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Fluometuron

July 2, 2004. Herald Sun Melbourne (Australia).

Crash kills crops
Herbicide scattered over field of canola

By Sam Edmund, regional reporter

Angry farmers are loosing thousands of dollars a day as a herbicide they were told was fertiliser rips through their crops.

The powder exploded from a truck when it was hit by a V/Line passenger train at a level crossing in Mitiamo almost three weeks ago.

Landowners in the tiny town, 60km north of Bendigo, say they were told by emergency service workers the fine white substance would boost canola crop yields.

But two days later crop grower Brian Phillips woke to find almost 50ha of his once sprouting fields were desert.

The powder has sine been identified as Fluometuron, a concentrated herbicide used to kill broad-leaf weeds and grass in cotton fields.

And winter wind has blown it everywhere, wreaking havoc just weeks into the new season.

Mr Phillips and his wife, Therese, say the misinformation has cost them up to $30,000. Canola costs about $400 a tonne.

The couple are considering suing Syngenta Crop Protection Pty Ltd, the Sydney-based company responsible for the herbicide, and the Environmental Protection Authority for negligence.

"The joke around town was how lucky we were to have all this free fertiliser in our paddock," Mrs Phillips said.

"We even had one guy involved in the initial clean-up say how fertile the area would be.

"When we found out what it was we panicked because our canola is a broad-leaf plant and this herbicide is killing everything.

"We had done everything right. It's just devastating."

Many of the 17 passengers on board the train were covered by the powder and were temporarily held in quarantine.

Experts say it can cause mild skin irritation, but otherwise poses no human threat.

But rain could be disastrous for the town:the herbicide could wash into creeks, or even the water supply.

The white flour-like powder still surrounds the crash site despite two clean-up attempts.

A Syngenta spokeswoman said the company had worked diligently with the EPA to protect the environment.

 

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