Boycott Woodchipping Campaign
North Ltd Corporate Profile

Technical changes subsequent to 1945 including increased tractor logging and chainsaw use, together with the post-war housing boom, led to a rapid expansion of logging in Australia. Heavy machinery and a lack of environmental guidelines led to severe impacts on soil and water quality. During this period the domestic pulp industry began to make significant inroads into Tasmania's hardwood forests; in the state's north west by APPM, and in the south by Australian Newsprint Mills (ANM).⁴⁶

By the 1960s the timber industry's failure to manage the sawlog resource had begun to cause concern, but no major changes in practice were instigated. Towards the end of the decade an ominous development occurred. In order to establish regeneration at an affordable cost, the practice of "clearfalling" for export pulpwood was introduced. The rationale for this intensification of destruction was that it maintained affordable sawlog supplies due to the easy regeneration practices of clearfell and burn. Export woodchipping was born. The destruction generated by the domestic pulp and paper industry was massively increased⁴⁶.

The 1970s was a decade of virtually unregulated clearfelling for export woodchips, which witnessed the wholesale destruction of entire areas. The Huntsman valley in Northern Tasmania was effectively stripped in the lower lying areas, and substituted with plantations, while the higher elevation benches were clearfelled.⁴⁷ In the south east of the state, 3,000 hectares of the 20,000 hectare federally-owned Buckland Military Training Area were laid waste.⁴⁸ Logging continues in both these areas and while some guidelines were introduced in the mid 'eighties in the form of the Forest Practices Code, high conservation value forests continue to be exported as woodchips.

Today, large areas of recognised high conservation value forests still remain inadequately protected, such as those listed on the Federal Register of the National Estate. From March to May 1994, North Forest Products contractors "selectively" logged fifty-six hectares of dry forest registered on the Interim List of the National Estate, and clearfelled a further eighty ha.⁴⁹ Both were located within the proposed Great Western Tiers National Park, and the latter constituted part of an ever-narrowing wildlife corridor connecting a forested outlier to the Central Plateau World Heritage Area.⁵⁰ In this instance, the Federal Government had powers under Section 30 of the Heritage Act 1975, whereby the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) can recommended to the Environment Minister that logging should not go ahead where "prudent and feasible alternatives" exist. No effective action was taken.

Breaches of the Forest Practices Code are numerous. Only recently, contractors supplying NFP's Tasmanian Pulp and Forest Holdings woodchip mill at Triabunna, violated a streamside reserve, bringing in heavy machinery and constructing roads and log landings.⁵¹ Part of the work was undertaken without a Timber Harvest Plan, which should have been drawn up between North and Forestry Tasmania.⁵² In August 1995 North Forest Products admitted that the company had obtained pulplogs from two properties listed on the National Estate, Mount Vulcan - Simmond Hill - and the Apsley Marshes.⁵³ The Mt Vulcan forest provided a refuge for three rare and endangered plant species.⁵² Subsequent to North's admission, Forestry Tasmania announced it had allowed logging to proceed in the non-approved Douglas-Apsley National Estate Area.⁵³ The AHC admitted that it was probable "that timber harvesting in any of these areas would have an impact on national estate values".⁵⁴

Cable Logging

In order to continue what, in our opinion, were already unsustainable rates of logging, the industry began to expand into areas that were previously inaccessible or economically unfeasible due to their steep nature. This was made possible through the practice of cable logging, a system that uses a series of cables connected to one central machine to drag logs upslope for loading.

Cable logging has become a blight on the landscape. From 1980 to 1990 cable logging machines in Tasmania increased from four to nineteen. Huge areas were - and continue to be - devastated by these machines. Some of the areas logged by this method are huge: prior to 1990 one cable logging area near Weavers Creek in Tasmania - exported as woodchips by APPM - measured 3,000 metres by 800 metres.⁵⁵ This coupe has subsequently increased in size.

