Vineyards settle contamination dispute

A seven-year legal battle over herbicide contamination at six Central Otago vineyards has been settled out of court with one vineyard owner claiming most contamination still goes undetected.

Felton Road and five other vineyards near Cromwell have been seeking compensation, understood to be about $2 million, from a neighbour who released the herbicide matsulfuron into private waterways in 2003, contaminating irrigation systems. Felton Road proprietor Nigel Greening said a settlement had been reached recently between the vineyards and polluter, whom he would not name, but his grapevines had taken years to recover.

"It has taken years and years to know the full damage ... there are no winners in any of these things," he said.

Matsulfuron is used to control weeds, including ferns and vines. It is effective in very low doses and in higher doses can kill almost any plant.

Greening would not reveal details of the settlement, citing confidentiality clauses.

The vineyards affected were lucky to detect evidence linking the herbicide to the offending neighbour but Greening said in most cases vine contamination was difficult to detect and even harder to trace back to those responsible.

The contamination was not intentional and resulted from careless rather than malicious spraying of weeds near a waterway, he said.

However, widespread use of sprays, particularly councils spraying roadside verges, were something vineyards had to guard against.

"It has become institutionalised. Councils need to learn that this mode of just going around bombing stuff [with herbicide] isn't a good idea."

The settlement for Felton Road comes less than two months after 18 Central Otago vineyards said their grapevines were affected by hormone sprays, which had drifted in the wind to contaminate a six-kilometre area.

Greening said water contamination was unusual but spray drifts were a huge threat if not properly controlled and were almost impossible to trace. "Aerial drift is the thing that give us the shivers at night."

New Zealand Winegrowers' chief executive Philip Gregan said it was the first time he had heard of a New Zealand vineyard being affected by water contamination but damage from spray drifts happened every year.

"For the affected parties the impact can be absolutely devastating."

While most land owners used hormone sprays responsibly there were always occasions when things went wrong, he said.

Greening advises other vineyards to keep a close eye on their vines and take samples for forensic testing at the slightest suspicion of contamination. "If you see something unusual in your vineyard, getting expert evidence very quickly is very important."

- © Fairfax NZ News