nova scotia government stops releasing glyphosate spraying details
5 minute read
a group of concerned citizens gathered on mcnally road in the burlington, kings county, area on sept. 1, 2023, for a rally protesting the planned aerial spraying of glyphosate on a nearby recovering clearcut.
kirk starratt
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kirk starratt
an aerial pesticide spray could be coming to a wooded area near you over the coming weeks but the nova scotia environment department is keeping the time and location under wraps.
“we are no longer sharing (parcel identification numbers) for safety and security reasons,” cindy porter, a communications specialist with the department, said in an emailed department response.
“making pid numbers public is not required under either federal or provincial regulations, and there are stringent terms and conditions that approval holders must comply with to ensure anyone near a spray area is made aware,” porter said.
the pid number is a unique identifier for a parcel of land that the department had in the past listed on its website to identify areas approved for spraying.
past practice had the department issuing a news release advising of new approvals for pesticide spraying and how many hectares of wooded area the spray program would cover.
the release even detailed that the aerial spraying would use glyphosate-based products approved by health canada’s pesticide management regulatory agency, which determines if a product is safe for use. it would also identify the companies that were to spray along with a proposed timeframe and point readers to the website, where the pids were available.
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spray locations not divulged
this year, no news release. nova scotians would have to take the initiative to go to the department website to find the spray applications that had been approved, the application number, the applicant company, the date of approval and the expiry date of the approval.
there are four approvals listed, two each for j.d. irving and arf enterprises, and all four were approved on aug. 11 and expire on dec. 31. there are no other specifics about locations, the sizes of the areas to be sprayed or what product the trees will be sprayed with.
“they’ve really removed almost all of the information that gave any kind of public oversight at all,” said nina newington, a longtime environmental activist who has protested spray programs and other forestry practices that some deem environmentally suspect.
concerned citizen nina newington of mount hanley says the government is hiding information about forestry herbicide spraying.
“it’s impossible to know what communities they are spraying in, where they are spraying, unless you happen to bump into one of those little green and white signs that are often tucked in, not right out on a public road.”
newington said the lack of information provided is “part and parcel of this government’s move away from any kind of transparency or accepting public input or oversight.”
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newington said that a few years back it appeared there was some progress being made on more protective environmental regulation but “it seems that this government is taking us backward, as it has on the uranium ban and the fracking ban.”
she said it is unnerving.
“as an example, last year they approved spraying in the cornwallis park water supply area and the only way that didn’t happen is because local residents saw that there was spraying planned for the shell lake camp area in annapolis county and somebody started digging and said, ‘hey, wait a minute, this is a water supply area.’
“without that sort of public oversight, nobody is able to catch the mistakes that the department of environment makes, that the industry makes.”
newington said the department is probably trying to avoid “no spray” protests by not providing specific information.
“last year, particularly people in cumberland county, really started to stand up and say no,” she said.
“as more people understand what’s being done with the aerial spraying of recovering clearcuts, they are getting more vocal and the government is basically trying to hide.”
porter said that to date, neither j.d. irving nor arf enterprises has commenced spraying.
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terms and conditions
she said companies with spray approvals must comply with stringent terms and conditions, including the posting of signage at access points 30 days before spraying begins, providing written notice to owners and occupiers of structures within 500 metres 30 days before spraying, placing ads in newspapers 20 days prior to spraying, staying 30 metres from water when spraying and only spraying when the wind is calm, at speeds of less than 10 kilometres per hour.
a dedicated group in the annapolis valley made sure a camp was occupied 24/7 to prevent glyphosate spraying in their vicinity in this file photo.
file
a primary issue with forestry spraying is the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in many pesticide sprays that has been categorized as probably carcinogenic to humans.
glyphosate use has resulted in numerous court cases, including a federal court judge in march of this year ordering the federal government to reassess its 2022 approval of glyphosate amid fresh concerns over potential health and environmental risks.
justice russell zinn ruled that health canada’s original decision was “unreasonable” because the agency failed to adequately consider 61 new scientific studies presented by environmental groups, including the david suzuki foundation and environmental defence, that identified new or heightened risks associated with glyphosate.
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health canada approval
health canada was granted just six months to undertake a more comprehensive review of the chemical’s safety.
“health canada approves what pesticides are safe for use,” porter said. “if someone has concerns about the pesticides they approve for use across the country, they need to contact health canada. our role is to make sure the companies that are spraying comply with strict terms and conditions when spraying.”
newington said the province’s response shows a pretense of not being aware of the problems with glyphosate, for which “the approving (federal) agency sort of ignores all of the modern science.”
“they just want to pass it off and say, ‘you have to go talk to health canada,’ and that fig leaf is getting smaller and smaller.”
looking out the window of her mount hanley home on north mountain in annapolis county this week, newington said billowing smoke is visible from the far-off long lake fire, evidence of the climate crisis emergency.
newington said the goal of spraying glyphosate on a recovering clearcut is to kill hardwood trees to promote the growth of marketable softwood.
“the goal is to kill the most fire-resistant trees, leave the most fire-susceptible trees, the conifers, the softwood, the spruce and fir,” she said.
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“if you send in a mechanical thinner, they cut down those (hardwood) saplings and the saplings lie on the ground and they gradually rot but if you spray them with glyphosate they just stand there like dead kindling, drying out.
“why on earth would anyone even be talking about spraying during this season when nova scotia has the worst fire index in canada in terms of how dry we are and how vulnerable we are to fire.”
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