The People's Inquiry conducted an official investigation into the aerial spraying of pesticides in New Zealand. The 117-page report is very insightful and alarming. They found numerous ethical and human rights violations.
For 2 1/2 years, from January 2002 through May 2004, West Auckland, New Zealand, had experienced a continuous 2-3 week cycle of aerial spraying of dangerous pesticides that were being used to eradicate the painted apple moth (PAM).
The inquiry found there was no consideration given to the effect on humans and animals.
It is important to note this included the time period when
Donna Bird and her family and neighbors were severely harmed by aerial spraying over their homes in January 2003.
Here are a few excerpts from the report:
The report contains a lengthy discussion about the human rights violations that occurred during this aerial spraying programme. Here are a few excerpts:
The report presented 27 recommendations. Seven of those recommendations are listed here.
Please read the report for more details.
This same type of aerial spraying program has been used in many other populated areas (e.g., Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Delta in Canada; Washington state; Oregon state, etc.) with the same outcome -- many people became ill and government officials were unavailable or secretive and refused to share details about the product being sprayed, and they "minimize, even trivialize, its impact on human health."
In 2009, Btk was used in London, Ontario, Canada. Once again, many people became ill. To learn more about what happened, read the 2009 report titled "Adverse Health Consequences Following Aerial Spraying with Bacillus thuringiensi (Btk) to Control the Gypsy Moth."
The 2009 report discusses what happened in Ontario, and it refers to the events of the Btk aerial spraying that have occurred in other locations including Auckland, New Zealand, from 2002 through 2004.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific and social justice issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.