By 1989 the conservation movement had become aware of the mounting destruction, and became involved in attempts to control cable logging, via the media and through the Forests and Forest Industry Council⁵⁶ (created as a result the Green Independents gaining balance of power). Throughout this period North maintained a steady barrage of public relations hype. One brochure claimed;

"Cable harvesting is an environmentally friendly way of getting logs in steep terrain ... harvesting is undertaken in a manner which is sustainable forever and which results in no long-term environmental impact. Erosion is minimised because cable harvesting produces very little ground disturbance"⁵⁷.

Eventually, some controls on cable logging in steep country were tacked on to the state's Draft Forest Practices Code, depending on the erodibility of sites. While environment groups urged that cable logging on stable sites should not occur over 50% (26^o) this was watered down to 70% (38^o) by the Forest Task Force on Steep Country Logging. According to the Combined Environment Groups the task force findings constituted "another example of the Forestry Commission caving in to the demands of North Broken Hill".⁵⁶

Even though the forest industry had succeeded in achieving weakened controls, North Broken Hill did not stop cable logging on slopes over the recommended limits in at least four logging areas.⁵⁸ In two of the areas, Hellyer 20A and 20B, the Forestry Commission subsequently gave permission for the remainder to be logged "to complete the harvesting to safe boundaries". In June 1991, cable logging on behalf of North Broken Hill in the Hellyer area led to a landslide that even the Forestry Commission could not ignore.⁵⁹

Cable logging continues throughout the state. In the north east of the state, the upper catchment of the South Esk has been subject to extensive clearfelling. Forestry Tasmania's current Three Year Plan has also scheduled the Ringarooma Plateau, which drains into the Ringarooma River, for clearfelling and cable logging.⁶⁰

Case Study: Branches Creek

Branches Creek, situated on the Dazzler Range and adjacent to the Asbestos Range National Park was extensively logged from 1987-1990 to provide woodchips for APPM. The most common method of clearfelling employed was the "Morgan Skyline system" of cable logging. Logging occurred on highly unstable steep slopes and landslides were recorded during the time logging occurred in the area, one of which measured at least five hectares and had to be stabilised with matting.⁶¹

A site inspection of a cable logged "coupe" in Branches Creek is a graphic testimony to the vandalism of cable logging:

"The gullies and streams have all been logged including remnant rainforest patches. These rainforest patches are all mentioned by name in the Rainforest Recommended Areas for Protection proposal as needing protection by prescription in expanded streamside reserves. All the streams on the coupe have been graded Class 4 [i.e minimum protection - ed.]. The vegetation on this coupe was and is in the unlogged portions of very high conservation significance and should have been identified as such before logging commenced. The logging of these Class 4 streams has added significantly and unnecessarily to the destruction of the remnant rainforest in the state. The area is also very badly planned for visual impact being on the skyline of the Dazzler Range and clearly visible on a 10km stretch of the Bass Highway around Sassafras, from Harford and from the Frankford road. Some slumping along road cuts was evident".⁶¹

In 1996, this area is still visible from the Bass Highway.

David Stephenson is an irrigation specialist who purchased a farm in the Branches Creek area. He spent over $10,000 constructing a 5 million gallon dam on the property. In just one night in April 1989 catastrophic flash flooding gouged out an erosion gully in Branches Creek four metres deep and thirty metres wide, literally tearing out trees. As a result of the flooding Stephenson lost 50% of the capacity of his dam, which filled with silt. His neighbours, where the erosion occurred, found themselves the owners of a considerably devalued property overnight. Floods prior to cable logging - which stripped 16% of the Branches Creek catchment - had not created similar impact.⁶²

The Forestry Commission, as the auspicing body for APPM's Timber Harvest Plans for the area, refused to accept any responsibility for the incident. Forestry Officer Paul Watson admitted that cable logging had "increased the concentration time of run off", but refused to admit that run off had caused the flooding. Instead he gave three explanations: the soils of the area were naturally erodible; the event was a "one in fifteen years" flood; and previous riverworks were responsible. The riverworks he referred to had been approved as adequate by the Rivers and Waters Supply Commission over twenty five years earlier, were downstream of the incident, and had remained stable throughout the period. In order to escape blame, the Commission commissioned an "independent expert" to write a report. The author of the report himself admitted that his opinion was based on general knowledge, and recommended further studies. When Brian Hayes of APPM was asked if the company had considered the issue of erodible soils prior to cable logging, he replied it had not, and referred the matter to the Forestry Commission. The Forestry Commission blamed the riverworks.⁶²

