1080 tension in Taranaki

Department of Conservation (DOC) contractors have accused other contractors, who were flying helicopters, of dropping 1080 poison pellets on top of them while out spraying weeds in Taranaki.

A 12-man crew were spraying weeds in Lucy's Gully, about 17 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth.

"We've got poison dropping on top of us, we just wanted to get the hell out of there...... it's a scary thought," contractor Lewis Beattie told One News.

The crew got out of the gully and his brother, Dan, tried to find out what was happening from his employer, when he said another helicopter flew over and dropped another load of the highly toxic poison on them.

While the two men admit they are strongly opposed to 1080 use, they said their colleagues were not speaking out because they feared for their jobs if they raised any objection to being showered with the poison.

DOC spokesman Phil Fleury said the department had informed the men about the drop two days earlier.

Residents living near to the drop-zone filmed the helicopters at work, and expressed concern over the poison getting into sources of water or flying outside of approved areas, the channel reported.

1080 is the brand name for Sodium fluoroacetate. In New Zealand, DOC uses the poison to control possums and rats.

- NZPA