“Why did they all die working for the Lands Department?”
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Ewen “Cameron” Ching – the last of the Linton spray hands – has outlived his colleagues, with whom he made and sprayed batches of toxic chemicals.
But he says he’ll be next.
The 78-year-old has Parkinson’s, bowel disease, cysts on his liver and kidney, and his pancreas has shut down.
Mr Ching is yet to hear from the state government since making his submission to the inquiry into the toxic chemicals – including Agent Orange and Mustard Gas – that he and his colleagues used without protection for decades.
Nor was he notified of a free medical screening for all former and current spray hands, one of three recommendations from the inquiry adopted by the government when it released its findings on the former Lands Department, now Department of Environment and Primary Industries, in March this year.
“Why did they all die working for the Lands Department?,” Mr Ching said.
“They’re all dead, it just wiped them out.
“There’s only one left and that’s me.
“I shouldn’t say but I’ll be the next, the way I’m going.”
He is still looking for answers as to what caused the litany of ailments he has endured since he developed peripheral neuropathy – a nerve disease – in 1998, two years after taking a redundancy package and after more than two decades in the job.
When he was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, he was told by doctors it could be linked to his exposure to toxins.
However doctors have been unable to identify exactly what has caused his pancreas to shut down.
“Spraying it in your system eight hours a day for 23 years, it’s got to affect you somehow,” Mr Ching said.
“From the time we left home to the time we got home, we never washed our hands … I never washed mine, we had nothing to wash them with.
“Years ago, you wanted a job and that was it, it didn’t matter what you were in or up against, you had to do your job.”
Mr Ching worries he might die before a resolution is found.
“What happens if I die in between, and the case comes up? Does my wife get anything out of that?”
They’re all dead, it just wiped them out. There’s only one left and that’s me.
- Former Linton spray hand Ewen "Cameron" Ching
The Courier broke the “toxic legacy” of the former Lands Department workers exposure to potent chemicals in 2014.
The Andrews government launched an inquiry in late 2014.
The report found that prior to 1981, exposure to a contaminant of 245T called TCDD may cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma or soft sarcoma.
The report also noted a consensus among academic papers from the 1980s finding a link between exposure to TCDD and the incidence of cancer but that the many causes of cancer meant it was impossible to be certain that was the cause.
Toxic legacy is ‘Fiskville all over again’
Former Maryborough spray hand Adrian McKinnis wishes he left the Lands Department when he first first felt the cocktail of now-banned chemicals he used to mix sink their teeth into his system.
Mr McKinnis, who retired from the department after 33 years spraying, has twice beaten bowel cancer, and has severe kidney disease in his one kidney.
His was one of 75 submissions made to the Former Lands Department Chemical Inquiry but he and his wife Jude haven’t heard anything since their submission was acknowledged almost a year ago, in November last year.
The couple had hoped the report would bring recognition and compensation for his years of illness.
Mrs McKinnis can still remember the smell of spray soaked into his overalls, and would wash his clothes separate to the clothes of their four children.
“It’s like Fiskville isn’t it, it’s the same thing,” she said.
“It’s been a long time since I would say he’s a well person, I think he’s just getting worn out by the accumulation (of illnesses).”
We’d go right through until Christmas time spraying and get no let-ups. You’re just doing your job, I should have got out, it’s too late now.
- Former Maryborough spray hand Adrian McKinnis
The 78-year-old had an early warning of the toxicity of the chemicals he worked with – bare handed and in bib and brace overalls – even more telling than the smell that came off the barrels so strong it could knock you out.
In 1976 he almost died from poisoning and had to be taken to Melbourne for treatment.
Still, he returned to spraying, without a mask or gloves and a water bag carried with the chemicals in the back of the truck.
“We’d go right through until Christmas time spraying and get no let-ups.
“You’re just doing your job, I should have got out, it’s too late now.
“When I had that cancer, (I thought) that was the end of things - and I beat it then it came back again ... and I got rid of that.
“I was doing to the doctors all the time after that and it’s still going.”
Government pledgs to monitor illness trends
The state government says it will monitor medical screenings of former Lands Department and Forestry Commission workers to see if a pattern of illnesses emerge besides the three conditions identified in a chemical inquiry.
The inquiry into the former Lands Department, now the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, released in March found links exposure to the chemical 245T with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma and chloracne.
Now-banned chemicals, including a concoction similar to Agent Orange, were sprayed by department employees for decades without protection.
Former spray hands have reported a legion of illnesses including Parkinsons, cancer and kidney disease, which they attribute to years spraying now-banned chemicals.
The department sent letters to 3000 former and current workers employed between 1965 and 1985 to notify them of the screening, a DELWP spokesperson said.
The results from the health screening will be closely monitored and these will be considered - particularly if trends or patterns emerge relating to the three conditions mentioned or other health conditions - as the government considers its policy response.
- DELWP spokesperson
These were sent in May and again August this year.
The screening comprises of a health questionnaire followed by a telephone consultation with a doctor.
“The results from the health screening will be closely monitored and these will be considered - particularly if trends or patterns emerge relating to the three conditions mentioned or other health conditions - as the government considers its policy response,” a DELWP spokesperson said.
“The response will include consideration about appropriate support for affected workers.”
To date 250 former and current sprayers have registered for the health screening.
Less than half have completed the process.
However none of the 14 workers from the region The Courier spoke to had been contacted about the screening, raising concerns as recently as May that the notification process and consultation itself were insufficient.
Their conditions range from cancers, neurological conditions and lung, liver, bowel and heart problems.
It is not yet known how many of those who completed the screening reported a history of conditions linked to chemical exposure, the spokesperson said.
“Where there is clear evidence of a link established through the Worker Health Study or through significant numbers of former sprayers having contracted the cancers, the government will consider appropriate options for the workers affected.”
The department did not provide a time frame for a policy response or specifically mention compensation.
Asked whether there would be further contact between the government and affected workers, the spokesperson said they will be kept informed “if further evidence comes to light”.
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Jessica Black
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