Cleaves NEWSWIRE [Cleaves Newswire has been decommissioned but will remain online as a resource and to preserve backlinks; new site here.] Independent Open Publishing
 
"We forge the chains we wear in life" -- Charles Dickens
» Gallery

Search

search comments
advanced search
printable version
PDF version

DuPont Poisons Western Sydney
by Ben Cubby via baz - SMH Saturday, Nov 5 2011, 1:12am
national / environment / other press

Leaked Herbicide Kills over 200 Trees and Plants - 1K Radius

In the 60's DuPont and the US government wished to test DEADLY Sarin and Vx nerve gas on Aussie troops in QLD. PM, Harold Holt, wouldn't have a bar of it; Holt disappeared while skindiving soon after. Corporate controlled America took steps to ensure that only Washington compliant lackeys led Australian in the future; from Hawke/Keating through Howard, Rudd to the most servile US lackey of them all, Juliar 'Goldman Carbon Sachs' Gillard. Have a nice slave day, Oz!

treespoisoned.jpg

A GOVERNMENT investigation into herbicide pollution in western Sydney that killed hundreds of trees and plants has narrowed the culprit down to a chemical compound produced at a factory in Girraween, near Blacktown.

The vegetation dieback, first noticed three months ago, has left a legacy of more than 200 dead trees that must now be removed by Holroyd Council.

Forensic testing on the dead plants has identified metsulfuron-methyl, a herbicide agent used to kill broadleaf plants, as the culprit.

The dead trees, backyard plants and vegetable patches are confined to a kilometre-wide radius around the herbicide factory operated by DuPont Australia.

The company confirmed the compound was an active ingredient in some herbicides made at the plant, but said a leak could not have caused the pollution.

''Yes, with the information available, this is still our belief,'' DuPont's Asia-Pacific crop protection business director, Mark Swinchatt, said.

''The symptoms observed and reported to us are not what we would expect to see from exposure to herbicides.''

Environmental consultant URS is preparing a report for the company on the vegetation dieback.

''We have conducted a thorough investigation at the facility and to our knowledge there have been no abnormal or unusual incidents or emissions at the plant,'' Mr Swinchatt said.

''DuPont's records and investigations have demonstrated that the filters on the stacks and outlets have been operating in a proper and efficient manner, minimising to the extent possible any emissions to atmosphere from those stacks.''

The Environment Protection Authority said the government investigation had not specifically connected the dead trees to the herbicide factory, though there is no other known cause.

© 2011 Fairfax Media

The Story of Stuff


COMMENTS

show latest comments first   show comment titles only

jump to comment 1 2

children and pregnant women
by pregnant Saturday, Nov 5 2011, 1:26am

People live here, DuPont!

DuPont's 'gifts' to the World
by millie Sunday, Nov 6 2011, 9:56am

Excerpt:

"With 2,000 brand names, 100,000 employees and annual sales of $25 billion in 1998, du Pont is one of the world’s biggest corporations. It’s 1939 slogan, “Better Things for Better Living…Through Chemistry,” belies a destructive legacy that will last thousands of generations. One of the globe’s worst polluters, it pioneered the creation, marketing and coverup of almost every dangerous chemical toxin ever known. It now faces countless lawsuits for the adverse health and environmental effects of its products, the unsafe working conditions in its factories and the foolhardy, disposal practices it flaunts as final solutions for its waste products. Here is a small sampling of du Pont’s gifts to the planet:

* Sulphur dioxide and lead paint
* CFCs: 25% of the world’s supply and almost 50% of the U.S. market.
* Herbicides and pesticides: brain damage, hormone system disruption.
* Formaldehyde: cancer and respiratory illnesses.
* Dioxins: Leading the way to create these carcinogens, du Pont then suppressed data on their deadly effects.
* Highly-processed, unnutritious products marketed as healthy food.
* Genetically modified foods and “Terminator”/“Killer seeds” threaten food security for 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seeds.
* Patenting plant genes and stealing the Third World’s genetic resources.
* Using U.S. prison labour and factories in many oppressive regimes.
* Its oil subsidiary, Conoco, provided petrochemical raw materials and caused environmental devastation.
* Du Pont is one of the world’s biggest producers of green house gases.
* Sold for 33 years, the fungicide Benlate destroyed crops, shrimp farms and caused birth defects.
* Since the 1920s, du Pont produced leaded gas which is responsible for 80-90% of the world’s environmental lead contamination. Besides fueling Nazi war machines that rolled and flew across Europe killing tens of millions, this product’s legacy includes retarding children’s mental health and causing hypertension in adults. Du Pont’s helped stop the U.S. ban until 1996, and then increased its overseas sales."


 
<< back to stories
 

© 2005-2024 Cleaves Alternative News.
Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial re-use, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere.
Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Cleaves Alternative News.
Disclaimer | Privacy [ text size >> ]