.

The mayor of Sale, Mr Peter Synan, said: "We are erring on the side of caution and that's the side we should be erring on."

The council also asked the Department of Agriculture and an independent authority to analyse the soil and broad-leaf weeds at Lions' Park and the Sale oval.

This was to find whether any substances were present which could prove harmful to people.

The council said it would ask the Health Department to investigate the incidence of birth defects in Sale, particularly in the Lion's Park area.

It agreed to arrange a public meeting attended by Government and private doctors and scientists to discuss birth defects and their possible relationship to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.

And it will ask the chairman of the Yarram birth defects inquiry and chairman of the State Government's Poisons Advisory Committee, Dr Ern Aldred, to attend.

The State Health Minister, Mr Houghton, said last night the state was considering a ban on the use of the herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in urban areas.

It is understood Mr Houghton has been asked by the Premier, Mr Hamer, to examine introduction of the limited ban to quell community unease.

Mr Houghton said: "This is one of the options open to us and it is now being considered very carefully."

But he warned the Government would not rush into a limited ban as it did not want to create an "on-again-off-again" situation.

Mr Houghton said consideration of the ban did not in any way reflect a change in the Government's belief that there was no link between herbicides and birth abnormalities.

Ten members of the State Government's consultative council on congenital abnormalities have said they see no need for further scientific investigation into the weedkillers.

Mr Houghton set up the council last March to investigate still-births and abnormalities at Yarram in 1975-76.

He said yesterday he would make a decision on any future bans only after all additional considerations had been taken into account by his advisers.

An agricultural engineer who has been investigating 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T said the credibility of the State Health Department would remain in question until there was an open inquiry into their use.

Dr Russell said after the meeting he had told the Minister that the investigation into birth defects at Yarram had been "like a feasibility study".

"It showed up all the problems and these can only be fully resolved in an open inquiry," he said.

Dr Russell said Mr Houghton had rejected his calls for the open inquiry and for the suspension of the use of the herbicides.

However, he said the Minister had undertaken to give him an a fellow researcher assess to members of the Yarram inquiry who would consider any evidence submitted.

Dr Russell said the public could send him any information on the subject to him at Box 15, Ivanhoe.

And one of the two doctors who first reported an apparently unusual group of birth defects at Yarram, Dr Rod Guy, called on the public to send information on birth defects to the Health Department.

The Latrobe Valley Water and Sewerage Authority will prosecute an aerial spraying firm over an incident allegedly involving 2,4-D at Seaview last October.

The authority will prosecute Skyfarmers Pty Ltd on behalf of the Environment Protection Authority.

The herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T remain suspected by the Australian public of causing birth defects despite being cleared by two government inquiries. The inquiries were set up after what seemed to be an abnormally high number of babies born with deformities at Cairns in Northern Queensland and at Yarram some 2000 km to the south in Victoria. The herbicide 2,4,5-T is used extensively for spraying fields of sugar cane near Cairns, and use of both this herbicide and 2,4-D were suspected of causing the deformities at Yarram.

The federal National Health and Medical Research Council reported in June this year that it could find no substantial scientific evidence of a causal link between the use of 2,4,5-T and human birth defects. It also stated that "the use of 2,4-D is not producing any risk to human health."

In its report, which was published late last month, the Victorian state government's investigation into the birth defects at Yarram also failed to establish a statistical link between the use of 2,4,5-T and birth defects. However, no sooner had that report been published than a further group of birth deformities came to light at the Victorian town of Sale. In this case, four deformed babies were born at the same hospital between September and December last year. One had no brain, another spina bifida, the third underdeveloped internal organs, and the fourth a cleft palate. The mothers of all these babies lived in houses that faced a playing field that had been sprayed with a strong formulation of 2,4-D to control weeds. State premier Dick Hamer announced last week that another inquiry will be held into these birth defects at Sale.

According to the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia uses about 2000 tonnes of 2,4-D and 250-300 tonnes of 2,4,5-T each year. Implicating or clearing these herbicides of causing the birth defects will be particularly difficult. At both Yarram and Cairns the basic statistics needed to determine whether the respective clusters of birth defects truly constitued epidemics were apparently just not available. At Yarram birth deformities were found in about 8 per cent of births, while at Cairns the figure was 6 per cent.

Wonthaggi Council has banned the controversial sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T in the urban areas of the Borough.

The Council took the step at the meeting last week after receiving a submission from Mrs L.Dean of North Wonthaggi.

These questions were considered by the Pesticides Review Committee at a meeting on 23 June 1978.

The Committee's response to (1) was that it is not necessary for spray operators to undergo regular health checks provided adequate protective clothing is used (78/0149, folio 31).

The Committee's comments on (2) and (3) were of little value. My view on these points are:

(2) Sampling of water supplies should be undertaken where unusual circumstances exist, eg extensive use of 2,4,5-T near a domestic storage.

(3) Weedicides need only be checked for active ingredient where they are less effective thane expected.

Illness of SR & WRC Employees/Community Disquiet About Yarram Report/Request from SEC February 9 1979

Mr Bill said that the Commission had asked him to seek this Committee's advice on spray operators employed by SR & WRC who were receiving treatment for cancer. They had each been employed with the Commission in this job for about 8 years and had been working approximately 150 hours per year actually spraying. Dr Aldred said that as there were various forms of cancer it was necessary to establish the types of cancer in these cases and suggested that the Chairman of the Commission should refer the matter to Dr McCloskey, Director of Public Health.

a) Investigations at Yarram. Dr Aldred said that there was still some community disquiet following the release of the Consultative Committee Report. He added that following a request from the Shire of Alberton, the Consultative Committee is to shortly visit the municipality and discuss the report with the Shire Council. Dr Donaldson reported that the Lands Department had directed its officers not to perform "requests" and or "forced entry" into all areas zoned residential..."

c) Request from SEC for Advice on the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. The Secretary circulated a letter from the SEC seeking committee's views on the use of Tordon mixtures containing 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T by the Commission. The Committee decided to inform the Commission that it believes the use of these chemicals is completely safe from a community health point of view, provided they are used according to label directions and that careful records should be kept of the spraying undertaken...

The Trades Hall Council last night banned the handling and use of herbicides 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T. It was decided the bans would not be lifted until the State Government agreed to safeguards. The decision was passed unanimously after industrial officer Mr. Peter Marsh presented a report by the THC environment and ecology committee. The bans will affect the transport and use of the herbicides by union members throughout Victoria. The council condemned the State Government for refusing to hold a proper investigation into birth abnormalities in Gippsland alleged to be linked to the herbicides. Mr Marsh told delegates that the findings of a special Government committee which last year reported there were no risks in the use of the herbicides were unacceptable. He said the claim by the Government that birth defects in the Yarram area were comparable to the rate the rest of the state had been reversed by later findings of birth abnormalities at nearby Sale. Mr. Marsh said it was obvious that on the basis on the new evidence, the Government should have banned 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T and a new investigation should have been made. "It was found that three malformations were concentrated in a small area of about 100 houses," he said. "All the Government did was to send one medical officer to Sale and he has not produced a report yet." The THC wants legislation to protect workers before it lifts the ban. It wants: All people exposed to the two herbicides to be given medical examination at regular intervals. Protective clothing for workers exposed to the herbicides so skin absorption does not occur, and that sufficient water, soap and antidote are made available after use. Women of childbearing age to be prevented from exposure to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. The use of the herbicides banned in built-up areas. That people engaged in the use of the chemicals should be trained and alerted to the hazards. Mr Marsh said that many countries had banned the herbicides because of the risks. New South Wales and South Australia had legislation restricting their use.

Victorian ALP State Conference Calls for Restrictions on 2,4,5-T - March 1979

The Victorian ALP State Conference carried a lengthy resolution on the use of hazardous chemicals, which contained a number of specific references to 2,4,5-T. "... That the ALP call on the Government to restrict the use of 2,4,5-T to non-populated areas and to enforce the US EPA restrictions on rural land use, in lakes, ponds and ditch banks; around homes, recreation areas and similar sites, and all use of 2,4,5,-T on food crops intended for human consumption; and that all abutting properties be notified when spraying is to take place... All imports of 2,4,5-T be subject to quality control in Australia and that 2,4,5-T be withdrawn from sale for domestic purposes.

Victorian Health Minister advises against use of 2,4,5-T (Calls for Suspension)- Media Release - March 6 1979

"Victorian Health Minister Vasey Houghton, today strongly advised against the use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T in the metropolitan area and other built up areas of Victoria.

He advised Government Departments, Municipalities and other private and domestic users, to suspend their use of the herbicide in populated areas pending a full examination of the new reports from the United States Environment Protection Agency, by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Mr Houghton said that his advice following current action by the US Agency to suspend the use of the herbicide as a result of what it terms 'Significant' New Evidence Becoming Available linking the Dioxin/2,4,5-T issue to human health problems in the United States.

He said information from the United States quotes the Environmental Protection Agancy as saying that 'The health effects in humans are not positvely proven and we are not saying that 2,4,5-T should never be used again. However, the agancy also said that there is sufficient evidence to stop further exposure to the chemical until the issues are resolved."

"...Although the statement refers specifically to "populated areas", it would be prudent for the Commission to suspend all use of 2,4,5-T until the overseas reports that prompted the ban have been evaluated. The reason for this is that almost the entire Commission use of 2,4,5-T is in the vicinity of domestic water supplies, i.e in sensitive areas. For example, the main use for 2,4,5-T at the moment is for control of blackberries in the Tarago catchment.

The consequence of suspending 2,4,5-T spraying would not be serious provided it is not permanent. Summer is the time for most blackberry spraying, although regrowth can be treated now.

It is therefore recommended that Commission use of 2,4,5-T be suspended until further notice and that staff be advised accordingly..."

APM Forests Pty Ltd - Safety Regulations - Restrictions Placed on 2,4,5-T March 28 1979

"... In addition the following chemicals which act through the soil - namely Sodium Chlorate, Nitrofen, Chlorthal, Atrazine, Picloram, Hexazinone, Simazine and Propazine shall not be used when soils are saturated and where any surface runoff from subsequent rain would enter a neighbour's property...The hormone herbicide 2,4,5-T is not to be handled by women nor used within 200m of any occupied building. For other pesticides, particularly 2,4-D, take extreme care when spraying on boundaries or near occupied buildings..."

"Mr Pearce asked whether the matter raised at the December meeting about spray operators employed by SR & WRC receiving treatment for cancer ha been taken up with the Director of Public Health. Mr Bill understood that the Commission had written to the Health Commission but did not know whether a reply had been received ..."

The Secretary read out correspondance from Mr O'Brien as Chairman of this committee to Mr Stone Secretary of Trades Hall Council and Mr Stone's reply to this letter. In addition he read out a letter from THC to the Premier, presenting a recent THC resolution about the handling and use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T"

State Rivers And Water Supply Commission Suspends Use of 2,4,5-T April 11, 1979

"...With regard to the use of 2,4,5-T weedicides I have to advise that in accordance with current Government policy, this Commission has suspended the use of all 2,4,5-T products pending further advice from the Department of Health..."

(29 March 1979) "... Recently (March 6) the Minister for Health advised Government Department's to suspend the use of the weedicide 2,4,5-T in populated areas because of a possible danger to human health. Although the Commission generally does not use 2,4,5-T in populated areas, it is often used in the vicinity of domestic water supplies. For this reason, the Commission has decided that use of 2,4,5-T should be suspended until further advice is received from the Health Commission... Would you therefore ensure that weedicides containing 2,4,5-T (Weedone Special, Tordon 105) are not used by the Commission employees until further notice..."

1/6/79 Letter to Pesticide Review Committee from APM outlining spray regimes for year

De (2,4-D Ester), Da (2,4-D Amine), V (Hexazinone), A (Amitrole), R (1080) to be used at: Jeeralang-Callignee Tree Farms, Flynn Creek Tree Farm, Silver Creek Tree Farm, Maryvale Tree Farm, Longford Tree Farm.

N (2,2-DPA), A (Amitrole), S (Simazine), V (Hexazinone), R (1080) to be used at Carrajung.

A (Amitrole), S (Simazine), R (1080), V (Hexazinone) to be used at Tong Bong, Coolungoolum, Narracan South, Moondarra.

Premiers Department Requests Advice From Pesticides Review Committee, Forests Commission Proposal, APM not to use 2,4,5-T June 22 1979

"The Chairman reported that the Premiers Department had requested advice from the committee on 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. Dr Parsons commented that this request was in response to the recent revival of publicity received in America by the two herbicides... Dr Craig reported on a proposal currently before the Forests Commission for aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T in Victoria... Dr Craing commented that APM had decided not to use 2,4,5-T at all this year for 'public relations' reasons although they are continuing to use 2,4-D..."

Lancet Publishes Australian Report on Link Between Birth Defects and Pesticide 245T A.M. 3 July 1979.

Steve Cosser: To begin this morning 245T. In May of this year we reported that the National Health and Medical Research Council had been accused of suppressing a report by two Sydney academics which established a possible link between the herbicide 245T and the birth of defective babies. On A.M. The Council claimed that it had twice rejected the report on the grounds that the link hadn't been definitely established. The Minister for Health Mr Hunt backed up the Council's decision in parliament. One of the academics, Dr Barbara Field, told us the Council had pressured them to withdraw a summary of the findings from a British Medical magazine. Now the highly respected British medical journal, The Lancet, has published the report, pointing to a link between the chemical 245T and the disturbing incidence of birth abnormalities in Australia. So we're left with a situation where a report the Australian Health and Medical Research Council didn't want to know about, is considered by the British medical journal as being of substance. Christopher Sweeney has the details.

Christopher Sweeney: The report, the most damning evidence yet against the use of 245T, has had a long and controversial history. It was originally submitted to the National Health and Medical Research Council last November and twice rejected, on the grounds that the link had not been definitely established. But is was after these setbacks that the authors decided to seek publication in The Lancet, the most authoritative of the world's medical journals. The report was originally written by two specialists from Sydney University, the Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine, Professor Charles Kerr, and Dr Barbara Field, a research specialist in birth abnormalities at the School of Tropical Medicines. It is a culmination of many years research following doubts within the scientific community about the continued use of 245T in Australia despite its ban in the United States. For more than a decade anxiety has been expressed about the chemical, but in the absence of specific proof the drug companies and the rural lobbies have been able to keep it in general use. Privately it is now acknowledged that the whole issue has become engulfed in a major bureaucratic fight in Canberra between rival factions, and this in turn has led to charges of a cover up. So just how damning is the submission published in The Lancet. Dr Barbara Field.

Dr Field: The two main points are that by graphing the usage of 245T in Australia for a year against the combined rate of neural tube defects for the following year, it's a linear correlation that there's a straight line relationship which falls off in the last two years of the study, which corresponds with the monitoring of dioxin levels in 245T. And the second part of the study is that we already knew that there was a significant seasonal variation in birth rates, as babies with neural tube defects in NSW which differs from that of the northern hemisphere in that there are more babies conceived in December January and February in NSW which we determined by survey is actually the time of the greatest usage of 245T.

Christopher Sweeney: But does your report actually produce any new evidence of any possible link between the chemical and abnormalites.

Dr Field: Well the new evidence is this linear correlation between the usage of 245T and the rates of abnormalities.

Christopher Sweeney: Originally you and Professor Charles Kerr from Sydney University had submitted a report to the National Medical Research Council in Canberra. Does the report as published in The Lancet differ in any significant detail from that original report?

Dr Field: No, the two main points were the ones that came out in the two reports that we submitted, the original report was – lacked a lot of the supportive data because we – it became such a cumbersome report and they asked for actually the data that we working from, the full data, and there were a lot of computer analyses as well testing a lot of these correlations. But the two main points that we put into the letter of The Lancet were well brought out in the report.

Christopher Sweeney: Why then were you asked this year not to publish the findings of your report?

Dr Field: I think the wording was that it would seem to give support to the fact that there was a correlation between 245T and birth abnormalites.

Dr Field: Yes there's definitely a link, a linear correlation between the usage of 245T and the rates the following year of certain groups of abnormalities.

Steve Cosser: On the line we have a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council and chairman of the working party on 245T,

Dr William Langsford. Dr Langsford thank you for joining us. How do you react to the Field report appearing in The Lancet?

Dr Langsford: We've already commented on Sydney on the 14th and 15th of June on this report. Briefly we do not accept that this shows a link between the usage of 245T and human birth defects. For example, during the course of the study the instance birth defects at first rose and then they fell. They fell at a time when the usage of 245T was increasingly marginal. Our conclusion was that the study methods and quality were not acceptable and that a cause and effect relationshipbetween 245T usage and birth defects cannot be demonstrated.

Dr Langsford: I hesitate to criticise the authors but I think should point out that studies of this type cannot produce conclusive evidence of any existence or otherwise of a causal relationship. Any studies seeking to obtain such evidence requires different methodology and a much more reliable data base if it is to withstand critical scientific analysis and thus provide a basis on which we can formulate a decision.

Steve Cosser: Did you at any stage tell either of the authors of the report not to publish?

Dr Langsford: No we did not tell them not to publish, we did advise Professor Kerr that we thought his study would be subjected to severe scientific criticism and we certainly – we have no power to tell people publish or not publish. Steve Cosser: If it could be proved to you that a member of the Council did in fact advise Professor Kerr not to go public what would your reaction be then?

Dr Langsford: We advised Professor Kerr we thought it would be inadvisable for him to publish the report in its original form.

It is considered that the total ban on the use of 2,4,5-T by the Commission could be lifted without compromising the Commission's ready response to the advice given by the Minister for Health earlier this year, which sought to suspend the use of 2,4,5-T in populated areas.

The Commission's decision to put a total ban on 2,4,5-T was influenced by the fact that the months ahead (April to August) were those in which 2,4,5-T would not be much used, couple with the notion that the Health Minister's precautionary advice might soon be withdrawn.

Now, with the approach of the season of increased use of 2,4,5-T, the total ban represents a significant constraint on programs of weed control in certain places; and the total ban becomes an excessive precaution in respect to the purpose of protecting domestic water supplies, since that can be achieved through the care which is customarily exercised by supervisors and operators engaged in weed control activities.

Accordingly it is recommended that the use of 2,4,5-T beyond populated areas is now permitted, and that, for the purpose of ensuring no risk of contamination of domestic water supplies is thereby introduced, the spraying of any such area with 2,4,5-T be subject to approval by the Irrigation Services Division.

State Rivers and Water Supply Commission Blackberry Control Mornington, Coliban, Koo-Wee-Rup regions 6 September 1979

To Secretary Vermin & Noxious Weeds Destruction Board/Department of Crown Lands & Survey

I refer to your letter of 1 August 1979 inquiring about the effect of blackberry on the Commission's activities, and the Commission's views on biological control of blackberry.

Control of blackberry is undertaken by the Commission to meet its responsibility under the Noxious Weeds Acts, and to enable efficient delivery of water and effective drainage.

The main part of our control program is directed at blackberry in plantations near domestic supply systems (e.g. Mornington Peninsula), near channels and reservoirs (e.g. Coliban Supply System) and in the Koo-Wee-Rup Flood Protection District. In newly established plantations blackberries compete with young trees to the extent that, if no control measures are applied, blackberries dominate. Wherever annual control in drainage channels has been impossible, blackberry growth has affected drainage flow. In the Koo-wee-rup area this can be critical as vegetables and other cash crops are at risk if drainage is inadequate.

Herbicides are generally used to control blackberries; mechanical control is applied only in situations where herbicides should not be used.

Blackberries provide some advantages from the Commission's viewpoint, such as protection of the soil, and thus decreased soil erosion and improved water penetration; but the displaced native species would probably be of similar utility.

The Commission spends approximately $20 000 annually on chemical and mechanical control of blackberry; the control program is a continuing one.

As you are aware, some disruption of this control program - and others - has occurred recently as a result of Government decisions made in deference to public feeling about weedicides. In the light of this, and bearing in mind also possible interruption in the supply of herbicides, the Commission tends to view favourably the idea of biological control of blackberry.

(Waiving of Provisions): Use of Weedicides Containing 2,4,5-T State Rivers and Water Supply Commission - Main Urban Supplies Division 7 September 1979

1. The use of weedicides containing 2,4,5-T is prohibited by Commission Circular OP 533 and Main Urban Districts were instructed on 13 March 1979 to discontinue use of any weedicides containing either 2,4,5-T or 2,4-D.

