On-off painted apple moth spraying confuses many

By BERNARD ORSMAN

For the fourth morning running, West Auckland residents will wake half expecting to hear a helicopter buzzing 45m overhead spraying pesticide to eradicate the painted apple moth.

The controversial campaign suffered another setback yesterday when a twin-engined BK-117 helicopter began dropping the Btk pesticide over the 560ha spray zone only to stop with faulty equipment after less than 30 minutes.

By then it had made the first few runs over Traherne Island beside the Northwestern Motorway but had not sprayed any of the 3000 residential and industrial properties in the zone around the Whau River, its tributaries, and the Avondale peninsula.

High winds and rain forecasts prevented spraying on Saturday and Sunday.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry made matters worse yesterday by giving conflicting information about whether the spraying would restart in the afternoon.

It took until late in the morning for officials to clarify that it had been called off for the day and would resume today, weather permitting.

Kubi Witten-Hannah, chairman of a residents group, said he was absolutely stunned by the latest debacle, which followed two false starts at the weekend.

"Up until today I thought the people carrying out the technical side of things were on the ball and handling things well, and it was at an administrative and policy level that the problems arose.

"I was completely surprised to see how much money was being poured into this when something as simple as blocked spray nozzles could bring the operation to a halt."

Mr Witten-Hannah said people had started to panic over conflicting information the ministry provided on its information hotline.

People had blocked up their homes only to learn that spraying had been called off for the day.

Mary-Ann Crawford, the ministry's communication spokeswoman for the project, said there was a one-hour delay yesterday morning getting information to the call centre about calling off spraying for the day.

She described the delay as "teething problems" and promised: "We will do better."

Don Hammond, the project's aerial coordinator, said the spraying equipment was operating perfectly when it was tested on Friday.

He said the filters leading to six nozzles on the spray booms had become clogged and the experts were investigating why. Sabotage had been ruled out.

He was confident the equipment would be ready today.

The helicopter needs seven hours of calm, dry conditions to drop the pesticide over the entire spray zone accurately, and the spray requires a further five hours without rain to be effective.

A decision on whether spraying would go ahead today was to be made at 4 am.

Scientists are divided on the effectiveness of the campaign, which will take six to eight spraying operations every three to four weeks. It will be reviewed after three spraying operations.

Dr Ruth Frampton, leader of the MAF campaign, said new technology meant the spray could be delivered with pinpoint accuracy. Claims of possible health effects from Btk had caused unnecessary concern.

Btk spray contains naturally occurring soil bacteria and was used effectively in Operation Ever Green, the $12 million eradication campaign against the white-spotted tussock moth from 1996 to 1998 in east Auckland.

Dr John Clearwater, a senior scientist involved in Operation Ever Green, said the new campaign was doomed because it was concentrating on areas of bulk infestation while ignoring the smaller pockets.

nzherald.co.nz/environment