Results revealed: Russell Forest water tested for 1080

The 1080 drop over Russell Forest targeted possums and other predators that had taken the trees and native wildlife to the tipping point for extinction.

Only one out of 30 samples of water tested after the recent 1080 drop in the Russell Forest held any trace of the toxin.

That sample, taken 15 hours after the drop, showed a barely detectable 0.1 part per billion (ppb), well below the Ministry of Health's drinking water standard of 2 ppb.

When the sample was retested at 39 hours it had no detectable 1080 in it, Department of Conservation (DoC) Northern North Island Operations Director Sue Reed Thomas said.

No contamination was found in any other sample from the 10 stream or still water sites tested 15 and 39 hours after the September 28 operation and following 10 mm of rain over 24 hours on October 15. Nor was any 1080 was detected in any drinking water supplies.

Reed Thomas said the results supported the scientific evidence that 1080 broke down quickly in water.

"We can be confident that the water was not contaminated following the pest control operation.

''The tiny detection in the first sample taken from the middle of the aerial drop is the equivalent of finding a single gram of 1080 in a 25m swimming pool – the same size as the competition indoor pool in Whangārei,'' Reed Thomas said.

"We know people have concerns about water quality after a 1080 operation and we wanted to provide independent testing to show the water is safe and 1080 is not present in the awa in Russell Forest."

Reed Thomas said DoC routinely tested water with independent laboratories following 1080 operations to monitor water quality.

Water samples were collected straight after 1080 application when there was the highest possibility of detecting contamination.

The fear of water contamination was cited by people unhappy about the 1080 poisoning programme, along with concerns that wildlife other than targeted species would be killed.

A small number of protesters gathered near two drop sites during the operation.

A last-minute bid to seek an injunction from the Maori Land Court Taitokerau failed to halt the planned drop when Judge Miharo Armstrong ruled the court had no jurisdiction over Crown-owned or public land.

Another bid to file for an injunction did not get to the hearing stage.

Among the for-or-against commentary before the controversial Northland operation and one in the Hunua Ranges near Auckland, toxicologist Dr Belinda Cridge said she would be prepared to drink the water after a 1080 drop.

Cridge said there were higher levels of toxic chemicals in many common household products.Because of the high solubility of 1080, she calculated she would need to drink around 70,000 litres in one sitting to reach the minimum toxic level.

''Our bodies, and the bodies of plants and animals, are designed to metabolise and excrete water soluble chemicals. They don't stay in our body.''