Christchurch City Council still using potentially cancer-causing weed killer

The World Health Organisation has determined glyphosate may cause cancer.

The Christchurch City Council is still using the controversial and potentially cancer-causing weed killer glyphosate on its footpaths, despite a vote to stop its staff from using it in public.

A 1 NEWS investigation can reveal the council and its contractors still use glyphosate, the active ingredient in products like Round Up, on 2.6 million metres of local pavements.

While the health effects of the chemical remain under dispute, the World Health Organisation has declared glyphosate a "probable carcinogen", meaning it may cause cancer. Several countries have banned the weed killer, but the manufacturer strenuously denies any cancer link, and New Zealand regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency have cleared it for use.

The Christchurch City Council became a trendsetter back in 2016 when it passed a motion to stop its staff from using the chemical in public places. The vote, adopted at a meeting on March 10 of that year, was for a “significant reduction to glyphosate use” which would limit its use to “sites closed to the public”.

It comes after a landmark court ruling in the US saw Monsanto ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for causing a man’s cancer.

There were a few exceptions, which allow them to use it to facilitate capital works programmes, and to control pest plants where no other method is practicable, but 1 NEWS has learned council still uses the weed killer widely on Christchurch streets three years on.

A request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act shows the council dramatically reduced its glyphosate use in public parks after the vote, using a new organic plant-derived herbicide in its place across 1,570,400 square metres of amenity gardens. 

However, as they can’t use that organic weed killer near drains, they have struggled to cut back use in the same way on the streets.

Documents show they have introduced a chemical-free steam treatment to 19 per cent of footpaths, but continue to spray glyphosate on the other 81 per cent of pavements. In total, that means the chemical is still regularly sprayed on as much as 2,615,454 metres of footpaths in Christchurch.

The three-year delay to meet the obligations of the vote is concerning to councillor Vicki Buck, one of many to support the glyphosate restrictions.

“I would like it to be quicker, clearly, and I think it's taken a while. I think they've had to learn quite a bit along the way about alternatives. Given the widespread use of Round Up in the industry, they've had to actually experiment quite a bit,” she says.

A US Superior Court awarded $440m to a man who alleged heavy contact with the weed killer caused his cancer.

“They've trialled a lot of alternatives and some have been really good, and some haven't been so good, and so they've had to keep readapting and changing, and it's been more expensive.”

The Christchurch City Council and its contractor, City Care, refused to be interviewed but released statements saying they're now spraying sparingly, cutting the volume used by around 55 percent, and continuing to trial new chemical-free methods.

The council spokesperson said they were working to “progressively reduce the use of glyphosate” and wanted to ensure alternative methods are “effective and better”.

“Currently the non-chemical technology requires an increase in use compared to [the] glyphosate approach – i.e. it can take longer to apply and require more visits.

“In the transport environment this increases the risks to our contractors due to their greater exposure to live traffic. Therefore, we are trying to strike the right balance.”

But Christchurch resident Elvira Dommisse, who gave a submission to council before the vote back in 2016, says she had no idea glyphosate was still being used so widely.

“If you say something's going to happen, and it doesn't, then you have to let the public know that it hasn't happened and people should be very aware of that and take precautions as they need to,” she says.

“Parks okay, that's great, that's a really good big step forward. But if you're still using it on footpaths, it's still getting onto people's shoes, and people take that into their house.”

So, while the council figures it out, you can expect glyphosate to be on a street near you in Christchurch.

1 NEWS will have more on this story tomorrow, including the position of New Zealand regulators and why you can still buy it in stores.

Do you have any information about glyphosate use in your area? Email Thomas.Mead@tvnz.co.nz.

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