2. Following an enquiry from Frankston Office concerning the future action to be taken with regard to stocks of chemicals held at the time of the embargo, advice was sought from the Chief Irrigation Officer as to the present position regarding use of these chemicals, and it is understood that the Health Commission still recommends that the chemicals not be used in populated areas.

3. As most of the Division's use of these materials is outside these areas, it is recommended that consideration be given to waiving the provisions of OP 533 to allow the use of 2,4,5-T where:-

ii) the situation is isolated and there is minimal likelihood of contact with the public or domestic water supply, and

Memorandum For Restricted Use of Weedicide 2,4,5-T State Rivers and Water Supply Commission 19th September 1979

Recently the Minister of Health advised Government Departments to suspend use of the weedicide 2,4,5-T in populated areas and the Commission then placed a total ban on the use of 2,4,5-T as it was sometimes used in the vicinity of domestic water supplies (Circular No. O.P. 533).

Further advice has now been received from the Health Commission confirming that 2,4,5-T should not be used in populated areas and, at the same time, indicating that its use elesewhere is acceptable providing precautions are taken to avoid contamination.

Accordingly, the Commission has decided that weedicides containing 2,4,5-T may be used beyond populated areas subject to approval in every instance by a weed control officer of the Irrigation Services Division.

Before using weedicides containing 2,4,5-T (Weedone Special, Tordon 105, Nufarm Lo-Vol 2,4,5-T Ester) approval must be obtained from a weed control officer and the necessary records kept (Weed Control Operating Instructions, January 1973).

Pesticide Review Committee Minutes - Meeting 153 - Economic Aspects Of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T Usage 19 October 1979

"...A ban on the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T would result in an estimated minimum annual loss of $13.4million. If only 2,4,5-T were banned, the estimated minimum annual loss would be $3.6m... By far the most important use of 2,4,5-T is controlling the noxious weeds blackberries and furze, both of which are widespread throughout the state. A relatively small but nevertheless important use is the controlling the regrowth of native species in exotic forest plantations and in the maintenance of power line easements and road and rail reserves... increased cost of unwanted native species in forests and plantations and on powerline easements and road reserves = $1.56m.

2,4,5-T and 2,4-D Report Prepared by Members of the Committee Regarding 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.

"....Mr Dunk also noted that the report as such does not provide a strategy for the Government to act upon for the next 18 months and considerable thought must be given to providing recommendations... he suggested 3 areas for consideration. (1) The Committee should monitor the situation in the US. (2) A Public Relations spokesman to handle publicity on the situation of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D be appointed. (3) A special group to advise the Government of necessary action.

State Rivers And Water Supply Commission Restricted Use Of Weedicide 2,4,5-T Southern Division. Koo-Wee-Rup 2 November 1979

Circular No. O.P. 540 of 19th September 1979, outlined the necessary precautions in the use of 2,4,5-T on Commission works, except for a definition of populated areas.

Following on this circular, I drew up a schedule showing all Commission drains in the district and categorized them into five seperate entities as regards use of 2,4,5-T. I have also shown these on a district plan with the use of different colors to enable quick identification.

I then arranged for weed control officers of the Irrigation Services Division to inspect the district and advise any changes necessary to the proposals.

With minor alterations, the enclosed schedule and plans show the areas where 2,4,5-T can be used under the following conditions:

(d) Could be used on those drains which enter the Main Canal provided no water is flowing in the drain.

(e) Can be used in drains with D & S permits providing diverters are notified in advance of application and advised length of time diversion should not take place.

Control of Mass or Blanket Spraying With Pesticide Minutes Pesticides Review Committee 23 November 1979

(i) Report on Current Situation. "... Mr Dunk thanked members for their comments which he said made a substantial improvement to the report. He stressed the importance of all members agreeing to the recommendation of the report that when applied correctly, under present controls 2,4,5-T does not present any significant hazard to human health.

(ii) Mr O'Brien noted that the report on economic uses of 2,4,5-T had been included in appendix 7 of the report on the current situation. Mr Dunk suggested that additional information on the number of properties that could be at risk if 2,4,5-T was taken off the market should be included. Dr Parsons stated that it would be hard to establish but suggested that if any alternatives was used such as amitrole then many farms would be forced out of business. In addition he made the point the alternative may be more hazardous than 2,4,5-T.

APM Letter to Pesticide Review Committee To Use 2,4,5-T in Gippsland 4 January 1980

"... Further to our letter of 1st June 1979, we now advise that we wish to carry out spraying of noxious weeds using 2,4,5-T in some instances. Originally we had indicated that we would not be using 2,4,5-T in our weed control programme this year but now, subject to very stringent internal company controls and approvals we plan to use this weedicide as per the attached schedule on blackberries on boundaries and wattles and eucalypt woody weeds within our plantations..." Hand held and spot spraying in Stradbroke, Mt Worth, Silver Creek (Narracan Creek), Jeeralang, Callignee (Jeeralang, Jumbuk, Budgeree, Callignee, Bulga).

"... Further to my letter of 15th November 1979, outlining our company's position about the use of 2,4,5-T, we have decided to resume its use with some stricter warranties from the suppliers and having audits done on the dioxin contant of 2,4,5-T we purchase. In relation to these audits, I am having great difficulty in having the audits done. No commercial laboratories can do the work. The National Analytical Laboratory in Canberra cannot do the work due to their present work load and the Victorian State Laboratory, at present cannot do the work. The West Australian Government Chemical Laboratories may do the work for me and are considering it now...

"... Every member of the Consultative Committee Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram district (established by your Government to enquire on this matter), and every member of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), has agreed that there is no evidence to connect the use of 2,4,5-T to human birth abnormalities. Similiarly, every member of the PRC believes that there is no evidence to indicate that the use of these herbicides, when applied correctly, under present controls, presents any significant hazard to human health whatsoever... Obviously this technical point is not believed or understood by the public at large. The public understanding of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D is not all in accord with the facts..." [Letter also contains strategy to sell message that 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D are safe to use].

USA Updates + APM requests permission to use 2,4,5-T Pesticide Review Committee Minutes 28 March 1980

Mr Dunk noted an article by M. Newton Corvallis Oregon, USA, called "Commentary on Emergency Suspension of 2,4,5-T and Silvex" by the US EPA. The following points were made.

(i) Professor K felt that the issue was being archetectured in the UK and that the Church of Scientology had become involved.

(ii) Professor K also believed that the EPA's case in the USA was not strong which is reflected in the fact that the case has been deferred for hearing a number of times.

(iii) The question of uses of 2,4,5-T in the USA was raised and Mr Belcher noted that 2,4,5,-T may not be used even if the EPA wins the case because of the high insurance premiums needed.

(iv) Members felt that in Australia the insurance problem may not be the same because no precedents have yet been established.

Dr Parsons reported on the use of Amitrole and its effects. Members noted that in the US Amitrole is considered an alternative to 2,4,5-T

(i) Letter to APM Forests Pty Ltd advising that the PRC had no objections to their proposed use of 2,4,5-T.

(ii) Letter to APM Forests advising that the requests for assistance by APM to have audits done on the Dioxin content of 2,4,5-T has been referred to the co-ordinator of the State Committee.

Mr B*** reported that 4 samples of 2,4,5-T had been tested with the following levels of dioxin being recorded. 2 at 0.01, 1 at 0.02, 1 at 0.03. He noted that the lowest level which can be recorded is 0.005.

State Rivers and Water Supply Commission Letter to Colac Waterworks Trust 26 May 1980

"...A limited number of analyses has been performed for these chemicals in Victorian water supplies. However, experience has shown that only in situations where substantial contamination of water has occurred, by spray drift, for example, have these herbicides been detected and then only in concentrations well below the accepted maximum limits. Under normal circumstances both 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T degrade in the environment, it has therfore not been considered necessary to routinely monitor water supplies unless there is a reason to suspect the presence of significant concentrations of these chemicals..."

Further to our letter on 1st of June 1979 and 4th of January 1980 we wish to treat blackberries and woody weeds with 2,4,5-T within our plantations on the following additional areas - Maryvale Tree Farm.

159th Meeting Pesticides Review Committee - 2,4,5-T Cause For Concern? June 27 1980

PRC Letter to Premier Hamer 1/7/80: "... the investigation has been reported from Sweden by Hardell and Sandstrom in the British Journal of Cancer, 1979. The study has claimed an increase in the risk for a type of tumour. This increase has been identified in people who have been heavily exposed to a group of chemicals which includes 2,4,5-T amongst many others. Although the position with respect to 2,4,5-T is quite inconclusive at this stage, the Committee believes that this particular investigation gives cause for concern and for taking a cautious approach. It could in fact represent the first convincing evidence yet collected to indicate the normal use of these substances could in some way be harmful to health. Consequently, in view of these facts, and in view of our earlier advice that we believed 2,4,5-T to be harmless, the PRC resolved to inform you of the matter and to ask that arrangements be made for further investigations to be undertaken. It is requested therefore, that the Minister for Health be asked to arrange for an investigation of this matter. The investigation should be based on available Victorian data and should aim to provide comparative information as fully and as quickly as possible..."

Forest Commission Victoria to Pesticides Review Committee. Advocating Hexazinone Use 21 August 1980

"Ïn the absence of 2,4,5-T, which because of bans has not been used as an aerial spray in plantations since 1977, no ther herbicide tested in trial work has proved to be as suitable for woody weed control as Velpar. 436ha to be sprayed across Victoria."

In October 1980, a report was published by Australian National University Academics, Peter Hall (Department of Statistics) and Ben Selinger (Department of Chemistry). The report was entitled "Australian Infant Mortality from Congenital Abnormalities of the Central Nervous System: A Significant Increase in Time. Is there a chemical cause?" Chemistry in Australia October 1980 Vol 47 No. 10.

The report stated that; "pp420 . . . The report prepared for the Victorian Government on congenital abnormalities in the Yarram District does not examine all the relevent Victorian data, and also makes a serious error in its statistical evalulation."

pp421 "We would like to point out a serious statistical error in a Victorian Government report (11) on the relationship between congenital abnormalities and herbicide use. In computing the expected rate of abnormalities in the Yarram area of Victoria, the authors of the Report (p.3) used data from the 18 year period 1960-77 to estimate the mortality rate in the period under scrutiny (1975-77), achieving a figure of 2.7 (actually 2.67) neonatal mortalities from congenital abnormalities per 1,000 live births. However, the mortality rate over the period 1960-74 (which is to be compared with the years 1975 -77 and so should be treated seperately) is in fact as low as 1.02 per 1,000 live births; see the Yarram column of Table 2. Because this is based on a small sample, we calculated the rate for the State of Victoria in the same period. The neonatal mortality rate from congenital abnormalities in the whole of Victoria over the period 1960-74 was 2.285, calculated on over one million live births (12). The rate of incidence of congenital abnormalities is known to exhibit geographic trends, but there is evidence that at least as far as abnormalities of the CNS go, the abnormalities in Australia tend to be reduced in regions of low population density such as Yarram (13).

Table 2: Average neonatal mortality rates from congenital abnormalities, per 1000 live births

Table 2 gives neonatal mortality rates for Yarram and all Victoria over several periods. (The Yarram figures are of course based on a much smaller sample than the Victorian figures). By coincidence, the rate for all of Victoria in the period 1975-77 is equal to that for Yarram in 1960-77. However, using the 1975-77 Victorian rate to assess the Yarram data for the period 1960-77 ignores the fact that mortality rates have shown a marked tendency to increase with time in Victoria; see below.

A total of 4 neonatal mortalities from congenital abnormalities was observed among 278 live births in Yarram during the years 1975-77. If the rate of mortality is taken as the State average of 2.285, then the probability of observing 4 or more deaths in 278 live births is 1/250. (Equal to the probability of obtaining eight heads from eight tosses of an unbiased coin). The probability of 1/150, computed on the mortality rate of 2.7, was used in the Report. Several other probability calculations based on the rate of 2.7 are also erroneous. It follows, in our view, that some of the conclusions of the Report are questionable.

We should also point out that the rate of incidence of neonatal mortality from congenital abnormalities of all kinds has shown a tendency to increase with time in the State of Victoria (see Table 1). (*That is, the probability that the tendency is due to chance is less than 1 in 100 – equal to the probability of obtaining 9 or 10 heads from 10 tosses from an unbiased coin.) The coefficient of rank correlation is 0.77, which is significant at the 1% level (one-sided test). We find it surprising that the Report did not examine this data, particularly since one of its terms of reference was to make recommendations on “the notification, surveillance and further study of congenital abnormalities with the State of Victoria".

In this discussion we have not subdivided abnormalities into those of the CNS and those not of the CNS, since no such subdivision was made in the statistical analysis of the Report. However, abnormalities of the CNS in Victoria exhibit the same trend noted above for all of Australia.

A further criticism of the Report relates to Table 3 on pp.18 and 18(a), in which neonatal deaths from both congenital and non-congenital causes are lumped together. This table represents the Report's only data on neonatal mortality for all of Victoria, and attempts to compare neonatal mortality rates with herbicide usage. However, the majority of neonatal deaths are from non-congenital causes which are very unlikely to be connected with herbicide usage, and so the comparison presented in Table 3 is almost meaningless. Moreover, herbicide usage should not be measured in terms of kg per statistical division, as in the Report, but as kg per unit area, or some similar standardized unit.

Improbable events are dismissed in Appendix 6 of the Report on the basis that the hypothesis under test could have been of potentially very many (500). We must point out that on almost every occasion in this paper we have tested the single null hypothesis that there was no tendency for mortality rates to increase with time, and therefore our conclusions cannot be dismissed in this cavalier manner."

11.Report of the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District, Government of Victoria, Melbourne 1978.

In April 1981 Peter Hall (Department of Statistics ANU) and Ben Selinger (Department of Chemistry ANU) were published in Chemistry in Australia (April 1981 Vol 48 No. 4). Their article was entitled "Australian Herbicide Usage and Congenital Abnormalities". One can only wonder at the TCDD levels of the imported 2,4,5-T.

The report investigated the rumour of hundreds of tons of Agent Orange imported into Australia in the early 1970's. They noted a "highly significant increase in Australian neonatal mortality in the mid 1970s from certain types of congenital abnormalities. The types are the same as those observed in some studies of the effects of herbicides on congenital abnormalities".

The report showed import figures from "Singapore of chemicals classified under the 1972/73 SITC code number 512.28.09 ("other phenol derivatives, halogenated etc", which excludes hexachlorophane, pentachlorophenol and 4-chloro-3,5-xylenol"

Table 1: Weight in thousands of lbs (value in thousands of $US) of imports into Australia with 1972/3 SITC code 512.28.09, by stated country of production and financial year. (NA=not available)

Table 2: TCDD levels in 200 random samples of Agent Orange returned from Vietnam to Johnston Island. (*3 samples 22, 33 and 47 mg/kg).

The average Australian usage of 2,4,5-T during the calendar years 1969 and 1970 was 500 thousand pounds (8), which should be compared with imports from Singapore in the financial year 1969-1970 . . . of 370,000 pounds. . . Figures provided . . . by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the majority of the imports from Singapore entered Australia through the state of Queensland (289,524 lb), although some also came in through Western Australia (22,400 lb).

". . . Official Government reports have been prepared on apparently discordant rates of abnormalities in parts of New Zealand and the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria. The most detailed report was for the Yarram district of Victoria (7), but even this contains serious statistical errors (9). The abnormalities which caused most concern in the Yarram report were spina bifida and urinary system abnormalities (including kidney abnormalities) have been statistically connected with exposure to TCDD (10), (11), (12), (13).

Our concern about the possible import into Australia of high TCDD herbicides led us to study Australia-wide statistics on congenital abnormalities of this type leading to neonatal death . . .

We compared the five-year period 1968-72 with the next five years, 1973 -77. For spina bifida (ICD code 741) there was an 84% increase in the mortality rate, and for urinary system abnormalities (ICD 753), a 68% increase (which includes a 97% increase in renal agenesis (ICD 753.0). The mortality rate from the total of all other causes was virtually constant (in fact, there was a 1% decrease). . .

If there is a link in Australia it is likely to be connected with Australia's high herbicide usage in heavily populated areas. For example, data in the Yarram Report indicates that Victoria's second smallest statistical division, Melbourne, is likely to have had the highest usage of 2,4,5-T per unit area in 1975. . . Incidentally the division of Central Gippsland containing Yarram, had the second highest usage". . .

(7) Anon, Report of the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District (Government of Victoria, Melbourne, 1978).

(10) M.S. Meselson, A. H. Westing, and J. D. Constable, US Congressional Record 118, 1972, 6807-6813.

(11) A.H. Westing, in 'Chlorinated Phenoxy Acids and their Dioxins' (ed. C. Ranel), 285-294 (Swedish Nat. Sci. Res. Council, Stockholm, 1977).

(12) K. D. Courtney, D W Gaylor, M. D. Hogan, H. L. Falk, R. R. Bates, and I. Mitchell, Science 168, 1970, 864-866.

(13) J. A. Moore, B.N. Gupta, J. G. Zinki, and J. G. Vox, Environmental Health Perspectives, Experimental Issue 5, 1973, 81-86.

Aranatha: Spraying of herbicides near Leongatha water supply by local farmer. Complaint by neighbour about spraying of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D near water supply.

'Expert' Published in Newspapers Claiming That 2,4,5-T Does Mankind More Good Than Harm May 1981

Media Monitor 20/5/81: Dr W.McBride - discoverer of effects of Thalidomide says alot of ill informed and emotional debate about the use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. (25/5/81) No Link With Deformities: "Dr William McBride, director of the Sydney Foundation 41 research body, said the chemical 2,4,5-T probably did more good than harm to mankind..."

Pesticide Review Committee - Progress Report on The Status of the Herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D Published June 23 1981

"...In the meantime, it is the unanimous view of the PRC that there is no scientific justification for discontinuing the use of either 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T in Victoria. In fact, on balance, additional technical information which has come to hand since our last report in November 1979 supports the continued use of these chemicals..."

"...The Victorian Government is concerned that the use of such herbicides as 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D has caused adverse public reaction and appreciate that often these reactions are based on information not necessarily scientifically sound..."

Letters to Premier Thomson from Australian Conservation Foundation and North East Residents Concerning 2,4,5-T July 29 1981

Regarding concerns from residents of Bright and Albury about impact of spraying 2,4,5-T by the Forest Commission. Letter from residents at Wandiligong about 2,4,5-T spraying in Ovens River and Growler Creek.

Border Morning Mail July 29, 1981 Mums run scared Protest on use of 245T Bright and Wandiligong residents are planning to serve the Victorian Forests Commission with an interim injunction. The injunction will be a last minute bid to stop the spraying of the controversial herbicide 245T over the area's pine plantations. Several pregnant women are preparing to leave the area if the spraying goes ahead. But the Myrtleford district forester, Mr Bernie Evans, defended the proposed use of the herbicide and said the commission had no case to answer. Mr Evans said 245T was the cheapest, safest and most effective way of eradicating woody weeds in pine plantations. He confirmed that a helicopter and ground crew were standing by at a private airstrip near Myrtleford. The secretary of the Wandiligong Preservation Committee, Mrs Coral Bennett, said she did not believe the spraying would have been made public if the news had not leaked out. She said people who pumped water from creeks were worried about contaminated run-off. Ïf there was nothing to fear from the spraying, the commission could have advertised it in the local paper," she said. A Wandiligong woman, Mrs Marti Wesley, said yesterday she would leave town if the spraying went ahead. Mrs Wesley said the spraying was a direct threat to the life of her unborn child. "I know the links will take a long time to prove," she said. "But I don't intend to stay around and let myself and my baby become statistics. "I'll leave until I think it's safe to come back." Unless the spraying is completed by July 31, it will have to be postponed until next year. Residents of the Myrtleford-Bright-Wandiligong area discovered late last week that the Forests Commission planned to use the herbicide to eradicate silver wattle scattered throughout 1000ha of pine plantations close to the three towns. A farmer who had been approached for permission to land a helicopter on his property rang and the ABC and the news was out. The Forests Commission plan had been approved by the Victorian Poisons Review Committee. But residents likely to be affected had apparently not yet been notified. The first many heard of the plan was through a radio news bulletin. Mrs Bennett said local people were worried about aerial spraying because there was no guarantee where it would go. "As well as the potential effect on the living and unborn, we have to consider what effect spraying would have on our water and local crops such as apples and nuts," she said. "We've has all sorts of assurances from the Forests Commission. "But they mean nothing to us. "In this weather, everything pours out of the hills and onto the creeks and that's where we all get our water from. "I don't think they want to admit any link between 245T and birth defects - but that doesn't give them the excuse to use it. "The people who make these decisions are unlikely to become pregnant." Mrs Bennett said many people felt the commission just wanted a quick kill and was not concerned about possible consequences. "I've never seen people so stirred up about an issue - everyone's talking about it," she said. About 30 Bright and Wandiligong women met yesterday to consider their next step. Many expressed fears about the effects on their water supply, which is pumped from creeks and into tanks. And a group of residents has approached the Forests Commission to half the spraying until a series of questions could be answered. They want a detailed scientific investigation into the program's possible effects. Unless they receive an answer today, they will press ahead with plans to halt the spraying with a temporary injunction. The member for Benambra, Mr Lieberman said he had conveyed concern to the Victorian Forests Minister, Mr Austin. "I have been assured these expressions of concern will be carefully examined," he said. "Mr Austin will make sure the full details of the spraying are made known. "There will be no spraying on urban areas." Mr Evans said the wattle had to be eradicated and 245T treatment would keep the plantations free for up to 30 years. "Wattle and other plants can't coexist with pine without serious effects on our production," he said. "If we didn't spray, we'd have to slash by hand, which would be both costly and ineffective. "Correctly applied, the herbicide is completely safe for all." Mr Evans said the herbicide would be applied at a rate of 1.1kg a he, which was 13 times less than the application of a combination of 24D and 245T during the Vietnam war. During the war, the toxic dioxin content of the chemical could have been as high as 50ppm. But in Victoria it had to be less than 0.1ppm. He said the batch to be used in the area had been proved to contain less than 0.005ppm. Under agreement with the Poisons Review Committee, the commission will be unable to spray herbicides after July 31, because it could then be hazardous to the district's main crop - tobacco.

