Contractor foots $16,600 bill for accidentally spraying threatened plants

Wednesday, 23 December 2020

A contractor who mistakenly weed sprayed 180 at-risk native Carmichaelia plants only found in Central Otago has footed a $16,600 restoration bill.

A contractor who mistakenly sprayed 180 at-risk native plants only found in Central Otago after thinking they were weeds has had to foot a $16,600 bill.

The error occurred in September during a routine weed spraying programme for scotch broom along the foreshore of Lake Dunstan and came to light at a Central Otago District Council (CODC) meeting earlier this month.

A report to the council said work in the area was currently on hold after Boffa Miskell Ltd's subcontractor misidentified Carmichaelia (native broom) as Scotch broom.

Immediate steps were taken to fix the mistake, including producing plant identification material for all contractors and a change to procedures.

Land Information New Zealand biosecurity and biodiversity manager Megan Reid said the contractor and its subcontractor had since developed a remediation plan in consultation with the Haehaeata Natural Heritage Trust to restore the native broom population to its previous state.

The restoration would cost $16,686which the contractor and subcontractor were funding.

“Carmichaelia compacta has a current threat status of ‘at risk, naturally uncommon’. This species of native broom is only found in Central Otago,” Reid said.

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“LINZ and Boffa Miskell Ltd have a strong track record in biosecurity and events of this sort are extremely rare. We are not aware of any other incidents in recent years.”

Haehaeata Trust spokeswoman Rachael Baxter said the loss could have been 100 per cent if a knowledgeable passerby had not stopped the subcontractor.

“It probably doesn’t matter who pulled the trigger so much as what concerns us most is the general lack of knowledge about our native plant species.

“These plants have been sprayed before by NZTA contractors, the CODC and their contractors have also killed native plants by spraying them.

“I am impressed with how Boffa Miskell is dealing with this incident. I wish other organisations would take as much ownership, time and ultimately money in trying to fix errors like this.”

The older plants were around 20-25 years old and were eco-sourced, grown and planted as mitigation for a population of the broom destroyed by the formation of Lake Dunstan, she said.

“It has taken that long for a small amount of plants to become a decent sized community and sadly 180 plants is considered decent.”

The Central Otago district had the “dubious honour” of having lost more of its biodiversity and having the least protected areas of any of the 73 districts in New Zealand.

Loss in the region has mainly occurred through changing land use intensification of farming and invasion of exotic plant species and grazing animals, Baxter said.

New Zealand has 24 species of native broom, of which seven are in Central Otago – and all are on the national threatened species list.

“If they were birds they would be up there in the same league as the kea and kakapo,” Baxter said.