Stephenson applied for an interim injunction to stop logging in the area and threatened to instigate a Supreme Court action for damages. Logging - scheduled for another six months - ceased immediately, thus preventing an injunction, and while forestry operations are continuing in the general area, they have not recommenced in the Branches Creek catchment. Stephenson has spent over $30,000 repairing the damage.⁶³ If cable logging was not to blame for the erosion, it seems odd that operations were cancelled.

Plantation Establishment or Clearfelling in Disguise?

North's continued clearing of native forests for export woodchips and subsequent plantation establishment has a number of environmental problems. Clearance and burning leads to increased carbon dioxide emissions - a known "greenhouse" gas contributing to global warming - as well as soil erosion, sedimentation of creeks through run off and loss of habitat.⁶⁴ Once the plantation is established the area is substantially modified, becoming a monoculture - no longer providing the range of values needed for the animals that previously lived in the forest.

APPM first undertook a tree plantation program in Tasmania in 1951. North Forest Products is responsible for about 25% of all eucalypt tree farms in Australia⁶⁵ and has about 33,000 ha. established.³ North owns over 100,000 ha of private forest estate across northern Tasmania. The largest area is the Surrey Hills estate, a large undulating basalt plateau about 25 km² . Further land is situated adjacent to this estate (Ridgley), with another significant land holding in the far north west. Much of this land was acquired from the Van Diemens Land Company, one of Tasmania's earliest colonial powers. The Hampshire mill sources a major component of its woodchips from Surrey Hills. Although North boasts that 25% of the estate is reserved from logging, the rest is being progressively cleared to make way for what is euphemistically termed a "eucalypt tree farm". These plantations "will provide much better yields of high quality fibre than the cut over forest they are replacing".⁶⁶

Surrey Hills is about more than plantations, however. Sphagnum moss, an important component in rare and delicate bog ecosystems and used in increasingly large amounts by the horticultural and sanitary products industries, is also mined here. Other forestry-related uses of the estate include rainforest logging, firewood logging and logging of "woodchopping" blocks for "sports" events. Trout, a non-native fish known to aggressively compete with native fish and other aquatic organisms for food, has been introduced into the area. The water for the Burnie paper mill is also supplied from the estate's Companion Dam. The extensive forestry roads bulldozed throughout the estate are also used for four wheel drive rallies and horseriding. The area also has an outdoor education centre that plays a useful role in promoting North's public relations image to schoolchildren.⁶⁷

NFP is set to become one of the world's biggest plantation owners. In September 1995 it announced plans for a series of projects involving Mitsubishi Corporation and Tasmanian farmers that will see the establishment of 27,000 ha. of plantations across the state over the next 12-15 years. The majority of these will be at the expense of native forests, which will be clearfelled, chipped, exported and replaced by E.globulus and E. nitens.

In our opinion, the July 12 announcement by the Howard Government to allow woodchipping of "degraded" forest for hardwood plantation establishment places North in a convenient position to both provide any pulpmill with native forest feedstock, while expediting the Mitsubishi joint venture. North's intended, but currently Federally-vetoed 700,000 tonne export woodchip licence increase, will be sourced at the expense of native forest: 450,000 tonnes from increased substitution on Surrey Hills; the rest from joint venture projects.⁶⁸

North's Chemical and Environmental Legacy

North's intensive plantation management for wood fibre has caused serious environmental damage through chemical abuse. Monoculture plantations require heavy doses of chemicals to suppress weed growth, to deal with insect infestations and to kill browsing wildlife.