Pesticide Review Committee 31/7/81: 2. Report from the Forest Commission on the Aerial Spraying Program with 2,4,5-T. Dr ... introduced ... who addressed the meeting on the progress of the Forest Commission's proposed aerial spraying programme as follows: - A group of residents from Wandiligong have objected to the spraying and called for a Public Meeting on 1/8/81. - The programme has been discontinued for the time being due to unsuitable weather. - The committee after comprehensive discussion on the operation reaffirmed its decision, taken at the last meeting, that it had no objectives to the proposed spraying programme. Also discussed (26/6/81): "The Forests Commission Victoria, submitted a proposal to conduct a program of aerial spraying with the herbicide 2,4,5-T as the butyl ester for the control of woody weeds in a number of its softwood plantation areas during Winter 1981. ...noted that the matter was urgent as spraying would need to commence immediately...The committee had no objection to the proposed trial". FCV Letter to PRV 25/6/81: "... proposes ... aerial spraying ... where silver wattle comprises at least 70 per cent of the weed population... The Commission has not used 2,4,5-T for control ofwoody weeds in its plantations since 1977. In the intervening period the Commission has tested a variety of herbicides and methods of application...The herbicide Velpar has proved to be effective for killing eucalypt regrowth, but it is prohibitively expensive and ineffective for killing silver wattle... Area to be sprayed 2736ha [Beaufort - Mt Lonarch, Beechworth, Warrenbayne, Bright, Mansfield, Marysville, Mirboo, Yackandandah WSC. - 181ha Yackandandah Water Supply Catchment, 20ha Benalla Waterworks Trust."

On the basis of the evidence currently available regarding the health effects associated with 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) recommends the following:

(i) That affiliated organisations ban the use of 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T in built-up areas.

(ii) That 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T be restricted to agricultural and forestry use only, and that such use will be further restricted to zones exceeding 10 kilometres from areas of potential human exposure.

(iii) That aerial and other application of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T should not be carried out under meteorological conditions or spraying methods which could be expected to cause spray drift onto non-target zones.

(iv) That sufficient prior warning and publicity be given to the days and areas on which spraying of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T will take place. Neighbouring properties should be notified and intent to spray nottices should appear in local papers.

(v) That each State Government adopt Regulations under their Pesticide Registration Schemes implementing the above recommendations, and in addition stipulating;

(a) That appropriate records be kept by all 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T users detailing; the areas sprayed, the date of spraying, the substances and quantities of each sprayed, and the names and addresses of persons conducting the spray. These records are to be made available to workers and their representatives upon request.

(b) That all persons engaged in the use and manufacture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T be trained and alerted to the hazards of handling these substances.

(c) That all persons exposed to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in their manufacture and use, in particular women, be provided with appropriate and comfortable protective clothing including;

(d) That all persons exposed to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in their manufacture and use undergo comprehensive medical examination at regular six monthly intervals which shall include appropriate blood and urine tests. The results of such medical examinations are to be made available to workers and their representatives.

(vi) That each State Government establish a register of birth defects and abortions so that the influence of these and other potentially harmful agents entering the environment can be properly monitored. The information obtained from each State should be combined and co-ordinated by a Federal Unit.

(vii) That the Federal Government implement a pesticides review scheme as part of an overall licensing scheme for hazardous chemicals, as spelt out in the ACTU's submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Hazardous Chemicals.

High Dioxin Content 2,4,5-T Pesticides Review Committee 171st Meeting September 4 1981

9.2 2,4,5-T Batch with excessive Dioxin. Mr Belcher reported that news had reached the press that CIK Kwinana had produced a batch of 2,4,5-T which had 0.4ppm of dioxin instead of a permissable maximum of 0.1ppm. He had been to CIK Kwinana's depot in Victoria and believed there were no faulty batches here and none of the Department of Agriculture, Lands Department or Forest Commission had used the faulty batches.

State Pollution Control Commission November 1981

Environmental Impacts of the Chlorophenoxy Herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D

State Pollution Control Commission recently did a study into all states regarding monitoring of chlorophenoxy herbicides and TCDD in Australia...

P60 "Keith Turnbull Research Institute of the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey has investigated 2,4,5-T levels in the Tarra River following the spraying of dense stands of blackberries along one of its banks. (Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board, Dept Crown Lands and Survey pers comm). The blackberries were sprayed over a distance of 100m to a depth of 10-15m in from the bank, using approximately 600L of aqueous spray containing 370g of 2,4,5-T butyl ester and amitrole, equivalent to roughly 3.5 to 5 k/ha... 1/6th of spray went directly into river... 30m downstream 2,4,5-T peaked at 0.2mg/L after 1 hour (0.003mg/L after 4 hours). (1km downstream 0.05mg/L. 0.01mg/L after 3 hours...).

Letter from APM to PRC to spray Hexazinone, Simazine and drop 1080 baits in Gippsland Region December 23 1981

"... It is now ACTU policy that, in the absence of acceptable safeguards, affiliates should ban the use and handling of the herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D..."

From PRC Minutes: ACTU policy arose from a Conference of Affiliates, held on March 16th 1982. The policy calls on affiliated organisations to ban the use on handling of both 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, in the absence of acceptable safeguards. The decision then goes on to call on Government's to adopt a series of contraints which presumably constitute "acceptable safeguards".

(c) ACTU calls for neighbouring properties to be notified, in addition to notices in local papers.

(d) ACTU calls for training, protective clothing and medical checks for all exposed workers...

Banning 2,4,5-T would have impacts on blackberry spraying - blackberries take up 650,000ha of land in Victoria. It would require 2,4,5-T to be replaced with Garlon. The Government has 55,000 to 110,000 litres of 2,4,5-T and how will this be disposed of. Firms supplying 2,4,5-T to Government may not be compensated. Garlon can currently only meet 25% of demand.

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission - Use of 2,4,5-T by the Commission May 7 1982

In Attachment 1, details are given of Commission weed spraying using products containing 2,4,5-T together with alternative treatments possibly using products that do not contact 2,4,5-T.

The alternatives given are effective, and, when properly used, are not a hazard to operators, water users or the environment. However, there are more expensive and would virtually double present costs - from $22,000 to $43,000 annually.

The value of present stocks of 2,4,5-T is approximately $5,000. That is if 2,4,5-T were suddenly withdrawn from use, an additional cost of $5,000 would be incurred initially.

Products containing 2,4,5-T have been used by the Commission for almost twenty-five years without any problem. Precautions have always been taken to protect spray operators, water users, crops and home gardens, and to observe recommendations of the Health Commission.

Victorian Government Tightens Controls On Use of 2,4,5-T (Victorian Cabinet Decision May) 1982

In 1982 the Victorian Government tightened regulations on the use of 2,4,5-T. For instance the permissable level of dioxin was reduced significantly, aerial spraying and use of mist sprays were banned, spraying was prohibited within 50 metres of inhabited buildings and safety procedures for operators were toughened.

Decision included standards, formulation, sale, training, operator safety and withholding period.

"Spray restrictions (i) there is proposed a temporary ban on aerial spraying of 2,4,5-T dependent on the powers available under the Agricultural Chemicals Act and if invoked for such time as more information on this aspect has been examined (ii) a temporary ban on misting machines will be applied until more information is available. (iii) all other spraying will be prohibited within 50m of an inhabited dwelling or public building. (iv) spraying of blackberries will be prohibited during that time when ripe fruit is present. Agreed that date of restriction on sale to be determined by Ministers of Lands, Agriculture, Health and Conservation.

A welcoming sign at the gateway to Yarram, in the butter and cream belt of Gippsland, boasts of the district's unspoiled charm.

But not far away, across the thick pine forests, lies the secluded Hiawatha Valley where other signs show that all is not well - dead trees, dying vegetation and an absence of bird life.

For more than 20 years the Lands Department has conducted a programme of herbicide spraying in Hiawatha Valley, using among other chemicals, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, components of the military defoliant Agent Orange.

Either or both chemicals were also used in Agent White, Agent Pink, Agent Green and Agent Purple, the defoliants used in the Vietnam War.

As a result of the spraying residents claim a picture book setting in the Strzeleckis has suffered what took place in South Vietnam.

The spraying has continued here, as in other parts of the State, in an attempt to control blackberries and weeds such as ragwort.

But the deaths of five workers engaged in spraying over the past three years has raised community concern about the possible health hazards associated with herbicides.

Around Yarram, which was at the centre of a birth deformity scare four years ago, the controversy has been renewed by a small group of women who say the drift from continued spraying is destroying their haven in the mountains.

They claim the volume of chemicals poured on to Crown Land bordering their properties has defoliated and killed trees and taken its toll of stock.

Some of the cattle grazing in the area suffer deformities and owners say that abnormally high numbers of stock have had to be destroyed due to paralysis and unexplained sickness.

Those who came to live in the hill country near Hiawatha in the 1960's remember when their bowl-shaped valley was filled with greenery.

Banksias and ferns lined the gravel tracks that climb up to the cottages of the valley's inhabitants.

Sturdy blackwoods, wattles and gums stood in the paddocks and willows hung over the Little Albert river that tumbles through the valley.

A former resident of the valley, Mrs Joan Osborne, speaks of the time when birds made a din in the trees outside ber bedroom window each morning.

"It was spectacular, just gorgeous," she said: "To think we used to complain about the noise - now you can hardly hear a bird at all."

Today, the two towering trees that shaded their old farmhouse are stark skeletons.

And the willows are nowhere to be seen. Now they are no more than images in Mrs Osborne's old snapshots.

Another resident in Hiawatha Valley, Miss Rene Woollard, is a fiercely independent and, to her detractors, somewhat eccentric spinster. She led the way to her tangled garden and pointed to the exaggerated growth of a mahogany gum.

Miss Wollard reached up and picked a handful of sickly leaves, crinkling at the edges. She indicated several brown spots: "That's where it was hit by the drift. It is funnelled into this valley by the air currents - it's completely uncontrollable," she said.

Miss Woollard came to live in the valley at Stacey's Bridge, 20 kilometres from Yarram, in 1966 with her late brother, Laurie. They planned to start a nursery and market garden on a 20-hectare property.

Soon after they took delivery of $8000 worth of plants, the Lands Department began spraying weeds and blackberry bushes. Now she has only 30 trees left.

In the early 1970s the department began spraying 2,4,5-T by air in the Hiawatha valley with devastating results for the locals.

Mrs Osborne recorded the date of the blitz, on Crown land about half a kilometre from the Osborne's dairy farm: 16/12/71.

"My garden was as good as wiped right out," said Mrs Osborne. "All the choice plants and shrubs were the worst affected; the delphiniums, dahlias and 24 new roses I'd bought the year before, plus all the vegetable garden..."

Mrs Osborne noticed that a koala colony, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and lyrebirds disappeared from the area. Fish in the Little Albert River vanished, as did the bird life.

Then, two weeks after the spraying, Mrs Osborne replaced the water in the goldfish bowl with some taken from their drinking tanks. In the morning the fish were all dead. She believes their household water was poisoned when the spray drifted on to their roof and was washed into the tanks with the first rain.

The spraying continued throughout the early 1970s and on one occasion, Mrs Osborne said, a plane emptied its load over her car as she drove the children to school.

"There was a fine white mist all over the car and windscreen and I had to use the wipers to see where I was driving," she said.

On 18 October, 1974, private contractors arrived in the Hiawatha area, looking for aerial spraying work.

Despite written protests from Mrs Osborne they went ahead - at 4.30pm on 21 October, she noted - and sprayed a property about two kilometres away for one and a half hours.

"Almost immediately we got the drift as there was a southeast breeze blowing direclty from the sprayed area towards ours and Miss Woollard's property," Mrs Osborne said.

Unknown to her at the time, she said, it was to be the beginning of years of agony and emotional trauma from which she feels she may never recover.

"While the aerial spraying was being carried out I spent all the time in the garden watering down shrubs and plants hoping to save them."

Three days later her face developed a severe rash. "My face burned and stung like a severe sun burn and looked like a dried up paper bag with a rash," she said.

Twice Mrs Osborne has had pre-cancerous cells burned from her face and neck, which caused her a month of pain and embarrassment.

A doctor's certificate diagnosed what at the time appeared to be allergic contact dermatitis following aerial spraying.

Since being exposed to herbicide sprays Mrs Osborne says, her health has deteriorated. She is nervous, she gets depressed, her memory and concentration is bad and her bones ache. A doctor has also told her she has brain damage.

Mrs Osborne, her husband Dave and family moved to a smaller property near Traralgon in 1977 to escape the drift, a move she thought would also see an improvement in her health.

"After more than four years I am worse if anything. I know now that I will never be well again."

Miss Woollard's three-roomed home sits half-way up the slopes of the valley, obscured from the road by a tangle of blackberries.

She has been an indefatigable fighter for the abolition of herbicides for 15 years, a stand which she says has isolated her from much of the farming community.

"People refer to me at 'that silly old duck up the mountains' but I'm not afraid," she said.

Miss Woollard, whose farm upbringing taught her to be cautious with all poisons, became concerned about chemical sprays when she saw the effect it was having on her sheep and cattle.

It's all written down in an old ledger book: the spastic calves, the 15 cows she had shot by a neighbour because of calving paralysis, the deformities too distasteful to mention.

A Friesian bull, which was sprayed with 2,4,5-T in 1967 while tethered by the roadside, developed a tumour-like growth on its back. "His daughter was born in 1980 with blisters," Miss Woollard said.

Miss Woollard produced a steer's skull with a grotesque bone deformity under its jaw. She claimed it was rapid bone cancer, which developed after the animal was exposed to herbicide.

She motioned to a pen where an emaciated cow, ribs protruding through its dull, matted coat, tottered about on shaky hindlegs: "I found her upside down in a gully in 1975. She's never put on fat due to a breakdown in her metabolism."

However, Dr Bill Parsons, a member of the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board, who has visited the valley, said: "There's no way the drift from those phenoxy herbicides would kill those trees."

Dr Parsons said he had been told by the Agriculture Department that the deformed steer skull was "a classic case of lumpy jaw" and not bone cancer as Miss Woollard claimed.

Joan Osborne said that when her family first settled at Stacey's Bridge, the Lands Department threatened to prosecute farmers if they did not spray with 2,4,5-T or 2,4-D.

But after using Lands Department equipment to spray grass on their property, the Osbornes became suspicious when their cows did not become pregnant.

In their last winter at the farm, they lost 100 of their dairy herd. The cows suddenly contracted an unknown illness.

Both Miss Woollard and Mrs Osborne said 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D were often mixed far stronger than recommended.

"It was left to unskilled people who just swished it around as if it was water," Miss Woollard said.

Mrs Osborne added: "The Crown Land at the back of our home must have been sprayed as strongly as Vietnam to defoliate and kill the huge gums."

The irony was that throughout the spraying campaigns, year in, year out, the ragwort continued to grow.

Between 1975 and 1976, a number of babies were born with major deformities soon after the Yarram district had been sprayed from the air with 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. The babies died. Two doctors found that the frequency of neural tube disorders was 10 times the world rate. They found the Yarram abnormality rate among living children was at least twice the national average.

In March 1978, following a controversy over the deformities, the then Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, announced an inquiry which found no evidence linking the birth defects and herbicides spraying.

But scientists and doctors who took a close interest in the inquiry criticised it for a lack of thoroughness. The report said the malformations did not suggest a specific local cause. It also said that three abnormal babies among 93 deliveries at Yarram was a one in 500 probability which could happen by chance.

An ACTU-Trades Hall Council occupational health and safety unit report on the use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, released last year said:

"It is necessary to point out that the data analysed in the Yarram Report are mortality rather than incidence data. There is, as yet, no systematic collection of incidence data on such abnormalities throughout Australia.

"Further, as the majority of malformed foetuses are aborted, spontaneous abortions must be considered simultaneously with the numbers of live-born malformed children if credible judgements are to be made. The Yarram Report fails to recognise the importance of abortion information and consequently exempts it from analyses and conclusions."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19820426&id=MzNVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sZQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2295,5461954

Farmers and the chemical industry will fiercly oppose moves by the Victorian Government to end the use of some herbicides.

Bans on the chemicals 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D would cost agriculture tens of millions of dollars in lost production, the president of the pastoral division of the Victorian Farmers and Graziers Union, Mr Des Crowe, said yesterday.

All primary products would be affected, but grain would be worst hit.he said. There could be shortages of some grain-based products on the domestic market and there would be a drop in export earnings he said.

Mr Crowe was commenting on a report that the Minister for Forests and Lands, Mr Mackenzie, planned to discuss with his department's officers the feasibility of ceasing the use of the herbicides.

Mr Mackenzie said: "It has been my attitude on the information I have obtained that there is enough doubt there to stop the use of herbicides until such time they are proven perfectly safe." Stopping the use of the herbicides was ALP policy and he intended to adhere to it, he said.

Mr Crowe said that farmers could work without 2,4,5-T with a minimum of diasbility. "But 2,4-D has been around for a long time and farmers are familiar with the use of it. If it were to be taken away I am confident that this country would be worse for it," he said.

There were presently no known alternatives to the herbicides; they controlled weeds which, if not controlled, reduced the production capacity of the land, he said.

The chemicals had no undesirable traits if they were used as directed, but there had been sad results when they had been put to absurd use, Mr Crowe said.

Dow Chemical (Australia) Ltd. would argue against any move to ban the chemicals, the company's manager of government and public affairs, Mr Gordon Weate, said. Such a move would be ill-advised, although the company would respect any Government regulation, he said.

It was unfair to demand that herbicides be perfectly safe; that was like arguing that a car or an axe should be perfectly safe, he said. Companies could only make the products as safe as possible and provide instructions. Farmers and employers had a responsibility also to pass instructions to users, he said.

Statistics about the extent of pesticide use in Australia are imprecise and scarce. A Federal Government report last year estimated that between 2000 and 3000 tonnes of 2,4-D were used annually "in a wide variety of formulations to cater for the widely different uses".

The report, "Pesticides used in Vietnam Hostilities and their use in Australian Agriculture', was compiled by senior staff of the Federal departments of Defence, Health, Veteran Affairs, Primary Industry and the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

It says in part: "Any restriction on pesticide use would certainly jeopardise several our most important primary industries and reduce the quality and quantity of primary produce offered for sale domestically and overseas."

The report concludes: "Possible alternatives for 2,4-D are available for only a very few of its present uses, and costs involved in any restrictions of 2,4-D usage, particularly in cereal crop production, would be extremely high."

The Commonwealth pesticides co-ordinator, Mr Jack Snelson, said yesterday that herbicides were worth about $100 million a year to retailers and about $500 million a year to users in the improved yields that followed pest control. Australian states were unanimous "that there are no reasons whatsover to restrict the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T" from a scientific and adminstrative point of view, he said.

The Victorian Lands Department alone has been estimated to sell about $1 million worth of chemicals to private users each year.

