FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
8 AUGUST 2010

UCLA Charges ‘Back-Room Dealing’ On Aerial 1080 Resource Consents

A Coromandel conservation group has charged Waikato Regional Council with “back-room dealing” on the controversial new resource consent applications of helicopter poison companies Epro of Taupo and EcoFX of Otorohanga for permission to drop poisons into waterways throughout the Waikato..

The Upper Coromandel Landcare Association (UCLA) has objected to what it calls “special kid-glove treatment” for the two firms after learning from EW management that proposed new conditions on the requests to discharge supertoxin 1080 into Waikato waterways have been sent to the companies for their consideration and comment before EW makes its final decision.

According to UCLA spokesperson Reihana Robinson, Epro and EcoFX have been receiving poisoning contracts for the last 10 years under long-term resource consents containing only bare-bones conditions relating to public health and environmental safety. In addition, Robinson said, the cost of settling accident claims from sloppy, off-target drops has been shouldered by EW ratepayers, not the companies.

“EW’s negotiation of consent conditions is like draw poker,” Robinson said. “Epro and EcoFX take a look at their hands and choose which cards to trade and which to keep. What’s worse, the dealing is completely out of public view. There is no issue of commercial sensitivity or privacy. It’s a plain and simple case of the former EW staff who own these big poison businesses getting special treatment from their old mates at council.”

“If this were a regular ratepayer’s application,” Robinson said, “EW would look at the facts and make its determination based purely on environmental concerns. In this case, however, since EW does big business with the chopper companies, it is negotiating the consent conditions since any new requirements might bite into Epro and EcoFX profits and ultimately come back to cost EW money.”

“For EW to cut back-room deals on consent conditions with its contractors is an outrage,” Robinson said. “EW needs to make public its proposed consent conditions immediately and then stick to its guns. Council has no problem playing tough guy with farmers on effluent infractions. But when it comes to its own contract costs and the hefty profits of its old mates, you can smell these pending deals a mile away.”

ENDS

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