Environment groups and cattle farmers united
Monday, 01 February 1999 10:00
The groups also called on major parties to detail how they will protect the environment, sustainable agriculture and rural communities by overhauling pesticide legislation.
"The cotton industry should be treated like all other high-impact polluting industries and be forced to be made accountable for the pollution it creates. Peter Austin, columnist for The Land commented (28.1.99) that 'Too often, the cotton industry seems to be calling the tune, trusting to its financial and political 'clout' to subdue opposition''.
"The government's apparent unconditional support for the polluting ways of the cotton industry condemns the rest of NSW to live in the toxic chemical cocktail they leave behind," Jo Immig, Chemicals Campaigner with Total Environment Centre.
"The current endosulfan beef crisis is not the one off event the cotton industry is claiming it to be- far from it - it's just the beginning. The 1998 floods moved endosulfan residues from polluted rivers and off cotton farms across vast areas of previously uncontaminated land. Spray drift occurs every time endosulfan is applied. We wholeheartedly support calls by the Cattle Council for an official inquiry into cross contamination with pesticides."
"Graziers should be warned that their industry will continue to pay for the chemical pollution caused by the intensive use of pesticides on cotton farms. Their health and the health of their children will also suffer. They should not be fooled by the cotton industries well-oiled PR machinery, because the undisputed fact is that neither 'Good Neighbour Policies' or so-called 'Best Management Practices', will stop pesticides from trespassing off cotton farms onto other people's property. It's very concerning to hear that cotton is now taking over the lower Lachlan Valley".
"It's a disgrace that so little has been done to address this serious pollution issue. It always takes a trade crisis to bring attention to it. The question no-one dares ask is, if so many cattle are being seriously contaminated (1,400 farms that we know of so far), what's happening to the rest of the environment? What about the birds, the fish, macro-invertebrates, trees and people also being exposed to endosulfan and countless other pesticide residues in the air, soil and water?"
"Endosulfan has been identified as a suspected endocrine disrupting chemical by the WWF and the Illinois Environment Protection Authority. Where will that leave us in a few years when the best part of inland NSW is covered with pesticide contamination and our cotton 'neighbours' are long gone?