The State Opposition spokesman on lands and forests, Mr Smith, said farmers would be alarmed about any plans to ban 2,4,5-T. He personally was "very windy" wbout 2,4-D he said. No ban should be imposed without full consultation with the industry and medical and scientific authorities, Mr Smith said.

Federal Government Announces A Royal Commission on the Effects of War on Australian's who served in Vietnam The Age 18 March 1983

ADCRC Meeting 22/4/83 Letter from Joan Coxsedge MP to Premier Cain 24 March 1983

"... Further to my letter of February expressing concern over the Government's intention to permit spraying with 2,4,5-T to continue...I was amazed to see in the Victorian Government Gazette No 21 of 3 March 1983 that contracts have been let with Nufarm Chemicals Pty Ltd for the supply of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T to Government Departments over the period 1/1/83 - 31/12/84..."

5.1 2,4,5-T UK Report. Royal Commission on Vietnam Veterans. Mr ... said that the UK Committee, after reviewing all the latest available information had concluded that there was no need to stop the use of 2,4,5-T in England.

Forests Commission Propose to spray 463ha in Yarram Region with Amitrole and Atrazine Letter to ADCRC June 27 1983

Victorian Trades Hall Council letter to Minister of Lands R.A. Mackenzie 24 August 1983

"...the fourth lecture on 2,4,5-T toxicology was so biased, so grossly misleading and such an outrageous misrepresentation of the true positions, that I have attached seperate comments. Certainly if 2,4,5-T is as safe as it is represented in this lecture, the Department employees attending the training courses must have wondered why the Government had introduced special controls over the herbicide. 3. The reports on 2,4,5-T prepared by the Victorian Pesticides Review Committee that are quoted in the lecture referred to above, have to my knowledge never been published, and have never been available to this unit... The PRC is a secretive body which appears to exercise great influence over the process of pesticide registration and control in Victoria, but is not subject to open public audit..."

Beechworth Branch ALP concerned about aerial spraying of Chemicals by Forest Commission - Letter to Pesticides Review Committee 23 September 1983

Why Is 2,4,5-T No Longer Registered For Use in the United States October 1983 Pesticides Review Committee

On October 17, 1983, the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA announced the withdrawal of 2,4,5-T from registration. The reasons for this have been investigated by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia which concluded that the Dow Chemical Company withdrew from the registration/cancellation hearing for economic reasons. The company spent a reported $10 million on the case and was not prepared to take it further. Dow has also developed an acceptable alternative chemical called Triclopyr, which is covered under patent and which is therefore more profitable to Dow, less controversial than 2,4,5-T and has current registration for field use. Dow spokesman Keith McKennon is reported as saying "Since we have no significant commercial interest we have chosen ... to drop 2,4,5-T from the market..." Deregistration in the USA automatically followed Dow's withdrawal from the hearing..."

Dow Chemicals Withdraws From US Court proceedings - Pesticide Review Committee 28 October 1983

4.2 "Mr Hill asked about the recent US decision on 2,4,5-T. Dr Parsons explained that Dow Chemicals Pty Ltd had volunarily withdrawn from legal proceedings arising from a "slow cause notice" from the US EPA which required Dow to show cause why 2,4,5-T should not be de-registered. Dow withdrew because of the continuing high legal costs, rather than any admission that 2,4,5-T is hazardous to humans".

"The ADCRC (formerly Advisory Committee on Pesticides) has apparently published two reports on the health effects of the herbicides 2,4,5-T. Although neither report has been made available to the VTHC, extracts provided to us by the Minister of Lands (contained in lectures given by his Departmental officers) would indicate that these reports give a biased and one-sided picture of 2,4,5-T toxicity and undermine the Government's efforts to control this toxic material. We are concerned at the secrecy that surrounds the working of these communities, and at the lack of accountability of their members...

"The State Government is considering further controls on the use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T in populated areas... Mr Roper ... said all departments involved with 2,4,5-T would take further steps to ensure that existing regulations relating to its use are being followed. The Government last year tightened regulations on the use of 2,4,5-T. For instance the permissable level of dioxin was reduced significantly, aerial spraying and use of mist sprays were banned, spraying was prohibited within 50m of inhabited buildings and safety procedures for operators were toughened..."

Pesticide Review Committee Special Meeting - Consensus of World Opinion on 2,4,5-T December 9 1983

"... The most recent review on 2,4,5-T was that of the NHMRC on 27th and 28th October 1983 when that session issued the statement that it saw no reason to change its stance supported 2,4,5-T. This matter has been discussed with officers of the NHMRC structure who agree that to this point in time there has been no new data nor interpretation of existing data on 2,4,5-T to invalidate any of the many and detailed reviews which have declared 2,4,5-T acceptable over this last six years.

This of course includes the very detailed and comprehensive report of the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District in Victoria in 1978. This report has been circulated and accepted worldwide. Extensive reviews by Queensland in 1981 (pp38) and New South Wales 1982 (pp90) have supported continued use of 2,4,5-T. A similar inquiry by South Australia in 1978-79 accepted continues use of 2,4,5-T...Professor McQueen (New Zealand) is adamant that there is no problem in health terms from proper use of 2,4,5-T.

The UK Pesticides Review Committee ... 1980 states; "What we have had to consider in this review is whether there is any sound medical or scientific evidence that human or other living creatures or our environment would come to harm if cleared 2,4,5-T herbicides continue to be used in this country for the recommended purpose and in the recommended way. We have found none..."

However on th American continent the findings of Justice Nunn at the Nova Scotia hearing on 2,4,5-T which lasted twenty days support the findings of authorities and competent scientists on the world scene. ie "the strongest evidence indicates that these substances (2,4-D and 2,4,5-T) sprayed in the Nova Scotia environment will not get into or travel through the rivers and streams, nor will they travel via groundwater to any lands of the plaintiffs who are adjacent to or near the sites to be sprayed. Further, if any did, the amount would be so insignificant that there would be no risk"...

2,4,5-T Monograph from the Food And Agricultural Organisation of the UN (FAO/UN) September 1980... The UN view 2,4,5-T as an essential herbicide to world food production and have found no evidence to support carcinogenic nor teratogenic effects, but recommend its continued use.

State Government departments have been banned from using the herbicide 2,4,5-T in built-up areas throughout Victoria.

The ban does not apply to individuals, local councils or to statuatory authorities, but it is believed the Government will privately urge a general halt in the use of the herbicide.

The main State Government supplier and user of 2,4,5-T is the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands which uses the herbicide mainly to control noxious weeds in forests and on Crown land.

The Health Minister, Mr Roper, said the ban on departmental use of 2,4,5-T would remain until the Government made a decision on its long-term use. That decision, he said, would be made after the Government received a report on the possible harmful effects of the herbicide now being prepared by the agricultural and domestic chemicals review committee within the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Mr Roper said the Government has also decided to provide money for the use of chemical alternatives to 2,4,5-T for planned Government programs of noxious weed control.

Funds would also be provided to the Keith Turnbull Research Institute at Frankston to allow the speeding-up of research into possible biological control of the main noxious weed, the blackberry.

Mr Roper said a rust fungus which attacked the blackberry seemed a promising form of non-chemical control.

He said the continued use of 2,4,5-T in non-urban areas would still be controlled by stringent regulations which the Government introduced last year. These controls ban all aerial spraying and the use of misting machines, and require the provisions of protective clothing for workers using the chemical. The regulations also require that the chemical must not be used within 50 metres of buildings.

The ban on Government department use applies only in areas designated urban or semi-urban. This means the chemical can not be used on land zoned residential, industrial or commercial, vacant land subdivided for those three purposes, or on sports grounds or public open space which is mostly surrounded by land with those zonings.

A spokesman for Mr Roper said yesterday that the Government did not have the power to ban the use of the chemical by councils, statuatory authorities or individuals acting privately.

But it is expected that the Government will watch statuatory authorities and councils closely to see that they adhere to the spirit of the Government's decision.

Mr Roper said the Government was well aware of concerns expressed recently over the possible harmful effects of 2,4,5-T. "We are also acutely aware of the need to control noxious weeds, which degrade productive agricultural land and threaten the natural environment in parks and reserves in this state."

The Government's limited ban follows recent claims by three Greensborough women that the use of 2,4,5-T close to their homes may have caused their miscarriages.

Pesticides: The New Plague

The victims..the politics..the alternatives

Linda Cawcutt/Catherine Watson Friends of the Earth Fitzroy, 1984.

4 Conspiracy of Silence p10 - 12 . . . the crows would pick out their eyes and the foxes would attack them where they lay, unable to move or to defend themselves.

"Rene Woollard is 72 and farms 10 acres at Stacey’s Creek near Yarram. Seventy-two should be an age for peace and reflection, but Rene is still fighting a war. Her war is with the Lands Department and the Forest Commission, which she believes have blitzed Yarram in a cloud of deadly spray for many years. Her struggles have not made her popular with all her neighbouring farmers. In the past year her watchdog and pet goat have been poisoned because - she believes - she has broken a conspiracy of silence.

Rene and her brother came to the once beautiful Albert River Valley in the early 1960s with a young dairy herd and $16,000 worth of garden stock. They intended to start a flower nursery and market garden. Their first intimation of trouble came when the Lands Department told them that their new business posed a problem because of the sprays the department had to use to control noxious weeds, including blackberry.

Rene’s brother had consistently used DDT on their previous farm. He always followed the manufacturer’s directions and took every possible precaution. But he was already dying when they arrived at their new farm. In December 1967 he died from liver damage and an enlarged heart.

By 1969, the Lands Department was taking care of the problem of noxious weeds in the Yarram district by spraying the road sides and by aerial spraying. By the early 1970s, Rene’s nursery stock had been completely wiped out. She says now the project never stood a chance.

Then the Lands Department began to approach her offering to spray her land too (for a price). When she did not accept their offers, they became more insistent, threatening her and other landowners with court action if they did not control the noxious weeds on their property. Rene was told that if she could not afford to pay for the spraying, the cost would be entered against the title of the land and deducted when the land was sold.

She describes what followed as the blitzing of Yarram, with thousands of litres of chemicals - the infamous Agent Orange among them - being sprayed by air and from the ground. Although designed to eradicate blackberry, among other noxious weeds, Rene said it merely encouraged the blackberry and destroyed everything else, including gum trees that were hundreds of years old.

In 1975-76, the Lands Department pressured Rene into allowing a spray gang to spray part of her river flats. The spraying cost $400 and took eight days. The operation required a tractor, two trucks, two tanks and seven men and they used 23 tanks of 2,4-D Amicide 50.

Then the nightmare started. In the next few years, Rene lost 34 cows out of a herd of 51 with paralysis. The paralysis always started the same way, and Rene grew to dread the sight of a cow or sheep that was slightly unsteady on its legs. When they went down, she helped them up at first and they seemed to recover, but the day always came when she wouldn’t be able to get them up again because all the power in their legs had gone. And when that happened there was nothing left but to shoot them.

In the winter, hundreds of sheep and cows in the mountains went down into the gullys and, if the farmer didn’t find them and shoot them, the crows would pick out their eyes and the foxes would attack them where they lay, unable to move or to defend themselves. Rene has a photograph of a cow that foxes have mauled while it was still alive.

During this time many of the cows developed swellings of the thyroid gland which Rene was able to treat successfully. All recovered except one steer which developed rapid bone cancer and had to be shot.

There was also a big increase in the number of cows aborting their calves between six and eight months. Many more died in birth, drowning in their own fluid as the sac became too tough for them to break. Rene began to carry a knife with her so that she could cut the sac if the mother was having trouble.

The calves that did make it were born with tumours on the afterbirth, which was discoloured by coffee-coloured blood. Many calves were born with enlarged joints and oversized heads. They were weak and undersized, spastic and blind. Some had no tails. They would live a few days and then die.

Yearlings slaughtered at the time showed a breakdown of fats, which were a glossy orange shade, liver and kidney damage, enlarged hearts and excess fluid in the body cage. Their meat was a slippery watery mess and they all looked as if they had been exposed to great heat, or “cooked”. Meat in the butcher’s shop showed a breakdown of the sinews.

In 1975-76, Yarram farmers shot and buried 3,000 cows, for which they received a compensation of $5 a head. Rene said the other farmers were scared to speak for fear that their farms would gain a reputation for disease and so became harder to sell. A conspiracy of silence pervaded the area. Rene says that she heard a farmer say: “I lost nine calves last night,” but he just buried them and said nothing, anxious to protect his farm’s reputation. Drought was selected as the universal scapegoat for the deaths and abortions, but there have always been droughts and water shortages in a farmer’s life. They are something he can measure and fight. This was an enemy that everyone refused to recognise."

"Herbicide ran down workers' arms saturating their clothing. The gas masks at the depots collected cobwebs...

Arch Lavell died of bowel cancer in April 1979 after years of illness. A question mark still hangs over his death. Lavell worked for the Victorian Lands Department for 10 years, for seven of those as a spray operator. He spent six months of each year spraying with herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.

Seventeen months after Lavell's death another Lands Department spray operator died of cancer. Three more department employees involved in spraying died in quick succession.

The Lands Department put a figure of $10,000 on Lavell's life. The compensation was paid to his widow three years after his death. It was a fraction of what should have been awarded, according to Australian Workers Union lawyers. Although one local doctor said at first that Lavell's illness was related to his work, government doctors later persuaded him otherwise.

Until Lavell called in the union there was nowhere for spray workers to wash. They were issued with minimal protective clothing and faulty spray equipment. Herbicide ran down workers' arms saturating their clothing. The gas marks at the depot collected cobwebs.

A publication in the series Rural Industry Safety dealing with agricultural chemicals states: "after spraying the operator should shower and change his clothing; he should have his protective clothing laundered at frequent intervals in addition to when it is obviously contaminated. Spray equipment should be checked before re-use for leaks, blocked nozzles or faulty hoses."

Arch Lavell literally sweated chemicals. He perspired heavily whenever he used the herbicide sprays. His family remembers that sharp smell. The constant skin rash and violent headaches abated when he stopped work for a period of two weeks but after the first day back the rash flared up again. Arch was 52 when he died of cancer. He was spraying for the Lands Department seven weeks before his death.

"That the VPSA support officers who choose not be to involved in the use of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. Since the motion the Victorian Government banned use of 2,4,5-T in urban and semi-urban areas".

Minister for CFL asked to review safety measures for use of 2,4,5-T by Government Agencies.

VTHC Protocol Minutes Agricultural and Domestic Chemicals Review Committee 25 May1984

An interdepartmental committee has been convened by the Ministry of Industrial Affairs with a view to agreeing with the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) on a protocol for the use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T by VPSA members...

3.1 4 May 1984. Some workers in the State Chemistry Laboratory and the Forest Commission have refused to work with 2,4,-D and 2,4,5-T. They have the support of the VPSA. A protocol for handling of these chemicals by public servants is being developed jointly by the Department of Agriculture and the Trades Hall Council.

"...Only last year a Sydney Royal Commission was told by a Victorian land management officer how he was locked naked in a tank of 2,4,5-T up to his neck for five minutes by "friends" for a "joke"when he first joined a Lands Department blackberry spraying team in 1970. The team wore no protective clothing apart from trousers and shirts, and was frequently saturated with the chemical for up to 5 hours before washing, he said. Little warning was given from his employer about the dangers of chemicals, the man said..."

2,4,5-T Still In Use in Victoria Minutes Agricultural and Domestic Chemicals Review Committee 24 August 1984

3.1 Mr MacKenzie mentioned a recent US study on birth abnormalities associated with agent orange, where no correlation was found, as in the Australian studies. He also reported that the recently illegally introduced blackberry rust was gradually spreading throughout Victoria but it is expected to increase its rate of spread next summer. Ms Smith reported that 100 urine tests are to be carried out on workers before, during and after spraying 2,4,5-T.

"SUBMISSION

PESTICIDES IN SOUTH GIPPSLAND 1

4 OCTOBER 1985 *** *** B.Sc.

We feel we have sufficiently shown reason for concern over the toxic effects of chemicals presently being used in aerial spraying in the South Gippsland region. The greatest threat to human health, apart from accidental exposures, comes from continued low level exposure to these insidious poisons in the form of spray drift. The existence of drift has been acknowledged by Government bodies, as evidenced in the Forest Commission Victoria’s Standing Instruction No.0-733 (18 June 1984) - point no.9 “Off-target drift constitutes one of the major problems in aerial application of pesticides.”

“Cold air drainage in the evening can transport suspended spray droplets long distances away from elevated target areas.” This becomes extremely important when it’s remembered that the bulk of aerial spraying done by the Forest Department is on pine plantations spread throughout the Strzelecki Ranges. Although the standing orders advice as to the optimal conditions for the least amount of drift this cannot always be heeded, especially as the weather and wind conditions of South Gippsland are noted for their sudden and dramatic changes.

The Aerial Spraying Control Act and Regulations fully recognize spray and vapour drift of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T esters (and related products) of up to 8km where damage can still occur to susceptible plants. However the statuatory controls only deal with “hazardous areas” (eg. Tobacco, orchards, vineyards, market gardens and the like - FCV memorandum on Velpar L, 25 Nov. 1981). This apparently means the sanctioning of spraying near natural ecosystems and human habitation.

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (N.H.,M.R.C.) has set maximum allowable air levels of 2,4,5-T at 10mg/cubic metre of air and 2,4-D at 200 mg/m3 (N.H.,M.R.C.,1975). Now compare this with the A.D.I. (for teratogenic effects) of 0.01mg 2,4,5-T/kg body weight (as earlier stated). To an average woman weighing 60 kg the A.D.I. would be 0.6mg, working on the assumption she breathes about 30 cubic metres of air per day, while absorption of inhaled pesticide is total, (U.S.E.P.A.,1978) the A.D.I. becomes 0.02mg/m3.

At Narbethong, low volume spraying with 2,4,5-T, was studied for drift in optimal spraying conditions by McKimm and Hopkins (1978). For the rate of application of 1.12kg/hectare from 30 metres, only 65% recovery at ground level was recorded. They comment that this is in the upper range. So, at best, one third of aerial spray has immediately left the target area. What becomes of pregnant women living in the vicinity of spray areas? Did Yarram show the answer to this question in the years 1975 - 1976?

The Department of Conservation Forests and Lands acknowledge spray and vapour drift in a pamphlet (No.70 B July 1984) titled, Care in the Use of ‘Hormone Type’ Herbicides near Susceptible Crops.

“Spray Drift This is the movement by air currents of small droplets of spray material produced when spraying with a boom, hand wand, misting machine or aircraft. These small spray droplets can be carried by the wind and land on susceptible plants growing a considerable distance away. The hazard from spray drift is greater when using misting machines and aircraft (because they produce many fine droplets) than when using ground operated booms and hand wands.”

“Vapour Drift Volatile formulations of 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, MCPA, picloram, dicambe and triclopyr evaporate readily when exposed to the atmosphere. “These vapours can drift over considerable distances in the slightest wind or on air currents and susceptible plants may be affected over one kilometer away from the point of application. Vapours can arise from a treated area for several hours after spraying and even though the wind may have been blowing away from a susceptible crop at the time of spraying, a change of wind later in the day may carry the vapours over the crop causing considerable damage. The risk of vapour damage increases as the temperature rises. It is also high on still days when “inversions” are present, as vapours can be carried up by air currents and returned to the ground several kilometers away.” This makes even more interesting reading if you substitute ‘susceptible humans’ for ‘susceptible crops’. . .”

P14 “ . . . The following is an extract from a submission by *** *** documenting her case history linked to spray drift.

‘As I drove my children to school the spray plane emptied out a load of spray in the area along the Albert River and the road and there was a fine white mist all over my car and windscreen and I had to use washers and windscreen wipers so as to see where I was driving. Aerial contractors came into Hiawatha area on October 18, 1974 looking for aerial spraying contracts and on October 21st 1974 I wrote to them and told them that I strongly resented any aerial spraying of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T near our property but on October 28th 1974 at 4:30 pm they started aerial spraying on property lower down the Madalya Road approx. 2 or 3 miles away and sprayed for one a a half hours. Almost immediately we got the drift as there was a south-east breeze blowing directly from the sprayed area towards ours and Miss Woollard’s properties.

Once again I’d replanted my garden and just got tomatoes etc. and spring flowers growing well. While the aerial spraying was being carried out I spent all the time in the garden watering down shrubs and plants hoping to save them. What I didn’t realize at the time was just what the spray could do to me.

