Plantation toxins in Tasmania

A scene from Something In The Water

Did anyone else watch Australian Story on Monday night? It was about an alliance between a GP, a group of oyster farmers and a Sydney scientist, investigating water quality issues in Tasmania’s George River.

The oyster farmers found that their business was suffering because of toxins in the water. A local GP believes there is a cancer cluster in the region her patients are from. And they got together with a scientist from Sydney to try to find out if there was any evidence for what they suspected.

The toxin problem in the water has been traced back to eucalypt plantations along the George River. Now the group of locals want further testing to confirm what’s going on.

You can see the episode online for a while at the Australian Story website: Something in the Water Part 1, and Part 2. I’m sure it will also be shown on ABC’s iView website as well, but the Australian Story site has extra information and interviews that weren’t able to be included in the show.

Because of the tv show, the issue has now been picked up by newspapers like The Mercury and The Australian.

Naturally, the Tasmanian government is denying that there’s any problem. This is the same government that let Gunns rewrite state national parks legislation to allow logging, so I can’t say I’m shocked that they’d instantly move to protect any part of the forestry industry.

As Dr Bleaney says,

Dr Bleaney says she wants further testing of the water supply to be able to make firm conclusions. “We’re not saying we actually have absolute proof of what’s going on,” she said. “We’re actually saying that this needs to be investigated and it needs to be looked at very carefully.”

Toxic drinking water is worth investigating. It remains to be seen if Tasmania’s government is impartial enough to actually conduct a scientific review of the situation, or take any action on it if a problem is found.