Latest news with #NFAEP
Sky News AU
20 hours ago
- General
- Sky News AU
‘Corporate carelessness': Invasive Species Council blasts an unknown operator for transporting fire ants across central Queensland
An invasive species that costs the Australian economy around $2.5 billion a year has been detected at five mining sites in central Queensland just six weeks after it was reported at a BHP mine. The fire ants were found using odour-detecting dogs in the Central Highlands and Isaacs Region, after an initial outbreak at a Broadmeadow mine. According to the National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP), it is believed that the ants stowed away in a pallet of bricks that was located some 800km away from a fire ant biosecurity zone. Although the mines involved have not been named, the Invasive Species Council has blasted what its advocacy manager Reece Pianta called a catastrophic case of corporate carelessness. He said moving material that was known to be contaminated was corporate carelessness and warned that the taxpayer were going to be footing the bill for the consequences. 'Every dollar and every drone we have should be focused on wiping out fire ants at the front lines near Brisbane, not cleaning up after corporate carelessness,' he said. But he said that BHP was not to blame for the initial outbreak, adding that they had done the right thing in reporting and supporting the NFAEP. NFAEP's director of Specialist Operations Tom Roberts said the eradication of the pest was a shared community effort. He said that cooperation with industry was vital to ensure that the ants did not end up outside control zones. 'I encourage everyone sourcing equipment or materials that can carry fire ants from within fire ant biosecurity zones to ensure their suppliers follow fire ant safe-practices,' he said. Fire ants were first detected in Australia after a pallet of contaminated wood arrived in Brisbane in 2001. The ants can thrive in over 97 per cent of environments across Australia. The National Fire Ant Prevention Program aims to fully eradicate the ants by 2032, but recent wet weather in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales has shown the species can travel on floodwaters unaided. In America, they are rumoured to be responsible for up to hundreds of deaths, and it is believed that 174,000 people in Australia could develop allergic reactions.
News.com.au
a day ago
- General
- News.com.au
Invasive fire ant spreads to Central Queensland after mine outbreak
Invasive fire ants have spread to five additional mine sites in Central Queensland, after the pest was first detected at a BHP coal mine last month. The invasive species was located by odour detecting dogs at several mines in the Central Highlands and Isaac Council regions just six weeks after being reported at BHP's Broadmeadow site. The National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) linked the outbreak to a pallet of bricks which had been stored on soil and transported more than 800km from a fire ant biosecurity zone. While the NFAEP has declined to reveal the names of the affected mines, the Invasive Species Council has called on the companies responsible to 'pay to have their mess cleaned up'. The Council's advocacy manager Reece Pianta, said this was a 'catastrophic breach', and that shipments from a single infested site had triggered a 'major regional outbreak'. 'Every dollar and every drone we have should be focused on wiping out fire ants at the front lines near Brisbane, not cleaning up after corporate carelessness,' he said. 'When a mining company moves contaminated material and sparks an outbreak, taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill.' The NFAEP's Director of Specialist Operations Tom Roberts said eradicating the pest was a 'shared community responsibility' and that industry cooperation was 'critical'. 'I encourage everyone sourcing equipment or materials that can carry fire ants from within fire ant biosecurity zones to ensure their suppliers follow fire ant safe-practices,' he said. The Invasive Species Council said while BHP had done the right thing reporting and supporting the fire ant surveillance work, governments needed to crack down on companies that breach movement restrictions. 'This isn't about companies footing the bill for everything,' Mr Pianta said. 'But if governments allow outbreaks like this to suck resources away from where they're needed most, we risk undermining the eradication effort across the whole country.' Red imported fire ants were first detected in South East Queensland in 2001, with a nationally cost-shared program aiming to eradicate the pest by 2032. The invasive species are able to thrive in 97 per cent of Australia's environments according to the NFAEP, and are able to spread on anything that touches the ground. The ants, which have been responsible for hundreds of deaths in the US since the 1990s, could see 174,000 people develop severe allergic reactions if the species became endemic in Australia according to national allergy bodies. 'Eradicating fire ants is a national priority,' the NFAEP said. BHP has been contacted for comment.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Fire ant fears in central Queensland as dogs detect nests at five mine sites
Specialised detection dogs have discovered new fire ant nests at five mine sites in central Queensland's Bowen Basin. The discoveries, announced on Tuesday, come six weeks after the highly invasive pest was found outside the south-east corner for the first time, when it was identified at the Broadmeadow Mine near Moranbah, more than 150 kilometres inland from Mackay. The National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) said in a statement the ants arrived in pallets of bricks that were stored on soil and transported more than 800km from south-east Queensland. The surveillance occurred between August 12 and 14, and was confirmed on Monday. NFAEP operations director Tom Roberts said the ants were discovered at the new sites after the bricks were moved to other mines. "At this point, we believe we've eliminated all known risks, and we're just working with each mine site to confirm they've got all the relevant information in regards to identification," he said. The NFAEP on Tuesday said the new sites were in the Central Highlands and Isaac Council regions, but declined to reveal the names of the mines involved. Odour dogs were used to find the new nests. The nests have been destroyed using "direct nest injection", with broadscale treatment applied to the surrounding areas. The Invasive Species Council fears further outbreaks in central Queensland could take resources away from the main fire ant stronghold in the state's south-east. "It shows what we've known for a long time, and that is that if fire ants get into shipments from one site in the fire ant zone, they can spread to multiple parts of Australia all in one go." Mr Pianta said central Queensland's dry climate would help eradication efforts. "There isn't a lot of food for the fire ants to forage there in that location to be able to build up their densities and increase," he said. "The evidence is that these fire nests have been there for a short period of time and probably haven't spread locally, so it will be possible, I think, to eradicate them." Fire ants were first detected in Brisbane in 2001, with eradication work still underway in south-east Queensland. In early July, a nest of the species was found in central Queensland for the first time, which NFAEP officers destroyed on July 9. Follow-up aerial treatment using drones began on July 24, and a containment area was placed around the detection site. NFAEP said surveillance of the area would continue for years.