Three days later I had to go to Dr. Martin in Yarram with a severe rash. My face burnt and stung like a severe sunburn and looked like a dried up paper bag with a rash. Twice now since that time I have had to have pre-cancerous cells burnt from my face and neck. This, I might add, means each time a month of most shocking pain and discmfort plus not being able to go out in public.”

Another area of grave concern is the chance of accidental direct human exposure to spray, and the lack of follow-up legislation to protect people and property. Recent incidents in South Gippsland clearly demonstrate the dangers.

Example 1, a property called Brigadoon Park at Seaview was mistakenly sprayed with 2,4-D and possibly some 2,4,5-T on the 7 Oct. 1977. Although the farmhouse, water storages, garden and residence were saturated with spray there was no legal redress against ‘Skyfarmers’ under the existing Aerial Spraying Control Act or Regulations.

Example 2, this occurred at the Leongatha Drive-In Theatre on the 15 Jan.’79. Two hundred patrons were sprayed with Polyram 2000 at 8:55pm. Once again there was no legal breach of the Aerial Spraying Control Act or Regulations.

Example 3, in April 1984 the Forests Commission of Victoria helicopter aerial spraying (with a herbicide only safety-tested by the manufacturer) in the Yarram District accidently sprayed a number of vehicles carrying Lands Department workers. All the workers required hospital treatment and some still complaining of after-effects.

Example 4, in Sept, 1985 an accidental direct dumping of 2,4-D amine occurred, affecting a strip of quality pasture approximately 200m by 50m, when the Alpine Aviation pilot experienced difficulties in pulling out of a gully. The property affected belongs to ***** of Turton’s Track, Binginwarri, the target area was a neighbouring property. Regardless of what was below him, that pilot had to dump his entire load to avoid crashing . . .”

Calls to Ban Aerial Spraying Letter to Minister For Health David White from Yarram ALP, Hedley Range, Binginwarri 22/10/85

"Requesting Ministerial Intervention to bring about an end to all aerial spraying of pesticides... ACTU Executive decisions of May 1982 (Brisbane) regarding 2,4,5-T and pesticides are unequivocal with regard to aerial spraying. Recommendation 2(b) states "that aerial spraying of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T be banned unless it can be demonstrated that such spraying can be conducted safely... In Binginwarri, a private contractor (Alpine Aviation) dropped a load of 2,4-D on an adjoining dairy property in order to avoid crashing. In Devon North, a protea plantation was damaged by an aerial spraying operation on a neighbouring farm..."

Agricultural & Domestic Chemicals Review Committee - APM Weedicide and 1080 program February 28 1986

APM Forests Pty Ltd Weedicide & 1080 program 1985/6. Using Hexazinone, Simazine and 1080 across 1670ha of Gippsland and Strzelecki Ranges. 1080 used to control rabbits. Hexazinone and Triclopyr used to control woody weeds.

Agricultural & Domestic Chemicals Review Committee Hexazinone & 1080 May 23 1986

4.2 Letter to APM Forests Pty Ltd: The Committee discussed the spraying program of APM and made the following points:

b) Local sensitivity to Hexazinone as someone used the chemical illegally causing damage to neighbours trees. The issue received considerable press

6. Dr ... provided further details on the unauthorised use of Hexazinone in the Latrobe Valley.

"... It is inrteresting, that these conclusions are so widely different from the commonly held beliefs of most members of the public. But then it is almost impossible for the layman to know the truth about this highly emotive subject. Until there are better links between the professional technocrat and the man in the street, the pesticide story will continue to be sensationalised, people will continue to be unnecessarily worried and governments will often feel uncomfortable with the decisions that are made..."

In December 1983, the ADCRC submitted the 3rd report on the use of 2,4,5-T in which it concluded that there was no link between the use of 2,4,5-T and birth defects or miscarriages... {According to the Fourth Report "... the use of 2,4,5-T does not pose a risk of cancer to humans and it is the committees view that there is no scientific or medical reason for further tightening the current restrictions on its use.

APM to spray Hexazinone, Clopyralid & Triclopyr ADCRC Meeting 14 December 1986

Complaints By Swedish Scientists - Minutes of Agricultural Domestic Chemicals Review Committee February 19 1988

Eminent Swedish scientists Professor Olav Axelson and Dr Lennart Hardell objecting to the treatment of their findings when they were quoted in evidence before the Evatt Royal Commission on the Effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam Veterans. Both scientists had protested to the Prime Minister and Governor General that their scientific findings were deliberately distorted and misquoted both before the Commission and in the Commissions report.

APM to spray hundreds of hectares with Glyphosate, Amitrole and 1080 baits December 12 1988

The Committee decided that since APM Forests Pty Ltd will be applying Clopyralid by ground strip spraying methods, that the company will not be required to undertake a residual monitoring program...

A union is planning to test soil in Gippsland's Yarram district to determine levels of cancer-causing chemicals used for weed control in the 1970s, following concern from families.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union will interview about 40 families in the district whose relatives once sprayed blackberries and other noxious weeds for the former Victorian Lands Department.

The union is investigating the exposure of workers to controversial defoliants - 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T - known during the Vietnam War as Agent Orange. It wants testing to determine the levels of dioxin, a long-lasting carcinogen believed to be present in high levels in the chemical batch used at Yarram.

Agent Orange use in the area was investigated by a State Government inquiry in 1978. The Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District found that a cluster of birth defects in babies born in 1975 and 1976, when spraying occured, "was not such to suggest that a specific local cause was operative".

The council of experts also found no evidence that levels of 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T used caused the birth defects or birth abnormalities in local animals. But the report found that Victoria lacked organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects, and "lacks a system of surveillance of those birth defects which are not rapidly lethal".

Union national vice-president Albert Littler said yesterday there had been a lack of continuing research and monitoring.

He said workers may have become ill after the study, partly as a result of chemical exposure. The union had spoken to some families who had sprayed the chemicals and who had complained of recurring rashes and other illnesses.

"A number of them have also raised concerns about their collegues who they believe died prematurely from cancers and heart conditions," Mr Littler said.

"We are doing some preliminary work here because these substances have caused illness among workers in Western Australia, which is the subject of a Government inquiry. We believe the same chemicals that were used in WA were used here."

According to evidence tabled before WA inquiries, Agent Orange was transported from Vietnam to Singapore in 44-gallon drums and then sent to a now defunct company called Chemical Industries Kwinana, in Perth. Part of the batch was used to spray weeds in Derby, WA, where workers have reported a variety of illnesses to a series of Government inquiries. It was also used in Queensland and Yarram to control weeds.

A Victorian Health Department spokesman said yesterday the 1978 inquiry led to the creation of the Peri-Natal Data Collection Unit, which had found birth defect and child mortality rates for the Yarram area were not abnormal.

He said other department research sections also found nothing to indicate abnormal health trends for Yarram: "There is nothing we have which would seem to indicate a problem."

Members of the CFMEU will stage a public meeting and information gathering session on the 245T and 24D issue . . . on Monday, August 11.

Thye hope to meet with workers who were exposed to 245T and 24D chemicals and their families.

After the meeting at 11 a.m. organisers hope those interested will fill out medical surveys for comparitive testing with workers from other states who have been exposed to similar material.

"We have been prompted to come down to Yarram following initial investigations in the region and after tests have been done with other workers in WA," said a spokesman for the CFMEU, Albert Littler.

Dr Harper did the test in WA and we have brought his forms with us and will be repeating it in this area."

Mr Littler said he was interested in speaking to workers who may have come into contact with the material before 1970 and up until 1995 in the old Alberton Shire, Central and East Gippsland.

"We are trying to see if there is a commonality of medical complaint. If it can be established that there wasn't sufficient duty of care in the workplace, we might be able to mount a successful application for compensation."

"We have made contact with people in the Yarram area and on verbal information received it appears there are problems in common with fellow workers in WA, relating to long-term health affects and premature death."

Mr Littler said there were no statutes of limitation in Victoria and the only report done had been the one in 1978 that related to miscarriages and birth defects in the Yarram area, not the affect on workers.

Disturbing tales of suffering after exposure to chemicals used by the former Lands Department in the Yarram district were told at a public meeting in the town this week.

Major surgery, miscarriages and lives of pain and discomfort were claimed to have been suffered by former employees and their families.

One man even reported his tomatoes dying after being exposed to the fumes from his work clothes.

About 20 current and former residents attended the meeting, staged by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union at the Yaram Bowls Club last Monday.

The meeting attracted people from Yarram, Maffra, Churchill, Bairnsdale and interest from Korumburra, and was featured on the Channel Seven News on Monday night and several other programs yesterday.

"This is just the first stage in fighting this and hopefully it will not be the last," said the CFMEU's representative Albert Littler.

He said the meeting had gone well with upwards of 20 former Lands Department workers attending.

"They seemed to have been waiting for someone to take an interest in what they believe was the cause of ailments they have been suffering following exposure to these chemicals.

Mr Littler said that since the issue had been aired by Channel Seven, many more people had contacted the union with their concerns.

"We have collected everyone's names and addresses and we have eight pages of health information but we are racing against time with the State Government due to change its leglisation on October 1."

The health details will be reviewed by the Trades Hall's occupational health and safety officer Dr Helen Sutcliffe.

Mr Littler said that he had also taken soil samples in the area that would be tested for residue of the problem chemicals.

"We could only go down 12 inches, but we should have gone down to a metre, so we will see what comes out of it."

The chemicals 245T and 24D that were used in the Yarram district in the 1970s and 1980s are now banned.

The CFMEU is investigating a possible link between weed spraying in Yarram in the 1970s and 1980s and similar spraying programs in Western Australia and Queensland.

Former Yarram residents Lorna and Kevin **** revealed their anguish at the meeting. Mr Holdsworth was the stationmaster at Yarram. The station grounds were regularly sprayed by the Lands Department.

He was forced to retire at 53 due to illness and has since had his spleen, large bowel and rectum removed.

Mrs **** also believes her daughter lost two babies due to exposure to the chemicals.

"Kevin is a wonderful person. He's been through hell. Every day he used to say 'Oh, Lord Jesus' and took one day at a time," she said.

The Yarram tennis courts were also a source; the court surrounds were sprayed too. Mr **** was club president and his daughter Dianne played.

"In May 1976, my daughter Diane was playing tennis. She was seven months pregnant. The grass around the tennis court had just been sprayed," Mrs **** said.

"The doctor felt there was something wrong with her baby. An x-ray showed the baby had no brain. The doctor believed the spray caused it."

"What we have been through has broken our hearts. I had to speak today to get it out of my system," Mrs Holdsworth said.

Mr Littler asked for reports of premature deaths of collegues of nervous system problems.

"245T kills weeds by attacking the nervous system of plants. There is evidence that it does the same to humans," he said.

One man said he returned home from work wearing his work clothes, covered in spray residue and fumes, and walked past tomato plants.

"Sometimes I would go in the pub after work and my mates used to be able to smell the fumes on me.

"We didn't have any protection from these sprays. We only wore bib'n'brace overalls.

"We were very ignorant of the fact that these sprays could be detrimental to our health."

Another man said former employees were due to undergo blood tests every 12 months but said those tests never occurred.

The meeting also heard reports that the chemicals had been known to cause cancer in rats and mice.

Attendees were urged to fill in a medical inventory, noting physical and mental conditions they had.

Results will be compared with those of workers from other states exposed to similar chemicals.

Soil tests were later undertaken at former depot sites and sites of drum disposal.

Woodside resident and former Lands Department employee Tony Cassidy said chemical drums were covered with dirt at the former depertment depot in Station Street, Yarram and at the landfill near Greenmount.

The CFMEU is assisting with a claim by workers in Derby in WA centring on rogue batches of 245T, which contained dangerously high levels of TCDD, similar to the Agent Orange mixture used during the Vietnam War.

The union believes many drums of the poisonous mix were shipped to Australia between 1969 and 1971 from Singapore, but were labelled incorrectly and could have possibly been used in spraying programs in the Yarram area.

Also attending the day was Andrew Higgins of Slater and Gordon who explained the procedures and legal pitfalls in the process.

Calls for a full inquiry into widespread health problems and deaths linked to the use of the now-banned herbicide 245-T mounted yesterday as more horror stories emerged across Queensland.

Stories of devastating crop damage in Brisbane’s bayside suburbs in the early 1970s have been added to the cases of birth defects, as well as seriously ill and dead workers who had been employed in forestry weed-spraying programs during the same years.

Information gathered by The Courier Mail points to toxic batches of 245-T being sprayed in forestry areas including Byfield, near Yeppoon, the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns; at Beerburrum on the Sunshine Coast; Imbil near Gympie; Yarraman near Kingaroy; and Deception Bay near Brisbane. It also may have been used in cactus eradication at Collinsville, west of Mackay.

The families of at least five dead men believe exposure to a rogue 245-T batch, allegedly imported into Queensland between 1969 and 1971, caused their premature deaths from cancer and associated illnesses.

Fears about 300 tonnes of the fire-damaged batch, used to make the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange and imported into Queensland and Western Australia were first raised 20 years ago by Australian National University scientists. They were resurrected when new reports of early deaths and illnesses among herbicide users prompted the West Australian Government to launch a full inquiry last month.

Up to 120 tonnes of 245-T, laced with dioxin more than 200 times the then-legal level, is believed to have made its way into weed-spraying programs in Queensland.

Yeppoon resident Sid Armstrong said this week he remembered the arrival of a particularly heavy and “gluey” batch of 245-T which was to be used to spray undergrowth between trees at Byfield in Central Queensland. Mr Armstrong said the 245-T was usually mixed at the ratio of 11.3 litres to 200 litres of dieseline for spraying, but one batch had been “just gluey muck”.

When we first tried to mix it, it just floated around in big blobs . . . big clots and lumps like ambergris on top. It wouldn’t dissolve and mix,” Mr Armstrong said.

Maureen Fehihaber, of Yeppoon, whose husband George died from cancer at 49 after working with 245-T for about 17 years in the Byfield forests, said he often broke out in huge blisters after using sprays. Margaret Morris, of Redcliffe, said her husband Peter also dies at 49 from a heart attack attributed to an enlarged liver after sparking a campaign to stop Australian Paper Manufacturers using 245-T in aerial sprays on its pine plantations.

A former president of the Redcliffe and Deception Bay Farmers’ Association, Mr Morris had kept meticulous records of the anti-spray campaign until the State Government moved to have 245-T phased out in 1973.

A spokesman for Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk said this week the department was still trawling records for details of the rogue 245-T batch.

A rogue batch of highly toxic chemicals once probably earmarked to make the defoliant Agent Orange has been linked for the first time to a West Australian government herbicide program blamed for deaths, serious illnesses and birth deformities.

It is feared drums of the potentially deadly batch of 245-T might still be in warehouses around the country. Although suspicious shipments of the chemical from Singapore were uncovered 20 years ago, it has only now been revealed the same chemical is suspected of having been used in a controversial weed spraying program in the Kimberley region, that is now the subject of a West Australian parliamentary inquiry.

Concerns are held that some of the hundreds of drums of the fire damaged batches of 245-T remain unaccounted for and may be stored or dumped elsewhere around Australia. The chemical makes up 50 per cent of Agent Orange, a defoliant herbicide used in Vietnam, and its dioxin impurities have been linked to a range of health problems, including birth defects.

The rogue batches were discovered by Australian National University scientists Ben Selinger and Peter Hall, while investigating rumours that a load of Agent Orange had been dumped in Australia after the Vietnam War.

Professor Selinger said 245-T was rendered more toxic by heat exposure and the suspicious batches imported between 1969 and 1971 were listed as fire damaged and shipped in labeled as another chemical.

Professor Selinger said the black sticky substance reported by workers in the northwest town of Derby were disturbingly similar to the sample he and Professor Hall had tested 20 years ago and found to have dioxin levels 200 times the legal limit at that time. Professor Selinger said the rashes, blisters and burns described by the Derby men were similar to symptoms manifested by workers at the Singaporean factory where the rogue batches of 245-T suffered the damage before being dispatched to Perth and Brisbane. “But only an analysis will confirm their similarity,” he said.

The Perth based company that imported the chemical was a supplier of the state’s Agricultural Protection Board, which gave workers in Derby unmarked drums of chemicals - an illegal practice then and now - to use in a weed control program that ran from about 1975 to 1985. The workers complained about rashes and burns suffered when the chemical leaked. Some later developed serious illnesses and died.

Professors Selinger and Hall published their findings in the 1980s calling on Australian authorities to “make available full details of the exact nature of the suspicious imports”. But despite questions being raised in federal parliament in 1981 and evidence heard by a Senate inquiry that the batch was highly toxic, it appears the whereabouts and possible commercial use of the chemicals went unchecked.It is now believed some of those unmarked drums were dumped in Derby.

Professor Selinger, who has also chaired the National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals said he believed the federal Health Department held documented information on the chemical that had not been released. “Governments don’t look for these things unless they are kicked and forced,” he said.

West Australian Agricultural Minister Kim Chance has established a parliamentary inquiry to document the chemical exposures of former Agricultural Protection Board workers who used the chemicals in the Kimberley region. Mr Chance said he also had been told that Agent Orange chemicals were imported into Australia and he fears they may have been used in some form in almost every state and territory. Mr Chance said using 245-T was dangerous even within legal dioxin limits “but if it was outside those speculations as the Senate inquiry evidence indicated, it was suicide’.

1969-71: Large import from Singapore of fire damaged chemical listed as KTCP (the starting material used to make 245-T).

1972: Questions raised by competitor about labeling of imports for possible tariff avoidance.

1973: Samples for tariff inquiry believed to confirm fire damage but doesn’t measure dioxins.

1981: Same samples further tested and showed not to contain KTCP but found to be 245-T with illegally high levels of dioxins.

1981: Questions in federal parliament reveal samples did not contain KTCP but 245-T:

1981: Senate Standing Committee told the Department of Primary Industries first reported the chemical conformed to Australian standards but that further tests found it did not. It had dioxin levels 200 times the legal limit.

1982: Weed sprayers for the West Australian Agricultural Protection Board suffering rashes and unexplained illnesses question the safety of the chemical they are using. They are told by government employer it is not dangerous and ‘adverse publicity’ about it (245T) “is not a valid reason for discontinuing use”.

Carl Drysdale kneels by a simple grave in the Derby cemetery and recalls how he lost one of his best mates to a sudden heart attack at the age of 33. The former Agriculture Protection Board worker watched his friend and dozens of others die or suffer unexplained illnesses after working together in a weed spraying program in the remote Kimberley during the 1970s and 80s.

The 56 year-old believes an unusual looking chemical they used is responsible. He’s been fighting 20 years to prove it. “I’m doing this for my mates and their families and kids,” Mr Drysdale said.

Mr Drysdale was a district officer with the board, leading a team of workers spraying weeds across the Kimberley. Many of his men were Aboriginies or itinerant white workers. They suffered side effects from using the chemicals 24-D and the now banned 245T, but it was a batch of unlabelled chemical that has really worried them. They were told it was the usual 245T - but it smelt stronger and looked darker and thicker than previous batches. And that is when their problems really started and people began dying, said Mr Drysdale.

“I asked them if it came from Vietnam” said Mr Drysdale. “I was being off-hand and I dismissed it as I thought noone would do that to people”. But there were other suspicious elements to the arrival of the drums. “There was 20 years supply which is not normal for government supply . . . They usually budget for one year and we got 20 years supply in one go.

And then people started to get sick.” At first, the men suffered rashes, blisters, burns, vomiting, diarrhoea and shocking headaches after using the new batch. Then came unexpected deaths and the workers wives and girlfriends were having multiple miscarriages and giving birth to deformed babies.

Mr Drysdale says he was ‘ as fit as a mallee bull’ before using the chemical, but he has since vomited up blood, lost weight, had his hair fall out in clumps and suffered fainting spells, angina, burns and rashes. One of his collegues was so strong he could throw a full 44 gallon drum on the back of a truck by himself, but he became so debilitated he could not even walk up a flight of stairs to collect his weeks’ pay.

“ . .He was our supervisor and he came up to Dwellingup to help us with a problem we had fixing a batch of Agent Orange back in 1975,” he says. “It came in 44 gallon drums with no labels, and no instructions.

The former Forest Department had got a special batch in from somewhere, very cheaply we heard.”

Australisn history of dumping dangerous chemicals underground is far more widespread and involves more toxic substances than has been revealed in the current Agent Orange scandal, a former Environmental Protection Agency chairman has warned.