Atrazine

Atrazine (2-chloro-1-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) is a chlorinated triazine herbicide which kills plants by binding to the cell membrane, preventing photosynthesis and causing leaching of chlorophyll. The poison also leads to the release of free radicals, which are highly reactive - and hence damaging - molecules. Tests on a range of animals have shown weight loss, anaemia, irritability of skin and eyes and increased growth of the liver, ovary and heart. Atrazine has been shown to cause cancers of the breasts, uterus and testicles of rats as well as leukemia and lymphoma. In human females, exposure increases development of tumours (especially of the ovary) by 2.7 times, and elevates the risk of non-Hogkins lymphoma in both sexes. The poison is also known to be a xeno-oestrogen or "gender bender" in that it affects maturation of sexual organs and modifies pituitary activity.⁶⁹

Atrazine can take up to a year to break down into its degradation products (or metabolites). Some of the metabolites are considered to be more than fours times as toxic as the herbicide itself. It is highly mobile in soils and capable of leaching down into deep water tables. In Europe, it has also been detected in rainwater and fog. The US Environmental Protection Authority has imposed some restrictions on its use, and Holland and Germany have banned its use altogether, and have urged the EC to ban the chemical as a whole. The World Health Organisation recommends two parts per billion as the acceptable level of atrazine contamination; and in Europe it is 0.1 ppb. In Australia the level is much higher at 20 ppb⁶⁹

In Tasmania atrazine is an important component of forest "management". In Tasmania, Forestry Tasmania is largely responsible for the spraying of publicly-owned pulp wood plantations. These plantations will ultimately supply companies such as North with wood fibre. Spraying of atrazine in plantations accounts for 85% of application, while the remaining 15% is used by industry around factories, and by private individuals and municipal councils for weed control of drains and roadsides.

In the past, little or no publication of waterway contamination occurred, despite frequent incidents. This changed dramatically in 1992 when the community of Lorinna in northern Tasmania gained a great deal of publicity when the headwaters of the community's water catchment was contaminated with atrazine as a result of spraying an in-appropriately sited plantation.

The subsequent campaign was to have a profound affect on residents of the Derby township when in July 1994 their water supply was likewise contaminated.⁷¹ In June 1994 the newly-corporatised Forestry Tasmania sprayed fifty-three hectares of clearfell located 7km above the town's water storage at Cascade Dam. Twenty days later, atrazine appeared in the town's taps. As a result of the community campaign that ensued, atrazine manufacturer Ciba Geigy called a private meeting in Melbourne with their public relations as well as North Forest Products, Forestry Tasmania and other Tasmanian government bodies, in an attempt to deal with the backlash.⁷¹

In 1993, North Forest Products aerially sprayed one of their private plantations near Warratah in Tasmania's north west. A local resident, standing outside his house during the operation, noticed aerial drift. Concerned over possible contamination, he commissioned an independent test which revealed localised contamination of 210 ppb. Subsequent tests by the Department of the Environment revealed that the poison had found its way into the Fossey River. At a public meeting held in Warratah, North defended its use of atrazine, and made tape recordings of those who spoke out against atrazine.⁷⁰

Pyrethroid insecticides

In late December, 1988, a party of bushwalkers in the Huntsman valley, northern Tasmania, noticed a large number of dead fish floating in the Meander River. Subsequent investigations revealed that APPM had sprayed a plantation a few days earlier with Cypremethrin. As a result of heavy rains, large numbers of dead beetles were washed into the river as well as the chemical residues.

While the spraying had occurred on the 21st December, news reports alerting residents only occurred after contamination had occurred, and residents in the nearby township of Deloraine (pop. 2,500) were warned to boil their water.⁷²

Pyrethroid insecticides are used extensively for the control of a wide variety of insects. Cypermethrin was employed by APPM to control predation of their E. nitens plantations by Chrysomelid - or Christmas - beetles. The spraying wiped out a number of species of non-target, native insects, some populations of which took as long as six months to recover. In addition to the dead fish, a number showed side-effects related to the ingestion of poisoned beetles. Cypermethrin has been shown to have affects on muscle and brain activity in mammals as well as fish. Some of its effects on fish may also mirror exposure to PCBs, PBBs and dioxins.⁷³

1080 - a Cruel way to Die

1080, or sodium monoflouroacetate is a wildlife poison designed to kill browsing animals such as wallabies and rabbits which enter eucalypt plantations and agricultural lands in search of feed. The poison effects the central nervous, cardiac and respiratory systems and causes paralysis, vomiting and disorientation before an agonising death, which can last for several hours - occasionally days. Its effects differ in various animals, but the impact is greatest on domestic animals, particularly dogs. In 1989-90, eighty-three tonnes of poisoned carrots were laid by the agricultural and forestry sectors in Tasmania.⁷⁴ According to the Hobart Public Analyst, one drop of 1080 in solution is capable of killing three adult humans.

