“Our goal is to try and get this spray program stopped,” said Colchester County Coun. Wade Parker, also a member of the Mattatall Lake stewardship group.
Northern Timber, an affiliate of Northern Pulp, has several applications before the Nova Scotia Department of Environment for permission to spray 1,314 hectares of woodland in Colchester and Halifax counties with VisionMax, a herbicide containing 49 per cent glyphosate as its active ingredient.
Within Colchester County, the request to spray includes forested areas in Greenfield, Lower Harmony, Riversdale, Debert and Belmont Mountain.
The company hopes to begin spraying by this week.
The use of glyphosate has been controversial in North America and the European Union, where it is banned. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously defined it as being a possible human carcinogen.
For several years, landowners around Mattatall Lake have been battling a toxic, green algae bloom that’s reached the point where water is deemed unsafe for swimming. Parker said the stewardship group believes contamination was caused by herbicide spraying over power lines and clear-cut woodlands near the lake a couple of years ago, suspected to have included glyphosate.
Bob MacLean, chairman of the stewardship group, said he has no doubt the two events are connected.
“Within a week of spraying our lake had gone totally green with an algae that has a lot of potential toxicity. I can’t believe that that is just coincidence.”
Further, he said, the algae bloom has grown worse each year since. This year it appeared approximately six weeks earlier than in past seasons.
“We’ve taken one black eye here,” MacLean said. “It’s banned all over the world. Why we haven’t done that is pure … politics really.”
The purpose of the spray program is to kill off hardwood tree species and promote growth of softwood trees, such as spruce and fir.
“Herbicides control competition short term to give the slower growing softwood time to get established,” Northern Pulp spokeswoman Kathy Cloutier said, in an e-mailed response to questions posed by the Truro Daily News.
“Competition species will start to regrow on the sites a couple of years after treatment,” she said.
Cloutier said glyphosate has been approved for use in Canada since 1987 and is applied in agricultural use in more than 160 countries.
“Glyphosate is one of the most extensively studied herbicides of all time,” she said. “The scientific weight of evidence clearly supports conclusion of low risk.”
Truro-area MLA Lenore Zann, however, would be happier if the herbicide carried no risk.
“I’m worried about it,” she said. “The jury is still out on the use of glyphosate and I tend to believe in the precautionary principle.”
Beyond the human element, however, Zann is also concerned about potential harm to pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other wildlife.
If approved, Cloutier said the program would involve spraying 2.8 litres per hectare of the herbicide from this week until approximately the end of September, depending on the weather. No spraying will occur near residential areas, she said.
As far as risk, Cloutier said, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency has determined there is no concern to human health associated with eating berries inadvertently sprayed with glyphosate during forestry applications and other studies have shown wildlife are “quite resilient” with respect to glyphosate.
“Both laboratory and in-forest studies show that glyphosate does not accumulate in muscle tissues of animals, but is rapidly excreted in urine and feces,” she said.
Parker, however, scoffed at that response.
“I can send you a study that totally contradicts every word of that,” he said.
****
Zann to meet with environment minister to oppose Northern Pulp spray proposal
TRURO – The mayors of Truro, Colchester County, Stewiake and the band chiefs in Millbrook and Indian Brook have joined MLA Lenore Zann in opposing a proposed herbicide spraying program by Northern Pulp.
“All of us stand united that we do not want Northern Pulp or anyone else to spray our woods and forests with any herbicide/pesticide containing glyphosate,” the Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River MLA said. “The mayors and chiefs stand with me in solidarity and we request that the minister of Environment deny NP's request to spray now or in the future.”
Northern Pulp has applied to the provincial government to spray 1,314 hectares of woodland in Colchester and Halifax counties with VisionMax, a herbicide that contains 49 per cent glyphosate as its active ingredient.
Zann has also been promoting an online petition opposing the spraying, which as of Friday, she said, had gained approximately 1,600 supporters.
She had also arranged a meeting today (Tuesday) with Environment Minister Margaret Miller to personally express her concerns.
“I’m also very worried about the aquifer system,” Zann said. “I would therefore say we should err on the side of discretion and caution and that’s why I’m concerned about Northern Pulp being allowed to spray in such a wide, wide area here around our communities.”