Barry Carbon, who has headed the EPA in two states as well as the federal environment agency, told The Australian, there were a lot more chemicals dumped in the late 1970s and early 1980s and it could become an “acute issue”. . . .

West Australian authorities are searching for any remaining stockpiles of the Agent Orange chemical 245T, which was imported between 1969 and 1971 and was believed to have been used by government workers in the Kimberley region and in the southern towns of Dwellingup.

Research by Australian National University professors Ben Selinger and Peter Hall revealed 20 years ago that 300 tonnes of the chemical which is believed to have come from Vietnam, was imported into Western Australia and Queensland. The chemicals were imported under the guise of fire damaged KTCP, the starter chemical to make 245T.

A tip-off to the scientists and subsequent tests showed the chemicals contained no KTCP but were 245T with dioxin poison levels 200 times the recommended levels at the time.

The sister of a former Queensland Forestry worker who died of leukemia has revealed her brother had complained to his family about a “bad batch” of 245T he was using during the mid 1970s. Susan Porter says her brother Dallas Guy said the poison they were using in the Beerwah area was strong and smelly. “He complained about a bad batch . . . they were complaining about the stench . . . but some were rubbing on their skin to keep mozzies away,” she said.

Former Kimberley weed sprayer Carl Drysdale has been lobbying for two decades for an investigation into the strange, sticky, black chemicals they were given to use between 1975 and 1985. Mr Drysdale and his workers believe the chemical has been responsible for a spate of premature deaths illnesses, miscarriages and birth defects.

A ministerial inquiry has been widened to investigate not only the health effects on the workers, but what chemicals were used and if any are still stockpiled in the state.

The Western Australian Government says it has been absolved of any blame over allegations weed sprayers in the Kimberley in the north-west of the state were equipped with a rogue batch of the defoliant agent orange.

Former agriculture workers claim more than 40 of their colleagues have died because they used a damaged batch of 245-T in the 1970s and 80s.

A parliamentary inquiry has revealed fire-damaged drums of the chemical were imported from Singapore by a Perth company but it could not determine what happened to them.

Agriculture Minister Kim Chance says there remains no evidence the chemical was sold to the Agriculture Department. "Some of it was sold because it was found in a forest department dump," he said. "However, it has never been established that that chemical was used in the Kimberley."

But the Government remains committed to compensating former agricultural workers affected by the weed-spraying program in the Kimberley. Mr Chance says he is not denying the sincerity of the former workers, who blame the chemical for their colleagues' deaths.

"It doesn't remove or change in any way the Government's commitment to trying to correct the situation that exists for those Derby workers who were injured as a result of their employment," he said.

THE Australian Army tested chemical weapons on a town which now has deaths from cancer 10 times the state average.

Military scientists sprayed the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in the jungle that is part of the water catchment area for Innisfail in Queensland's far north at the start of the Vietnam War.

The Sun-Herald last week found the site where military scientists tested Agent Orange in 1966. It is on a ridge little more 100 metres above the Johnstone River, which supplies the drinking water for Innisfail.

Forty years later the site - which abuts farmer Alan Wakeham's land - is still bare, covered only in tough Guinea grass, but surrounded by thick jungle. "It's strange how the jungle comes right up to this site and then just stops. It won't grow any further," Mr Wakeham said.

Agent Orange was sprayed extensively in Vietnam to defoliate the jungle and remove cover for North Vietnamese troops. It contains chemicals including the dioxin TCDD, which causes forms of cancer, birth defects and other health problems.

Researcher Jean Williams found details of the secret Innisfail tests in the Australian War Memorial archives. "These tests carried out between 1964 and 1966 were the first tests of Agent Orange and they were carried out at Gregory Falls near Innisfail," said Ms Williams, who has been awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her work on the effects of chemicals on Vietnam veterans. "I was told there is a high rate of cancer there but no one can understand why. Perhaps now they will understand."

Ms Williams unearthed three boxes of damning files. One file showed the chemicals 2,4-D, Diquat, Tordon and dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) were sprayed on the rainforest in the Gregory Falls area in June 1966. The file carried the remarks: "Considered sensitive because report recommends use of 2,4-D with other agents in aerial spraying trials in Innisfail." Ms Williams said: "It was considered sensitive because they were mixing together all the bad chemicals, which just made them worse. They cause all the cancers."

Ms Williams claims a file which could indicate much wider testing in a project called Operation Desert had gone missing. The contents were marked "too disturbing to ever be released". "Those chemicals stay in the soil for years and every time there is a storm they are stirred up and go into the water supply," Ms Williams said. "The poor people of Innisfail have been kept in the dark about this. But these chemicals cause cancer and deformities that are passed on for generations. It is shocking. I am just an 83-year-old war-weary battler. I don't want any more medals, I just want justice for the people of Innisfail."

Queensland Health Department figures show Innisfail, which has a population of almost 12,000, had 76 people die from cancer in 2005. That is four times the national rate of death from cancer and 10 times the Queensland average. Australian War Memorial director Steve Gower confirmed the file on Operation Desert could not be found.

Australia and Britain opened a joint tropical research unit at Innisfail in 1962. In 1969 the Liberal defence minister Allen Fairhall flatly denied chemical warfare experiments had been associated with the unit at Innisfail. But last week The Sun-Herald found the site and an old digger, a decorated veteran of three wars, who had worked on the experiment.

Innisfail local Ted Bosworth, 86, fought in the New Guinea campaign in World War II, copped a bullet in the lungs in the Korean War for which he was awarded the Military Medal and was in the Army Reserve during the Vietnam War. In 1966 he drove scientists to the site where the spraying occurred. "There was an English scientist and an Australian. I heard they both later died of cancer. "They sprayed by hand. The forest started dying within days. By three weeks all the foliage was gone. The scientists always denied it was Agent Orange. They were pretty cagey."

Mr Bosworth confirmed photos The Sun-Herald took were of the experiment site. "That is the area they sprayed. That is it. It was on top of the ridge next to grassland in the trees. It hasn't changed much in all these years."

Innisfail RSL president Reg Hamann suffers terrible effects from Agent Orange he was exposed to during the Vietnam War. "A lot of my unit have died of cancer. I've got cancer of the oesophagus and stomach. I have to sleep on a special bed that raises me 17 degrees or everything in my stomach rises up. I've had a subdural hemorrhage, a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. "It passes on to the next generation. My son was born with a deformed lung. My daughter has got the same skin problem I have from Agent Orange. Now my grandkids are going to get it."

Mr Hamann is angry at the lies and deceit about the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their families. Now he's discovered that while he was fighting in Vietnam the Australian government was experimenting with Agent Orange upriver from his home town.

"We were sprayed regularly by Agent Orange as they cleared the river banks. We had no idea how dangerous the stuff was. They'd fly over us and give us a squirt just for fun and wiggle their wings. We took it as a joke. But the stuff turned out to be a curse."

"I saw in Vietnam what Agent Orange did to an area and I am shocked to learn they used it here. It was kept secret. The army didn't tell anyone. It was just some of the old army guys and local farmers who knew they were experimenting up there. "I believe it must have something to do with the high cancer rates in Innisfail. The amount of young people in this area who die of leukaemia and similar cancers to what I got from Agent Orange is scary. The authorities are scared of digging into it as there would be lots of law suits.

"The sad part is the number of kids who get cancer here. It's been that way at least since I came here in 1970. That means it can't be chemical spraying on the bananas as they only came here 15 years ago. "They've always used Innisfail as guinea pigs. They did it in World War II and they did it during Vietnam. It's time to set it right."

Val Robertson, 74, said a high number of local people aged in their 40s were dying from cancer, about one a month for the last 12 months. "That's a lot for a small town like Innisfail. They would have been babies when they were spraying Agent Orange," she said. Innisfail Mayor Bill Shannon said there was a high cancer rate in the area and there should be a full investigation. The Queensland Government and the Federal Government said they would look into the issue.

Truth Buried - Agent Orange Drums Hidden Near Yarram - Yarram Standard May 2 2012

THE last remnants of a poison linked to cancer and birth defects are buried in dozens of drums near the Yarram Golf Club. Former Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national vice-president Albert Littler this week revealed two drums of Agent Orange mysteriously disappeared and were buried at the site before the union could take samples from them during a 2003 investigation.

Mr Littler said the union was “trying to pin the Agent Orange link on to what was allegedly imported into Australia”. “They believed the surplus stock from Vietnam was bought up by the president of Singapore. It’s alleged a company in Western Australia imported the stuff and two drums were shipped to Victoria,” Mr Littler said.

Mr Littler could not say whether the two drums in question were the ones hastily buried at the site. “We’re not sure what’s in the drums, to be honest. But why were the drums dumped there?” he asked.

“We had monitoring devices down there – but don’t forget this is years and years later – where the depot was. The tests we conducted came back inconclusive. But some of the boys said: ‘We were suddenly asked to bury two drums in Yarram. Take them out of the depot and bury them in an isolated site.

“We then had a meeting under the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions), with the Minister responsible at the time and said we wanted the drums dug up and removed and we wanted to test them. They wanted to know where they were but they didn’t want us to be there.” Mr Littler said the union wasn’t “game enough to dig them up ourselves”

“If they were as toxic as we suspected, the union would have been held liable if we’d disturbed them and they’d ruptured. There was a stream near these drums. So they’re still where they were left,” he said.

Slater and Gordon would eventually deem the potential cost of a class action on behalf of affected workers against the importer of the two drums too expensive. Mr Littler said many of the 30 or so workers examined by a Trades Hall Health Centre nurse had “various sorts of cancers and some rashes still persisting.”

He believes the lack of success of the investigation led to disappointment for the workers, “because it was inconclusive for them”. Talking to the Standard this week, Pat Read, a former Lands Department worker said up to 100 empty but uncleaned drums were also buried at the site during his time working for one of the two Yarram crews.

Mr Read was pensioned off in 1985 after suffering a heart attack. He does not blame his exposure to Agent Orange for his health problems, but said a lot of his colleagues were no longer alive.

“The CFMEU came out and I knew exactly where the drums would be. We probed down and found them. I asked them if they wanted them dug up and they said, ‘No, we’ll leave it at that.’” he said. Mr Read worked at the Lands Department from 1965, but said he was also there for a time about six years earlier.

He had heard no more about Agent Orange or its effects since the union left town all those years ago. “Someone was saying, ‘You’ll all get compensated on this.’ But it never came to anything,” he said.

“There’s not too many of us left, and only me and another bloke alive from the older workers. The bosses never said anything about the spray, but we knew it wasn’t right. When you’re mixing 2,4- D and 2,4,5-T and all those together, something had to give, didn’t it?”

FORMER Yarram doctor Rod Guy said Lands Department workers would “if the races were on at Stony Creek, just chuck it (the Agent Orange) in the creek, then, when the ? sh came to the surface take them home to eat”.

It is a claim that has been backed by someone who witnessed the practice firrst hand. The man said the poison was routinely dumped in local waterways. He hastened to add most of those who engaged in the practice are now dead.

Former worker Wayne Lynch is another who believes the use of Agent Orange had been a major cause of illness amongst his colleagues.

“I don’t think anyone was knowledgeable enough to know how to handle the substance. They wouldn’t do what they did today,” he said. He said there was a “common thread” of illnesses among his former colleagues, including cancer.

“Cancer is the thing you really don’t want to get. I’ve seen too much of it around this area,” he said. “When we were doing it you didn’t know you were doing anything wrong. I used to work in shorts, ? oppy hat and you just didn’t know any better. Most of the guys were just in a singlet. No-one really wore protective gear. “You sprayed in the wind and it came back over you heaps of times. I killed all the plants at my mum’s place just by putting my hat on the back verandah. If it kills plants like that – you’re greatest plant life is your lungs, isn’t it?”

Former Lands Department inspector Fred Locke said he had also suffered from exposure to Agent Orange. His house abutted the depot where the drums were stored.

“My youngest daughter was born with a hole in the heart and a faulty heart valve. The specialist suspected that the chemicals had some effect. But it was never proven,” he said. “It was just one of those things that happened. I’ve been an asthmatic since I was 21 or 22 and joined the Lands Department.

I was sometimes covered in blackberry spray and thistle spray and whatever. “We used hundreds and hundreds of drums of it. In fact, I was present when the truck went down and we picked up 104 drums from Frankston.”

One former worker the Standard tried to contact was in hospital, with a long list of serious medical problems. Another one of the few living workers has also suffered serious health problems in recent years.

FORMER Yarram doctor Rod Guy still believes the spraying of Agent Orange led to birth defects in the local area.

His concerns, along with those of fellow whistle blower and GP, Dr Brian Woodward, led to a 1978 investigation.

Dr Guy said the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District investigation was a “good example of democracy working”.

However, he viewed the resultant ? ndings quite differently. “In the end they agreed to do a green paper, a Parliamentary report. But there was stuff in it that was absolute hogwash,” he said.

Dr Guy said the report contained basic errors, like miscalculations about how much of the toxic substance was used in aerial sprayings. “Would you believe that they never took into account the tanks weren’t always full and so there wasn’t always as much water diluting the 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T?” he asked. “There were real holes in the report. It was a bit of a whitewash, for political reasons.”

Dr Guy said 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T had caused “the same kind of defects they found in Vietnam”.

“It came to me because somebody had been noticing some problems. The more I looked into it the more sense it seemed to make. I know that the numbers are too small to draw any real conclusion, but it was a really disastrous number of things in a small community,” Dr Guy said.

“We had a whole lot. The question was, was it possible? What I found was that people paid no respect to warnings on labels, especially farmers – siphoning the stuff by mouth. People were spraying it in bikinis and bathers,” he said.

“The other thing was that it was contaminated by dioxin. Depending on how much purifcation was put in the process, dioxin, which was a very toxic substance, was in it as well. It was pretty hazardous.”

The mother of a baby who suffered birth defects (the child is now in her thirties), described the investigation as a “total waste of bloody time”. She said, “It was so stressful. It was a pretty horrendous time of our lives, to be quite honest.” “We were being labelled “in bred” and there were questions around, “Were we this, were we that and we really got hurt emotionally,” she said.

The woman, who asked for her identity to be protected, said there was no way to be certain the spraying of the Agent Orange was the source of the birth defect. “There were other factors at play, which is why I can’t turn around and clearly say it was because of the spraying,” she said. “We were spraying 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. I’d love some to say this has been proven and this is what caused it, but I can’t honestly say. “There were other mothers around at the same time who lost babies. There were a few things that happened around that time.”

The Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District investigation led to the establishment of the Victorian Birth Defects Register (VBDR). The register collects information on all birth defects for live births, stillbirths and terminations of pregnancy occurring since January 1, 1982.

New Zealand’s Vietnam War veterans are almost twice as likely to suffer from a common form of adult leukaemia than the general public, a new study has found.

The Otago University study found veterans, who may have been exposed to toxic chemicals including Agent Orange when deployed in Phuoc Tuy province, have a 91 per cent higher incidence of chronic lymphatic leukaemia. CLL is one of the most common forms of leukaemia found in adults, particularly older adults, and is rarely diagnosed in children.

The university research analysed medical records of 2783 of the 3400 New Zealand military personnel who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. It found 0.5 per cent of them contracted the cancer, compared with an average of 0.26 per cent within the general public.

‘‘The incidence of leukaemia is interesting,’’ lead author David McBride said. ‘‘The Australians and the New Zealanders appear to be the only group of veterans that have shown this excess.’’

Many Australians and New Zealanders fought in the same area during the Vietnam War and Dr McBride said chemicals known as Agent Orange or other pesticides used in certain areas could be the cause. Scientists made the link between pesticides, including Agent Orange, and CLL during studies on farm workers exposed to the chemicals more than 10 years ago. Despite this, scientists can’t pinpoint exactly what causes the increased incidence of this cancer without information about individual exposure, five decades ago.‘

‘It’s a time and place associated with the disease, and therefore there must be something about it,’’ Dr McBride said.‘‘But we’re not sure exactly what it is.’’

The study also found lung cancers claimed the most lives in both New Zealand and Australian Vietnam veterans.

However, when it came to overall deaths, the mortality rate of the former New Zealand military personnel was 15 per cent lower than the general public. Dr McBride says this is due to something called the ‘‘healthy soldier effect’’ which arises from the selection process of military members.

‘‘This is related to the fact that this cohort would have been selected for its health and fitness,’’ he said. AAP

2014

FORMER State Government weed eradicators have made startling new claims of appalling safety standards when working with dangerous chemicals in the Ballarat and wider goldfields region.

Employees with the former Victorian Lands Department and its successors have expressed concern for their health after working with now-banned chemicals daily and with no protective clothing for decades.

A special investigation by The Courier reveals: Workers routinely and illegally mixed now-banned chemicals to make their job faster; Unions and management received dozens of complaints from concerned workers, but in most cases failed to act; Doctors records suggest sick workers were poisoned by chemical sprays; Management argued they could afford protective gear to prevent negative impacts only by sacking workers; Agent Orange and Mustard Gas were used to clear weeds and rabbit warrens.

Former Lands Department employee Stephen Wereszczuk said he was always concerned about the chemicals he was working with. "Deep down I did think it was dangerous. I was careful, but others weren't . . . most of my work mates have died," Mr Wereszczuk said.

The Victorian Lands Department workers were responsible for destruction of noxious weeds on crown land and on private property in Ballarat, Beaufort, Maryborough and surrounding regions.

In interviews with The Courier, former employees said that when some spoke-up of concern over their work practices, they were told to "harden up", were called "weak" and were expected to get on with the job.

The workers say they routinely mixed already potent chemicals to create even more dangerous concoctions.

Among those was Agent Orange - the defoliating weapon dropped on Vietnam. Workers also report mixing Mustard Gas - a World War 1 weapon - with diesel to fumigate rabbit warrens. Men who got too close are remembered for being "knocked out cold" by the potent mix.

A state government report in 1978 drew no connection between the active chemicals of Agent Orange - 24D and 245t - and congenital birth defects and cancers in workers. Authorities told workers up until the early 1980s that both chemicals were 'safe enough to drink'. Years later 245T was banned and today sale and use of 24D is now suspended. Other chemicals used in spraying are under review.

Workers told The Courier the first sign of protective clothing was a set of overalls in the 1980s and some were told the only way to afford more equipment was to sack workers.

Complaints to the authorities and unions fell on deaf ears. Reports of injured workers and half-full barrels of chemicals dumped in the bush to the Australian Workers' Union were not followed up or officially recorded.

Momentum is now growing for an inquiry into the chemicals used and the health impacts on the workers.

Former Maryborough spray hand Adrian McKinnis spent six weeks in hospital after being poisoned on the job.

He says many former co-workers, now dead, had also suffered health impacts they believed were related to chemical exposure.

In an emailed statement, which did not answer a series of questions posed by The Courier, the Victorian WorkCover Authority said: "A small number of claims from former Lands Department employees in relation to chemical exposure have been settled over the past 35 years.

"Any current or retired worker who believes that an injury or illness has been caused as a direct result of their employment is entitled to make a claim for workers compensation."

SO WAS the chemical mixture used by Victorian Lands Department workers the same Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War?

The University of Queensland's Caroline Gaus is from the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology. She explains that while the name 'Agent Orange' fosters images of the horrors of Vietnam, it was simply a "formulation" name for two chemicals combined.

"EVEN AN ACCIDENTAL EXPOSURE CAN BE A RISK TO HUMANS." Associate Professor Caroline Gaus "Thats what it was, it was 245T and 24D," she said.

"Agent Orange always has this undertone of something very dangerous but it doesn't mean that if you mix it today it is as dangerous as what it was 30 years ago.

" That's because in the 1970s and 1980s - when weed controllers in Victoria were routinely mixing 25D and 245T to save time - the dioxin levels were much stronger.

"If you stirred or siphoned 245T in the 1970s and 1980s with your hands and mouth it would contain levels of dioxin that would be unacceptable for human exposure", Professor Gaus said.

This knowledge is widely accepted now, but in 1978, a Victorian government report recommended "the existing legislative controls of 24D and 245T be retained."

The Aldred Report was initiated to investigate claims that a birth abnormalities cluster had appeared in the south-east Victorian town of Yarram caused by interaction with 245T and 24D mixtures.

The report's primary focus was to determine if there was a correlation between congenital abnormalities and the presence of Agent Orange. It found there was no correlation, which led politicians of the time to tout the chemicals 'safe enough to drink'.

A 2003, a Western Australia state government inquiry took place where 90 of the 300 who sprayed for the Agricultural Protection Board - equivalent of Victoria's Lands Department - were interviewed.