Despite widespread community outrage, North Forest Products continues to lay poisoned bait in its plantations. The Tasmanian Government, unduly influenced by the forestry and farming lobby, has done little to ameliorate the situation, on the basis that other longer-term alternatives such as proper fencing and tree guards are not economically viable. However, constant application of 1080 is necessary, as population crashes simply create an environment which is rapidly recolonised by adjacent populations.

By using this poison, North is responsible for the cruel deaths of thousands of unsuspecting animals, including non-target - and possibly endangered - species.

Introduced Weeds

The discharge of ballast water from woodchip ships has been linked to the introduction of exotic seaweed into Tasmanian waters as well as the voracious Southern seastar. A native rainforest spore associated with the new pile of myrtle woodchips on the Burnie wharf has also been identified as a potential threat to the Tasmanian onion industry (Examiner 1/3/96). The long-term environmental impacts of such phenomena have yet to be fully realised.

Haunted by the Chlorine Ghost

In the latter half of the 1980s North Broken Hill and its subsidiary APPM made national headlines over plans to enter into a joint venture with Canadian mining and forestry giant Noranda to construct a world scale, billion dollar, bleached eucalypt, native forest-based "kraft" pulp mill in Tasmania. The mill, to be located on the existing Wesley Vale site, became a matter of intense public debate over acceptable dioxin, furans and organochlorin emissions into the environment. Concern was compounded by discovery that thirteen tonnes of organochlorines a day would be discharged into the Bass Strait from the mill.⁷⁵ In the end plans were scuttled by the Federal Government, whose emission guidelines were too strict for Noranda - which would have had to upgrade Canadian plant to keep up with Australian standards - and the scheme was cancelled.⁷⁶ However, North has not abandoned its dreams for a pulp mill. Malcolm Broomhead, Executive Director, Operations, hinted at the possibility of re-examining the idea in a visit to Tasmania in mid 1995.⁷⁷

In our opinion, recent Federal Government plans to give the go-ahead to clearance of "degraded" forests for plantation establishment places North in a favourable position to provide native forest feedstock for any proposed mill.

The Tasmanian government is continuing to push for a chlorine-based pulp mill for the state, and has entered into negotiations with the Taiwan Pulp and Paper Corporation (TPPC), who are undertaking a feasibility study to look at establishing a native-forest based mill, which may be upgraded to a paper mill.⁷⁸ The Federal Government has also released new guidelines on pulp mill emissions, and is supporting the scheme under the guise that any new mill will be "world's best practice".⁷⁹ However, new guidelines will still allow a daily discharge of three tonnes of organochlorins into the marine environment.⁷⁵ These emission guidelines relate only to chlorine-based kraft mills, a technology which was already out of date during the Wesley Vale saga. Such technology is only necessary if processing native forests (including old growth), which contain a high level of lignin, which must be bleached out.

In December 1995 the Federal Government granted government-controlled Tasmanian Development and Resources a 170,000 tonne export woodchip licence, to provide TPPC with "trial" chips. Due to the insecurity of resource, TPPC went ahead and bought chips from Vietnam. This quota, originally deducted from North, has now been given back.⁸⁰ It is possible that NFP may enter into a supply arrangement with TPPC should it build a mill in Tasmania. It may even undertake a joint venture with the Corporation. This mill, dubbed "The Son of Wesley Vale", will face stiff opposition from environmental groups if it sources its feedstock from native forests instead of plantations, which do not require the kraft bleaching process.⁸¹