Blight talks today

Press, 26 April 1984, Page 1

Blight talks today

PA Wellington The Forest Service will meet forestry companies and unions this morning to discuss a possibly cancercausing blight found on pine trees.

The blight, dothistroma, was first found in New Zealand in the 1960 s and now occurs in most of the country. Recent laboratory tests in Sydney showed that a chemical produced by the blight, which turns pine needles bright red, may cause cancer in animals. The Director-General of Forests, Mr Andy Kirkland, said that the talks would centre on the implications of the blight for forestry workers.

The Timber Industry Federation, the Institute of Foresters, big forestry companies, and the Forest Owners’ Association, which represented smaller growers had been invited to the talks, Mr Kirkland said. The Workers’ Union, the Timber Workers’ Union and the Public Service Association had also been asked to attend.

Mr Kirkland had told a press conference at Parliament on Tuesday that the potential danger of the blight was minimal but should not be ignored. “We are certain that the health hazards are likely to be minimal, but they should be taken seriously,” he said.

Dr Max Collins, the director of the Public Health

Division of the Health Department, said that care should be taken to reduce the amount of contact with infected pine needles. There was, however, no danger to the general public, he said. Mr Kirkland said yesterday that a study to identify infected forests would begin soon. The Forest Service usually made an annual survey and treated infected areas with copper spray. Dothistroma needle blight is found in many young pine forests and shelter belts. Radiata pines older than 16 years are resistant and the fungus is usually controlled by aerial spraying. Now only the Aupouri Peninsula in Northland, Great Barrier Island, parts of Otago and most of Canterbury are free of it. The managing director of N.Z. Forest Products, Mr W. A. Hunt, said that it was imperative that forestry industry workers should not be exposed to any possible risks caused by the blight. He said that his company would attend the talks. Tests in the United States some years ago had found that dothistroma was not a potential health risk.