The inquiry found that 27 workers still living should be eligible for compensation after it was discovered that a majority of the workers became sick, some while working - first with nausea and vomiting.

The report acknowledged that Agent Orange was used by spray hands in the Kimberley region but said it would be impossible to scientifically prove that spraying Agent Orange lead to their deaths or caused illnesses.

BARRY GOLDSMITH - Clunes For Barry Goldsmith, his job as a spray hand was his life. Then a spritely 21-year-old, Barry joined the Lands Department in 1963 and was immediately thrust into the job of sorting, mixing and spraying chemicals to control weeds, thistles and gauze. He performed fumigation work to control rabbit populations and other pests. At first, his biggest issue was the smell. But later, after publicity surrounding the Vietnam War and revelations that chemicals at work could be dangerous, he began worrying for his own safety. "They told us we could drink the stuff," he said of the chemicals.

"We used to have it all over us . . . in our eyes, in our mouth and on our clothes." Barry took a redundancy in the early 1990s and by that stage many chemicals, including 245T, had been banned by the Victorian government. "We'd often go and get a newspaper on a Monday morning and walk into the newsagent after not going near any sprays for the whole weekend - they'd always say: 'So where have you been spraying today?'," he said. "They could smell us as soon as we walked in. It was just in our clothes . . . it was in our skin."

The 73-year-old said he often complained of headaches and stinging eyes, but doctors couldn't definitively say they were connected to his work. Since then, many of his mates he worked alongside for years have died. He suspects being exposed to all manner of chemicals including Agent Orange, fumigants and other chemicals - without protection - didn't help their causes. He said after Vietnam, spray hands went from heroes to villains among much of the population. "When it all came out that our sprays could be dangerous, people didn't like it when we were spraying near them," he said. "They'd come out of their house and yell 'get out of here' and ward us off." Barry's wife Maureen had her own misgivings about him working with things chemicals akin to Agent Orange on a daily basis. "He used to come home and before he even got in the house I could smell him coming." she said. "He killed my ferns by leaving his boots near them at the end of every day - the fumes off the boots would kill them." Maureen said she always washed Barry's clothes twice and became increasingly concerned about her husband's well-being. "I remember thinking 'is he going to go downhill quickly or will he last a while longer?' I still wonder that now." "I didn't want him doing it, but it was a job." The couple were so concerned they even planned to conceive one of their daughters in the spraying "off season". Barry lives around the corner from where the old Lands Department depot was at Clunes. The fact he could walk 100 metres to work every day was one of the reasons he stuck with it for decades despite having misgivings about the chemicals he was using. Today, Barry is the only long-term Lands Department spray hand from Clunes still alive.

ADRIAN McKINNIS - Maryborough ADRIAN McKinnis almost died from poisoning in 1976. The Maryborough spray hand, who also worked in Ararat, had been busy spraying a number of different chemicals during an intensive week-long operation when he noticed something was wrong. A cough that had progressed to a cold became something much worse and the experienced Lands Department employee began to suspect his work might be the cause.

Dr John Dodgshun, a GP in Maryborough, examined Adrian and immediately arranged for him to be admitted to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne. He was taken by ambulance the same day. Dr Dodgshun organised for specialists to investigate Adrian's cholinesterase level, which affects resistance to organophosphate poisoning. He also asked The Alfred to measure any "toxic responses" to the herbicides used. "I would consider he has had toxic effects from the compounds used, with an associated viral infection," Dr Dodgshun wrote. A poisoning specialist treated him and after a week in Melbourne, Adrian was well enough to return home. He couldn't work for the next five weeks but after that, it was business as usual. "(The boss) knew why I was off work, but no-one really said anything," he said. “I just had to get on with it.” It also involved mixing those chemicals, seemingly without any thought given to safety. "I used to write down every night what we'd been doing and how much chemical we'd used," he said. "We used to mix the stuff in an ordinary tin bucket with a bit of water." After Adrian was poisoned, his wife Jude wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of him returning to the same environment that put him in a hospital bed.

"But at the end of the day I was working part time in a legal office and we had four children to feed," she said. "Our generation grew up with the attitude that if you got a job, you said 'thank you very much'." The 1976 incident wasn't the first time Adrian had felt the effects of the chemicals he was using to destroy noxious weeds and pests in the region. The young spray hand moved from Ararat to Maryborough as a 22-year-old in 1960 and quickly worked out not to get too close to his sprays. "We sprayed some sort of acid . . . we had brass rods and they'd just go all black because it would burn the rods," he said. "We were spraying down in a gully and it would all gather down the bottom . . . you'd have to get out after a while." "I wasn't too good after that." Later, his role of fumigating rabbits proved dangerous for many who undertook the task. "We had a spray gun and we'd spray it in the burrow, the wind would blow it back and if you were on the wrong side, you'd cop it all," he said. "You'd have to watch where the wind was blowing. It was shocking stuff." Adrian said the lack of any protective gear - or any other forms of equipment - was a big concern. "All we had for water was a canvas bag that had a bit of water in it that used to sit on the side of the truck," he said. "That was the only water we had to watch our hands...they never had decent drinking containers for you." Adrian said he had accumulated thousands of dollars' worth of medical bills over the years, he says from poisoning related to his work. He says he hopes it isn't too late to receive some sort of compensation - or apology - from the Victorian government. "Something should be done about it . . . they knew what was going on," he said. "You probably wouldn't get an apology (but) I reckon I'd be entitled for a payment given all the sickness I've had."

STEPHEN WERESZCZUK - Beaufort STEPHEN Wereszczuk was the "main man" for mixing chemicals in Beaufort. Since hanging the boots up just two years ago, he has condemned the exposure to lethal chemicals he - and his colleagues - endured for decades. Stephen bypassed the voluntary redundancy payouts of the early 1990s that were offered to spray-hands when the department was significantly downsized.

Unlike the vast majority of his colleagues, Stephen held suspicions of unknown dangers the chemicals produced throughout his career since he was hired in 1978 as a tractor driver. Deep down I did think it was dangerous. I was careful, but others weren't . . . most of my work mates have died," Stephen said. "There was no protective clothing or masks. They only came in later on." His wife Wilma's asthma grew worse from exposure to the chemicals, lending to countless nights of "heaving" without sleep. "The smell . . . the power . . . it would take your breath away. When you're tipping it into the tank you'd feel light headed," he said. "The boss would be saying 'you weak bugger' when chemicals hit you with the wind." The 66-year-old recalls a fire in the 1970s where he was forced to douse the blaze in 245T because there was no water. Stephen was also told to mix a form of mustard gas and diesel - making a sticky substance to which would grip to twalls of rabbit holes - all without protective gear.

"I remember mustard gas. If you got it in your eyes it would knock you out cold," he said. He recalls a day when a colleague was knocked out called when they were fumigating rabbit holes. Stephen counts the number of fallen workmates on his fingers. "A workmate from a neighbouring depot died of pancreatic cancer. He never wore protective clothing, just shorts. I reckon it contributed to his death," he said. "All the older blokes from Ararat are dead. Two from Beaufort are gone."

Recommendations for the Control of Noxious Weeds in Victoria was issued in 1977. It recommends that “many of the weeds listed may be controlled by the use of hormone-like herbicides”. “The various types of these herbicides available at present contain either MCPA (earmarked for review), 24D (now under review), 245T (now banned), fenoprop (banned), 24D-B (earmarked for review), MCPB, dicamba or picloram (earmarked for review) as the active constituent.” Recommendations for the control of noxious weeds in Victoria. Bulletin No. 3E, 1977. Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board Department of Crown Lands and Survey Victoria

COMPLAINTS by Victorian Lands Department spray hands regarding chemical use were ignored by authorities and unions, a former Australian Workers Union national safety director claims. Yossi Berger said he would also guide a state inquiry into the historical matters of affected spray hands, after all complaints were ignored up until his time with the union. On Saturday, The Courier revealed claims by former Lands Department workers of appalling safety standards when working with dangerous chemicals in the Ballarat and wider goldfields region. Dr Berger says he and colleagues received "many" complaints from injured workers of the Lands Department, but were effectively too busy to deal with them at the time. He admits none of these complaints were followed up. "By 1990 more than just a legacy was left behind. One of the reasons the AWU employed me and set up an entire OH&S unit and library was to closely attend to OH&S matters. Up to then the AWU was not in a position to follow up the many complex OH&S and environmental issues," Dr Berger said. "WE ALSO HEARD MANY REPORTS OF VARIOUS HALF-FULL CHEMICAL DRUMS AND EMPTY UNWASHED DRUMS SIMPLY BEING ABANDONED OR BURIED IN THE BUSH." Dr Yossi Berger Dr Berger started with the AWU in 1993 following a role as the director of the Victorian Trades Hall Council and Australian Council of Trade Unions OH&S Unit. He recalled many conversations with "depressed" and "anxious" workers during his time with the union. "Neither the ACTU nor the VTHC kept any global records on any of this," he said. "However, once I started with the AWU . . . I heard many stories from workers and injured workers about the use of such chemicals, particularly 24D and 245T, a combination of which makes up the infamous Agent Orange. "We also heard many reports of various half-full chemical drums and empty unwashed drums simply being abandoned or buried in the bush." Dr Berger said workers complained about being injured and falling ill as a consequence of chemical sprays used in their job. "But no records were kept nor any broad surveys or formal group interviews conducted," Dr Berger said. "We dealt with (current) issues as they came up, on a one by one basis - and there were plenty of them about a range of OHS matters." Dr Berger said in the early 1990s, he was almost alone in helping workers deal with workplace safety issues. He said despite no historical cases being followed-up, he was active in tackling issues that arose at-the-time. "I lost count of how many occasions I banned the use of dangerous chemicals or work practices," Dr Berger said. "The secretary of the union totally supported my actions, including a young and enthusiastic Bill Shorten who absorbed a huge amount of OHS information on inspections with me." Dr Berger said, years later, he investigated the historical concerns of workers "solo". "Certainly the AWU, which was the principle union in the area did not take an active interest in these historical matters," he said. He said he hoped political parties would agree to a preliminary historical review of the OHS matters up until the mid-1990s. "Of course (I would lead an inquiry) . . . only if it was done in close detail and based on plausibilities, not silly 'proofs'."

DON HUMPHREY - Ballarat THINGS were no different at Ballarat. Spray hands were still mixing chemicals to save time and management almost certainly knew about it. Like the other depots, workers had little to no protective equipment despite many calls for it. Don Humphrey was one of 12 spray hands at the Ballarat depot. He recalls a lax attitude taken by management towards protective clothing. "At one point, they said to us that they would have to sack some blokes to be able to afford protective gear," he said. "We pushed it through the unions...but most of (the protective clothing) came through the health and safety regulations." Having retired in 2011 after 42 years working for the department, Don started his career in 1969 in one of the Lands Department's "mobile gangs". His job was to roam around what was the old Leigh Shire, destroying weeds with a chemical arsenal at his disposal. In some ways, a very similar arsenal to what the US armed forces were dropping on Vietnam about the same time. Don began work at a time when 245T wasn't banned - back when authorities hailed it as 'safe enough to drink'. Years later, those same authorities decided to ban 245T all together. Don wasn't surprised. He recalls the regular mixing of chemicals in order to treat as many weeds as possible. "Instead of going up the road time after time with a whole lot of different sprays, they were mixed up together so you would go once and kill the whole lot," he says. "That was highly illegal of course...but it's just what we used to do." "AT ONE POINT, THEY SAID TO US THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO SACK SOME BLOKES TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD PROTECTIVE GEAR." Don Humphrey Don remembered the government making attempts to downplay the health effects of such herbicides following the Vietnam War. "They were full of bulldust," he said. He said before Vietnam and the subsequent controversy about spray hands inadvertently creating Agent Orange, he had no idea he was mixing such potentially harmful chemicals.

IAN WILLIS - Beaufort NOT every surviving spray hand believes the system killed their colleagues. Ian Willis provides a surety the chemicals were harmless. His faith in the chemicals stem from a local doctor who's conclusion was in line with the state government's assurances. "I haven't had any undue health problems," he said. "Bill Parsons (the doctor), was a family friend and he said we had nothing to worry about. "I wasn't worried about them (the chemicals) and I haven't had any problems. "They only banned it (245T) because of the media attention. I didn't think it was dangerous because of my trust in Bill Parsons." However, Ian has been subject to several health issues including a lymphoma, swollen prostate and genetic cysts. He has blamed issues with his heart on stress caused by his role as Operations Area Supervisor. He confirmed no safety equipment was used in his time as a spray hand. "No, never used masks. No safety equipment at all," he said. "It was only when I went out and bought the boys masks in the early 80s, just before the amalgamation occurred in 1984." "NO, NEVER USED MASKS. NO SAFETY EQUIPMENT AT ALL." Ian Willis Mr Willis now works from his home garage doing mechanical repairs on cars. He took a voluntary redundancy in 1995 after 20 years with the department.

KEN RATCLIFFE - Maryborough KEN Ratcliffe retired after 18 years as a sprayhand in the Lands Department and is proud of his work. When state government funding dried up and when concerns about health effects of chemicals arose, spray programs being undertaken by Lands Department workers downsized significantly. Workers such as Ken now think their hard work - their life's work - was in vain. "You may as well say it's been done for nothing," he said. "You see old cockies in the street and you ask "how's the spraying?" - they always say "they do nothing now." "It's a bloody shame because we put in a lot of work." Ken said he, like others in the Lands Department, used chemicals such as 245T, 24D and Tordon. "Stinking stuff it was too," he said. "WE USED TO HAVE STOCKS OF IT AT THE DEPOT AND IT USED TO START LEAKING OUT THE TINS." Ken Ratcliffe "We used to mix them in the back of a truck - but as the years went on we did less and less." He recalls his colleague Adrian McKinnis getting sick and taking weeks off work and also recalls disposing of "leaking" 24D drums. "We used to have stocks of it at the depot and it used to start leaking out the tins...that's how strong it was apparently," he said."We had nothing to do with that really, we just got told to go and shift the bad ones."

Victorian government will lead an inquiry into toxic chemical use by former Victorian Lands Department workers By DAVID JEANS and JORDAN OLIVER Sept. 30, 2014

THE VICTORIAN Government will launch an inquiry into toxic chemical use of former Victorian Lands Department weed eradicators, following an investigation by The Courier. However, the Australian Workers Union has criticised the fact that it will be an internal inquiry within the department. The special report revealed startling claims by former Victorian Lands Department workers of appalling safety standards when working with dangerous chemicals – including Agent Orange – in the Ballarat and wider Goldfields region. The workers also claimed complaints by spray hands regarding the chemicals were ignored by authorities and unions. Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith said on Tuesday afternoon a full and comprehensive inquiry would be led by the Department of Environment and Primary Industries. "These reports are concerning. A full and comprehensive examination of the issues raised will be led by DEPI," Mr Smith said. "In the development of this advice, DEPI will consult fully and obtain all relevant information from the Victorian WorkCover Authority." PART ONE: Former state government weed eradicators make startling claims of appalling safety standards when working with dangerous chemicals in the Ballarat and wider goldfields region. PART TWO: Complaints by spray hands regarding chemical use were ignored by authorities and unions. The AWU has called for the investigation to be independent. "The problems that initially occurred in the predecessor to DEPI, the Victorian Lands Department, shouldn't be internally investigated by DEPI. These issues need a public airing," AWU Victorian secretary Ben Davis said. "It needs a full state government inquiry, they managed to do it at Fiskville, they need to do it at this one." "Simply talking to WorkCover is not enough, these issues and health concerns need a public airing," Mr Davis said. "These workers have waited decades to tell their story and their story now needs to be heard. They need to talk to former employees." The minister said the inquiry would begin immediately. He allayed concerns for current DEPI employees. "These reports relate to activities from several decades ago," Mr Smith said. "Current DEPI and Parks Victoria staff and the community should be reassured that current practices and procedures used to control pest plants and animals are in line with best occupational health and safety practice." The state Opposition said on Monday it would hold an inquiry into the matter if elected in November. Labor spokeswoman for environment and climate change, Lisa Neville, said the claims should be investigated. “The Courier’s important article on the former Lands Department has shone a light on the plight of many former workers,” she said. “Victorian Labor supports an inquiry to investigate these matters further.”

Bill Shorten calls for broader inquiry into toxic chemical use By DAVID JEANS Oct. 1, 2014

AN INDEPENDENT inquiry into use of toxic chemicals by former Victorian Lands Department workers has gained impetus with federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joining the call for a broader investigation. Mr Shorten worked at the Australian Workers Union alongside Dr Yossi Berger, who was hired in 1993 as the union's first national safety director and received multiple complaints about the use of toxic chemicals by former weed eradicators. Dr Berger previously told The Courier that complaints by spray hands regarding chemical use were ignored by authorities and unions before his time with the AWU. Mr Shorten on Wednesday urged the Victorian Government to push for more than an internal investigation. "I certainly welcome an investigation, and congratulate the Ballarat Courier for its coverage of this issue," Mr Shorten said. "I do urge the Victorian Government to seriously consider the need for a broader, more transparent inquiry into the use of these toxic chemicals and the long term effects on former workers." The Victorian Government said on Tuesday it would launch an inquiry into the issue led by the Department of Environment and Primary Industries - the successor to the Lands Department - in consultation with the Victorian WorkCover Authority. However the AWU has called for an independent and public inquiry. Mr Shorten joined the AWU in 1994 and became the state secretary of the Victoria branch from 1998 to 2006 and the national secretary from 2001 to 2007. He said his work with Dr Berger lead to the cessation of several toxic chemicals in workplaces. In 2003, a Western Australian state government inquiry into the use of toxic chemicals by a similar department found that 27 workers still living should be eligible for compensation.

Support for independent inquiry into toxic chemicals growing By DAVID JEANS AND JORDAN OLIVER Oct. 3, 2014

A GROUNDSWELL of support is growing in the Ballarat region for an independent state government inquiry into the use of toxic chemicals by former Victorian Lands Department workers. Over the past week, The Courier has heard dozens of stories from ex-workers and families of deceased workers from depots including Ballarat, Sebastopol, Beaufort, Clunes, Daylesford, Linton, Avoca, Maryborough, Buninyong and Meredith.

Nearly a dozen people in the region have confirmed that if an independent state inquiry was established, they would readily make a submission. State Opposition spokesperson for environment Lisa Neville said on Friday Labor would commit to a fully independent inquiry if elected in November. The inquiry, which would be established under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act, would take submissions and have the power to call on witnesses. The Courier has identified 17 former Victorian Lands Department weed eradicators in the region who have died, mostly from illness including various cancers. There is currently no clear link between the deaths of the former workers and their exposure to toxic chemicals. However, former Linton depot spray hand Ewen Ching believes his exposure to toxic chemicals led to several diseases and disorders.

Mr Ching became sick two years after taking a redundancy package in 1998 when symptoms of peripheral neuropathy – a nerve disease – appeared. Mr Ching now battles Parkinson’s disease, sleep apnoea (a throat disorder that blocks the airways), diverticulitis (a bowel disease), a dysfunctional pancreas, a swollen prostate and cysts on his liver and kidney. “These poisons caused a lot of what I’ve got,” Mr Ching said. “With all these sicknesses I’ve got, it’s gotta be caused by something.” Australian Workers Union Victorian branch secretary Ben Davis said Labor’s commitment was a huge step forward. “The AWU ... calls upon the Napthine government to call an independent inquiry now so that the community can finally get some answers to some very troubling questions about the exposure of state government employees and others to these chemicals and the health effects of this.” Earlier this week, the state government pledged to have the Department of Environment and Primary Industries – the successor to the Lands Department – conduct an internal investigation into the matter in collaboration with the Victorian WorkCover Authority. Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith did not respond for comment.

Toxic chemical use: daughter queries dad's death By DAVID JEANS and JORDAN OLIVER Oct. 3, 2014

A FORMER spray hand’s daughter has told of her father’s concern that toxic chemical use during his career might have led to his death. Charlie Goldsworthy died in 1998 from bowel cancer that had spread to his liver. His daughter Jenny Cole said her father became sick within eight years of leaving the Victorian Lands Department. “I remember sitting in the hospital with him. There were all these photos on the wall saying ‘you should eat properly’,” Ms Cole said. “He said ‘I’ve eaten all my own grown vegies all my life. I wonder what I’ve done wrong. Maybe it was the chemicals I used’.”