Twitter: @tdnharry
“Our goal is to try and get this spray program stopped,” said Colchester County Coun. Wade Parker, also a member of the Mattatall Lake stewardship group.
Northern Timber, an affiliate of Northern Pulp, has several applications before the Nova Scotia Department of Environment for permission to spray 1,314 hectares of woodland in Colchester and Halifax counties with VisionMax, a herbicide containing 49 per cent glyphosate as its active ingredient.
Within Colchester County, the request to spray includes forested areas in Greenfield, Lower Harmony, Riversdale, Debert and Belmont Mountain.
The company hopes to begin spraying by this week.
The use of glyphosate has been controversial in North America and the European Union, where it is banned. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously defined it as being a possible human carcinogen.
For several years, landowners around Mattatall Lake have been battling a toxic, green algae bloom that’s reached the point where water is deemed unsafe for swimming. Parker said the stewardship group believes contamination was caused by herbicide spraying over power lines and clear-cut woodlands near the lake a couple of years ago, suspected to have included glyphosate.
Bob MacLean, chairman of the stewardship group, said he has no doubt the two events are connected.
“Within a week of spraying our lake had gone totally green with an algae that has a lot of potential toxicity. I can’t believe that that is just coincidence.”
Further, he said, the algae bloom has grown worse each year since. This year it appeared approximately six weeks earlier than in past seasons.
“We’ve taken one black eye here,” MacLean said. “It’s banned all over the world. Why we haven’t done that is pure … politics really.”
The purpose of the spray program is to kill off hardwood tree species and promote growth of softwood trees, such as spruce and fir.
“Herbicides control competition short term to give the slower growing softwood time to get established,” Northern Pulp spokeswoman Kathy Cloutier said, in an e-mailed response to questions posed by the Truro Daily News.
“Competition species will start to regrow on the sites a couple of years after treatment,” she said.
Cloutier said glyphosate has been approved for use in Canada since 1987 and is applied in agricultural use in more than 160 countries.
“Glyphosate is one of the most extensively studied herbicides of all time,” she said. “The scientific weight of evidence clearly supports conclusion of low risk.”
Truro-area MLA Lenore Zann, however, would be happier if the herbicide carried no risk.
“I’m worried about it,” she said. “The jury is still out on the use of glyphosate and I tend to believe in the precautionary principle.”
Beyond the human element, however, Zann is also concerned about potential harm to pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other wildlife.
If approved, Cloutier said the program would involve spraying 2.8 litres per hectare of the herbicide from this week until approximately the end of September, depending on the weather. No spraying will occur near residential areas, she said.
As far as risk, Cloutier said, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency has determined there is no concern to human health associated with eating berries inadvertently sprayed with glyphosate during forestry applications and other studies have shown wildlife are “quite resilient” with respect to glyphosate.
“Both laboratory and in-forest studies show that glyphosate does not accumulate in muscle tissues of animals, but is rapidly excreted in urine and feces,” she said.
Parker, however, scoffed at that response.
“I can send you a study that totally contradicts every word of that,” he said.
****
Zann to meet with environment minister to oppose Northern Pulp spray proposal
TRURO – The mayors of Truro, Colchester County, Stewiake and the band chiefs in Millbrook and Indian Brook have joined MLA Lenore Zann in opposing a proposed herbicide spraying program by Northern Pulp.
“All of us stand united that we do not want Northern Pulp or anyone else to spray our woods and forests with any herbicide/pesticide containing glyphosate,” the Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River MLA said. “The mayors and chiefs stand with me in solidarity and we request that the minister of Environment deny NP's request to spray now or in the future.”
Northern Pulp has applied to the provincial government to spray 1,314 hectares of woodland in Colchester and Halifax counties with VisionMax, a herbicide that contains 49 per cent glyphosate as its active ingredient.
Zann has also been promoting an online petition opposing the spraying, which as of Friday, she said, had gained approximately 1,600 supporters.
She had also arranged a meeting today (Tuesday) with Environment Minister Margaret Miller to personally express her concerns.
“I’m also very worried about the aquifer system,” Zann said. “I would therefore say we should err on the side of discretion and caution and that’s why I’m concerned about Northern Pulp being allowed to spray in such a wide, wide area here around our communities.”
Twitter: @tdnharry
