Big fines mooted for Hi-Cane infringers

An action plan to combat the
 irresponsible use of Hi-Cane is to be drawn up in response to growing public health concerns about the hazardous spray.
It could see heavier fines being imposed on kiwifruit spray contractors and orchardists who breached rules meant to protect the public from being exposed to the active ingredient, hydrogen cyanamide. The maximum fine is currently $300.
The call for the action plan arose from a roundtable discussion yesterday following the public protest against Hi-Cane held outside Zespri's head office in Mount Maunganui.
Protest organiser Tania Davies and Te Puna resident Tommy "Kapai" Wilson found themselves ushered into a room containing representatives of Zespri, Kiwifruit Growers Inc (KGI) and Matapihi-based Maori growers.
Hi-Cane, a spray to promote bud break, underpins the prosperity of most of the the Bay's nearly 2200 kiwifruit growers.
Discussion at the meeting centred on complying with "best practice" spray techniques and improving the notification and communication among neighbours.
Everyone agreed there was a need for more education and communication regarding the use of Hi-Cane.
Stricter penalties for the improper use of sprays received strong support, with the meeting acknowledging that current penalties did not go far enough to enforce a change of behaviour among spray applicators who might not be adhering to best practice techniques.
Mr Wilson said the meeting was about people being honest and everyone admitting there was a problem that needed to be dealt with.
Stronger relationships between members of local communities was seen as important to open up lines of communication, with Mr Wilson backing Maori elders' view that it was about neighbours getting to know neighbours.
"If people don't communicate, obviously there will be problems," he said.
KGI's New Zealand president Peter Ombler said it was a very frank and cordial discussion.
"We want to get this right as much as anybody."
He said the industry acknowledged there were isolated incidents of people not using best practice, although he said there were fewer complaints than normal so far this season.
"Where there is a problem, we take it extremely seriously," he said.
Ms Davies said it was  good  Zespri had  got involved because Hi-Cane was a toxic spray.
However one of the  problems was the difficulty that doctors had in proving that people's health problems were caused by hydrogen cyanamide. Within four hours of exposure it was untraceable and by the time people thought they had been poisoned, it was too late.
Ms Davies said Zespri "seemed interested" in a suggestion that independent research took place  to establish how toxic  Hi-Cane was.
A Te Puna orchardist at the centre of  a spray drift complaint on Monday has defended himself, denying  he sprayed in windy conditions.
He said he sprayed less than 10 per cent of the orchard on Monday - those rows closest to the shade of the shelter belts, with about eight minutes of total spray time.
He said the shelter belt was impregnable to spray drift getting beyond the orchard, and even on a windy day not enough got through to blow out a candle.
It was a very sheltered orchard, and he said his neighbour might have thought it was windy because of her property's higher elevation.
He said he would never spray in wind because his  low-pressure sprayer meant most of the Hi-Cane would get blown away.