Ms Cole said bowel cancer was hereditary from her father’s side of the family. “He loved his job because he was outdoors, in the bush,” Ms Cole said. “He never had a sick day, except when he hurt his knee. “We never knew what chemicals he was using, we all just remember that smell.” Ms Cole said she hoped an inquiry into toxic chemical use by the former Victorian Lands Department would provide her with answers. “I’d be disappointed if his bosses and those above him knew it was wrong, that they would put their workers in that sort of situation,” she said.

“THEY WERE TOLD IT WAS SAFE TO DRINK. HE’D MIX THE CHEMICALS IN THE DRUM WITH HIS HANDS THEN EAT HIS SANDWICHES WITH NO WATER TO WASH HIS HANDS.” - - TOMMY GOLDSWORTHY

Charlie’s twin brother, Tommy Goldsworthy, said he remembered his sibling questioning whether the chemical use was linked to the onset of cancer. “I was living in Ballarat at the time and I’d see him and he’d talk about what he’d been doing,” Mr Goldsworthy said. “They were told it was safe to drink. He’d mix the chemicals in the drum with his hands then eat his sandwiches with no water to wash his hands.” Charlie worked at the Clunes depot alongside Barry Goldsmith, who spoke to The Courier about using toxic chemicals while working for the Victorian Lands Department. Mr Goldsmith said Charlie did the majority of the mixing of chemicals. Mr Goldsmith said he wanted an inquiry to publicly acknowledge that his job exposed him to toxic chemicals. “We want to clear the air on how dangerous the chemicals really were. We were told they weren’t dangerous,” Mr Goldsmith said. “I’d just want them to acknowledge that we were right all along – that the chemicals were harmful. “We were treated like bloody mushrooms as far as I’m concerned. All complaints fell on deaf ears.” Mr Goldsmith said he would take compensation if it was made available. “I’ve never been one to ask for compensation. I’ve been a battler all my life, but I’d take it if it was offered,” he said. He said toxic chemical use by government spray hands was not an issue limited to Victoria. “I hope an inquiry does go Australia-wide. I know damn well it happened in other states, including Western Australia,” he said. The investigation has jogged other memories for Mr Goldsmith, including a “poison allowance”. “When we’d deal with poisons in the 1960s we’d be given a 50-cent poison allowance. It was a joke,” Mr Goldsmith said.

Toxic Legacy Support For Independent Inquiry Growing - October 3 2014 Ballarat Courier

A GROUNDSWELL of support is growing in the Ballarat region for an independent state government inquiry into the use of toxic chemicals by former Victorian Lands Department workers.

Over the past week, The Courier has heard dozens of stories from ex-workers and families of deceased workers from depots including Ballarat, Sebastopol, Beaufort, Clunes, Daylesford, Linton, Avoca, Maryborough, Buninyong and Meredith.

Nearly a dozen people in the region have confirmed that if an independent state inquiry was established, they would readily make a submission.

State Opposition spokesperson for environment Lisa Neville said on Friday Labor would commit to a fully independent inquiry if elected in November.

The inquiry, which would be established under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act, would take submissions and have the power to call on witnesses.

The Courier has identified 17 former Victorian Lands Department weed eradicators in the region who have died, mostly from illness including various cancers.

There is currently no clear link between the deaths of the former workers and their exposure to toxic chemicals.

However, former Linton depot spray hand Ewen Ching believes his exposure to toxic chemicals led to several diseases and disorders. Former Linton depot spray hand Ewen Ching attributes most of his current illnesses to working with chemicals.

“These poisons caused a lot of what I’ve got,” Mr Ching said. “With all these sicknesses I’ve got, it’s gotta be caused by something.”

Australian Workers Union Victorian branch secretary Ben Davis said Labor’s commitment was a huge step forward.

“The AWU ... calls upon the Napthine government to call an independent inquiry now so that the community can finally get some answers to some very troubling questions about the exposure of state government employees and others to these chemicals and the health effects of this.”

Earlier this week, the state government pledged to have the Department of Environment and Primary Industries – the successor to the Lands Department – conduct an internal investigation into the matter in collaboration with the Victorian WorkCover Authority. Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith could not be contacted before deadline.

Incomplete text (below)

Cluster of birthabnormalities occurring at Yarram in Victoria (1975-76).

Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District. Victorian Government.

On 21 March 1978 the Consultative Council was established to inquire into the alleged relationship of congenital abnormalities in the Yarram district of Victoria in 1975-76 to the use of phenoxyacetic acid herbicides 2,4-D & 2,4,5-T in that district in 1974. Investigations into 4 perinatal deaths with birth defects amongst 93 deliveries during 75/76, 2 cases spina bifida, one of anencephalus and one of renal agenesis, 2 stillbirths at 22 weeks and 27 weeks gestation, a living child with phocomelia born in December 1975, a baby who died in May 1978 with cystic hygroma in the neck.

p3 ". . . 24-D and 2,4,5-T have been widespread in many parts of Victoria for more than 25 years . . . both chemicals have been used at Yarram ( and in the rest if Gippsland and the Otway Ranges) for controlling weeds since 1950 . . . The main uses of 24-D and 2,4,5-T in areas such as Yarram are the Department of Crown Lands and Survey and local farmers. Lesser amounts are used by the Forests Commission and forestry companies . . ."

1. The cluster of babies with birth defects born in Yarram in 1975-76 was not such as to suggest that a specific local cause was operative.

2. Analysis of all information available showed no evidence that these birth defects were caused by exposure to 24-D or 2,4,5,-T.

3. The normal agricultural use of 24-D and 2,4,5-T has not been shown to cause birth abnormalities in domestic animals nor is there evidence to connect such use with human birth abnormalities.

4. Victoria lacks organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects and lacks an adequate system of surveillance of those birth defects which are not rapidly lethal.

THE CHEMISTRY, TOXICOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL FATE OF THE HERBICIDES 2,4-D AND 2,4,5-T AND OF TCDD

The chlorinated phenoxyacetic acid herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T were developed in the 1940s. Since that time they have been used world-wide to control weeds in both food and non-food situations. They have been noted for their efficacy as herbicides and their low animal toxicity.

During the Vietnam War they were widely used as defoliants, and in the emotive situation which arose they received a great deal of adverse publicity. Criticism over their use in the war situation also led to questions regarding their agricultural uses. This resulted in a number of expert committees being set up to reconsider their use in agricultural practice. A further stimulus to these investigations arose from the fact that an impurity in commercial samples of 2,4,5-T and the dioxin 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibezodioxin (TCDD), was found to be an extremely toxic agent which produced teratogenic effects in some laboratory animals.

The literature on 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T and TCDD is very extensive. A recent selected bibliography issued by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Diaz-Colon & Bovey 1978) lists more than 2,000 references concerned with the toxicity, fate in the environment, and ecological impact of the compounds.

Extensive reviews and reports on these herbicides, and on TCDD, have been studied by the Consultative Council. . .

Since the early 1950s, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have become the most widely used herbicides in Australia and annual usage at present is about 2,500 tonnes of 2,4-D and 250 tonnes of 2,4,5-T. 2,4-D is used mainly for the control of annual and perennial broadleaf weeds in cereal crops and pastures, and on roadsides and in other non-crop situations: 2,4,5-T is used to control mainly woody plants such as blackberries, gorse and eucalypts. Of the 96 plants which are proclaimed as noxious weeds in Victoria, 2,4-D is recommended for the control of 49, and 2,4,5-T for the control of 13. 2,4,5-T is not used for weed control in food crops in Victoria.

The use patterns in Victoria are in accord with the recommendations of the National Health and Medical Research Council, and maximum permitted residue levels have been set for various food crops and water with respect to 2,4-D, and for water with respect to 2,4,5-T. Regular sampling shows that 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T do not occur in food or water supplies in Victoria.

Both 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have now been used in Victoria for almost 30 years with no known detrimental effects on the health of the general public. They have a similar safety record overseas when used as aids to agricultural production. Any adverse effects which have been reported are concerned with personnel involved in the production or agricultural use of these compounds.

(b) Formulations of 2,4-D and 2,4,5_T 2,4-D is formulated as an amine salt (generally containing the equivalent of 500g of 2,4-D acid per litre) or as an emulsifiable ester (generally containing the equivalent of either 400 or 800g of 2,4-D acid per litre); whilst 2,4,5-T is formulated as an emulsifiable ester (generally containing the equivalent of either 400 or 800g of 2,4,5-T acid per litre).

Virtually all the 2,4-D acid used in Australia is manufactured in this country, whilst about 90% of the 2,4,5-T acid used for formulating the 2,4,5-T products used in Victoria is imported from overseas. Practically no formulated 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T is imported to Australia.

Studies in the late 1960s in U.S.A., involving administration of 2,4,5-T to some pregnant rodents, showed an increase in the rate of congenital abnormalities in the resultant young. The principal cause of these abnormalities was subsequently shown to be the dioxin contaminant TCDD which occurred in the sample of 2,4,5-T used in these studies at a concentration of approximately 27ppm. Much research has since been carried out on the effect of TCDD on the developing young of experimental animals and it is now known that this chemical may cause congenital abnormalities in the young of rodents and birds. The most common abnormalities occurring are cleft palate and kidney anomalies.

As well as being teratogenic (causing congenital abnormalities), TCDD is an extremely toxic chemical, being about 5,000 to 500,000 times as toxic as 2,4,5-T.

Because of these undesirable properties of TCDD, governments in most countries of the world have set maximum limits on the amount of TCDD which may legally occur in 2,4,5-T. The legal limit in Australia has been recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council at 0.1 ppm of TCDD in 2,4,5-T acid, and this limit has been included in the appropriate Australian standard. This is the same limit as currently imposed in many other countries including Denmark, New Zealand and U.S.A.

Tests are made by the Australian Government Analytical Laboratory in Sydney on behalf of the Victorian Department of Agriculture on the level of TCDD occurring in the 2,4,5-T ester offered for sale in Victoria and over the past two years the average TCDD level has been 0.06 ppm.

Similar results have been obtained with samples collected in other States, and apply to both locally produced and imported 2,4,5-T acid.

It is noted that one sample reported on in Victoria in 1977 contained 0.2 ppm of TCDD in the formulation. No other sample has exceeded this figure.

TCDD is formed when tetrachlorbenzene is reacted with alkaline methanol to form 2,4,5-trichlorphenol, one of the raw materials used in the manufacture of 2,4,5-T. If temperature and pressure are not carefully controlled at this stage of manufacture relatively large amounts of TCDD can be formed. A small quantity of TCDD produced in normal manufacture is largely stripped out at the next stage of the process. In the 1950s when manufacturing processes used in the production of 2,4,5-trichlorphenol were less well controlled, the concentrations of TCDD in commercial 2,4,5-T varied widely and concentrations of up to 50 ppm occurred in some samples. However, at present all formulators of 2,4,5-T in Australia use 2,4,5-trichlorphenol from not more than three sources, each of which maintains careful control of the product, and enables manufacturers to guarantee levels of less than 0.1 ppm in 2,4,5-T. Samples of 2,4,5-T now produced by industry can be shown to regularly contain less than 0.6 ppm of TCDD.

2,4-D is manufactured by a different process and no TCDD is produced in its manufacture.

During the discussions of the Consultative Council several further points were raised with respect to TCDD contamination of 2,4,5-T. The first concerned the possibility that old stocks of { } used in the Yarram area during 1975-76. This possibility was considered unlikely by the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey and the Pesticides Co-ordinator of the Australian Department of Primary Industry, who pointed out that the herbicide was bought on a year to year basis for use within a given season. Furthermore, on at least two occasions in recent years, there has been an acute shortage of the chemical because benzene has been unavailable due to the oil crisis and demand has exceeded supply by a large margin. While all these reasons do not entirely eliminate the possibility of old stock having been available in the Yarram area, the probability is that all old stock would have been used prior to the period in question.

The second point concerned the possibility of 2,4,5-T being converted to TCDD during storage or after being sprayed onto vegetation. Another point was the question of whether TCDD was produced when plants treated with 2,4,5-T were burned.

In the former cases the three requirements for TCDD production (a high concentration of the correct reactants, high temperature and high pressure) are absent. In the latter case, tests have shown that deliberate burning of materials sprayed with 2,4,5-T does not give rise to significant TCDD production, indeed, at high (flame) temperature TCDD itself is decomposed. . .

Two of the most important noxious weeds in the Yarram area are ragwort and blackberries. There is nothing unusual about Yarram in this respect as these two weeds are major problems in the whole of South Gippsland and the Otway Ranges.

2,4-D is a recommended herbicide for controlling ragwort and 2,4,5-T is recommended for the treatment of blackberries. These two materials have been used at Yarram (and in the rest of Gippsland and the Otway Ranges) for controlling these weeds since about 1950.

For the control of ragwort, 2,4-D is applied usually with a boom spray at a rate of 2.25kg ai (active ingredient) per ha or with a spot spray unit delivering a 0.2% mixture of 2,4-D in water. Some areas are also treated by backpack misting machines and by aircraft. Most application is made from September to January.

Most of the application of 2,4,5-T to blackberry is made with spot spraying units delivering a 0.067% mixture or 2,4,5-T in water. Occasionally applications are made by misting machines and by aircraft. Most application is made from December to April. These materials are used by:-

(a) the Department of Crown Lands and Survey for control mostly on non-private lands but also on some private land on a “contract basis;

Figures on total use in a particular area such as Yarram are not readily available because of the lack of data on usage by private landholders.

However, the Consultative Council was able to obtain information which it believes gives a reasonably accurate picture of total usage in the Yarram area in 1974, 1975 and 1976. This is presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Estimated total use (kg ai) of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in the Yarram area in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

The Department of Crown Lands and Survey is the largest single user of these herbicides in areas such as Yarram, probably accounting for some 60 to 75% of total usage. Figures supplied by the Department of its usage from 1971 to 1977 (Table 2) can thus be taken as showing the overall trend in use during this period.

TABLE 2 Herbicide (kg ai) use by Department of Crown Lands and Survey in the Yarram area from 1971 to 1977.

Use varies from year to year due to climatic conditions e.g. weed growth is retarded in dry years and less spraying than normal is carried out; also less spraying is done during extended periods of wet weather.

The data collected by the Consultative Council showed that there was nothing unusual about the amounts of 2,4,-D or 2,4,5-T used in the Yarram area in 1975 or 1976 compared to other years. It was noted that aerial application of both materials was greater in 1974 than in 1975 or 1976; this was contrary to press reports which claimed “massive” aerial application in 1975. In fact, only 12% of the 2,4-D and 3% of the 2,4,5-T were applied by aircraft in the Yarram area in 1975.

Sample No.	Location	Time	2,4,5-T ppthm
17798	Fiery Creek	before spraying	0.7
17799	Fiery Creek	24 hours after spraying	6.3
		after spraying 15/7/71	0.5
17800	Blue Range Creek	before spraying 7/7/71	2.2
17801	(Mansfield)	during spraying 8/7/71 9am	1.9
17802	(Mansfield	during spraying 9/7/71 8am	6.5
17803	(Mansfield)	17 hours after spraying 10/7/71 10am	1.5
17804	(Mansfield)	42 hours after spraying 11/7/71 11am	0.7
18266	(Mansfield)	After Rain	0.5
19771	Buffalo River	Before Spraying	0.8
	Myrtleford	Within 24 hours	0.5
	Myrtleford	After Spraying	5.0

2,2-DPA	Dalapon, Propon, Nupon
2,4-D Amine Salt	Amicide 50, Nocweed A50
2,4-D Estyl ester	Estercide 80, Nocweed E80
2,4,5-T butyl ester	Fire T Brushkiller 80, Nocweed Butyl Ester 80
2,4,5-T tech butyl ester	Kil-A-Tree
Amitrol	Weedazol TL Plus, Amitrole T
Ammonium Hydroxide
Atrazine	Gesaprim
Bacillus thurogenensis	Dipel
Benomyl	Benlate
Bioresmethrin	Coopers BRMS
Captafol	Difolatan
Captan	Captan
Chlorthal	Dachal
Copper Oxychloride	Oxydul, Cuprox
Dazomet	Basamid
Distillate	Dieseline
Fenaminosulph	Dexon
Formaldehyde	Formalin
Fosamine	Krenite
Glyphosate	Roundup
Hexazinone	Velpar
Hydrated Lime
Malathion	Maldison
Methyl Bromide
Mineral Spirit	Petropine
Nitrofen	Tok E
Picloram	Tordan
Propazine	Gesamil
Simazine	Gesatop
Sodium Chlorate + Sodium Octoborate	Polyborchlorate
Sodium Hypochlorite	Laundry Bleaches
Sodium Fluoroacetate	1080
Thiram
White Oil	Superior Winter Spraying Oil
White Spirit	Commercial Dry Cleaning Fluid

Period	Yarram	Victoria
1960-1974	1.02	2.285
1960-1977	2.67	2.34
1968-1977	4.24	2.37
1975-1977	14.4	2.67

	Singapore	UK and USA	Others	Total
1967/8	0 (0)	NA (152)	NA (71)	NA (223)
1968/9	NA (51)	NA (182)	NA (100)	NA (333)
1969/70	370 (161)	158 (141)	82 (44)	610 (346)
1970/1	312 (140)	256 (177)	164 (79)	732 (396)
1971/2	0 (0)	442 (273)	105 (60)	547 (333)
1972/3	0 (0)	376 (252)	69 (57)	445 (309)

TCDD		0.05	0.11	0.51	1.1	2.1	3.1	5.1	7.1	10.1
	<0.05										>20.0*
mg/kg		-0.10	-0.50	-1.00	-2.0	-3.0	-5.0	-7.0	-10.0	-20.0
% of samples	12.5	21.0	35.0	8.5	4.0	3.0	5.0	2.5	6.0	1.0	1.5

1948-67	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972
1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978
1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
1985	1986	1988	1989	2002	2003
2004	2008	2012	2013	2014

De	2,4-D Ester
Da	2,4-D Amine
V	Hexazinone
A	Amitrole
N	2,2,-DPA
S	Simazine
R	1080
T	2,4,5-T still under consideration

Herbicides (with 2,4,5-T	Quantity Herbicides Used Annually (litres)	Weeds and Woody Species	Location
Weedone Special (36% 2,4,5-T)	700	Ti-tree, willow, wattle, blackberry	Drain banks at Kooweerup
Weedone Special (36% 2,4,5-T)	150	Blackberry	Tarago Reservoir Catchment
Tordon 105 (20% 2,4,5-T, 5% Picoloram)	50	Eucalypt, poplar, willow	Channel banks in irrigation districts

Weed	Preferred treatment	Chemical Status in 2014
Acacia Hedge	2,4,5-T	Banned
Artichoke Thistle	Picloram	Nominated for Review
Bathurst Burr	2,4-D	Suspended?
Blackberry	2,4,5-T	Banned
Boxthorn	2,4-D	Suspended?
Cape Tulip	2,4-D	Suspended?
Devils Claw	2,4-D	Suspended?
Furze	2,4,5-T	Banned
Ivy	Picloram	Nominated for Review
Nut Grass	2,4-D	Suspended?
Paterson's Curse	2,4-D	Suspended?
Prickly Pear	2,4,5-T	Banned
Scotch Thistle	Dicamba	Available
Serrated Tussock	22DPA	Available
Wild Garlic	Picloram	Nominated for Review

Yarram Abnormalities and unresolved historical issues concerning 2,4,5-T

For more detailed information on the dangers of 2,4,5-T including details of spray programs conducted in Gippsland during the 1970's; click here.

Please note that large volumes of 2,4,5-T were also used for weed control on Crown Land and private property during this period.

Chemical Time Bomb - 4 Corners (also features links to 1978 4 Corners) July 22 2013

Main Years Of Concern

Contents of this Page:

1948-67

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1988

1989

2002

2003

2004

2008

2012

2013

2014

History

State Pollution Control Commission November 1981

Environmental Impacts of the Chlorophenoxy Herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D

Pesticides: The New Plague

The victims..the politics..the alternatives

Linda Cawcutt/Catherine Watson Friends of the Earth Fitzroy, 1984.

"SUBMISSION

PESTICIDES IN SOUTH GIPPSLAND 1

4 OCTOBER 1985 *** *** B.Sc.

2014

Weed

Preferred treatment

Chemical Status in 2014

Incomplete text (below)

Cluster of birthabnormalities occurring at Yarram in Victoria (1975-76).

Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District. Victorian Government.

For more detailed information on the dangers of 2,4,5-T including details of spray programs conducted in Gippsland during the 1970's; click here .

4 OCTOBER 1985 * B.Sc.*